David Hobbs (racing driver)

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David Wishart Hobbs[1] (born 9 June 1939)[2] is a British former racing driver. He worked as a commentator from the mid 1970s for CBS until 1996, Speed from 1996 to 2012 and NBC from 2013 to 2017. In 1969 Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, a group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.[3] Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.[4]

Driving career

Hobbs was born in Royal Leamington Spa, England, just months before the outbreak of World War II. His career as an international racing driver spanned 30 years at all levels including in sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.

Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.[5]

In 1971, Hobbs won the L&M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America, Edmonton and Lime Rock.[6] Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500[7] and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.

Television commentator

Hobbs provided commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett) until 2013, the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996 working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013.[8] He also worked for ESPN, serving as an analyst for their Formula 1 coverage from 1988 until 1992 working with Chris Economaki, John Bisignano and Bob Varsha.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Other appearances

Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.

Personal life

Template:BLP unreferenced section Hobbs's father, Howard Frederick Hobbs (21/9/1902 – 15/12/1982), was an Australian engineer born and raised in Adelaide. He was an inventor who developed an early version of the automatic transmission, known as the Mecha-Matic. Colin Chapman had this transmission fitted to his Lotus Elite racecars.[9]

Howard Hobbs married Phyllis Dorothy Reid (25/3/1904 – 1989) on 12 May 1925 and the couple had three children. Barbara, born in Adelaide on 5 May, 1927, and sons John (b. 1 July 1933) and David (b. 9 June 1939), both boys being born in Lemington Spa after the young Hobbs family had sailed for England in 1931 with the intent on Howard showing his transmission to automotive engineers in Coventry, settling in Royal Lemington Spa where they would remain for approximately the next 35 years.[10][11]

Hobbs lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a car dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which was sold to the Van Horn Automotive Group in March 2023.[12] His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />WDCScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Pts
1967 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P60 2.1 V8 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR
8Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		CAN
9Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		ITA USA MEX NC 0
Lola Cars Lola T100 BMW M10 2.0 L4 GER
101Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1968 Honda Racing F1 Honda RA301 Honda RA301E 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA
RetScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		CAN USA MEX NC 0
1971 Penske-White Racing McLaren M19A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
10Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		NC 0
1974 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT
7Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		ITA
9Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		CAN USA NC 0
Source:[13]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Notes
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>^1 – Formula 2 entry.

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1964 Merlyn Racing Merlyn Mk7 (F2) Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 DMT NWT SYR AIN
RetScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		INT SOL MED RAN
1966 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 33 BRM P60 2.0 V8 RSA SYR
3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		INT OUL
1968 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P101 3.0 V12 ROC
9Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		INT
6Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		OUL
6Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1970 Team Surtees Surtees TS5 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT
RetScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		OUL
1971 Hogan Racing McLaren M10B (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE
DNQScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		SPR INT RIN OUL VIC
1973 Hogan Racing Lola T330 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC
RetScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		INT
RetScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1974 Hogan Racing Lola T332 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 PRE ROC INT
DNSScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Source:[13]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Pts Class
1962 Peter Berry Racing Ltd Jaguar Mk II 3.8 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". SNE
ovr:?
cls:6 		GOO
ovr:4
cls:4 		AIN
ovr:3
cls:3 		SIL
ovr:4
cls:4 		CRY AIN BRH
ovr:5
cls:5 		OUL 18th 8 6th
1968 Malcolm Gartlan Racing Ford Falcon Sprint <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". BRH
ovr:4
cls:2 		THR
ovr:2
cls:2 		SIL
Ret 		CRY
Ret† 		MAL BRH SIL
ovr:1
cls:1 		CRO
ovr:2
cls:2 		OUL
ovr:3
cls:3 		BRH BRH
ovr:2
cls:1 		9th 32 3rd
1970 Pierre de Plessis Chevrolet Camaro Z28 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". BRH SNE THR SIL
Ret 		CRY SIL SIL CRO BRH OUL BRH BRH NC 0 NC
Source:[14]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Class
pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1962 Template:Flagicon Team Lotus Engineering Template:Flagicon Frank Gardner Lotus Elite Mk14-Climax GT
1.3 		286 8th 1st
1963 Template:Flagicon Lola Cars Ltd. Template:Flagicon Richard Attwood Lola Mk6 GT-Ford P
+3.0 		151 DNF DNF
1964 Template:Flagicon Standard Triumph Template:Flagicon Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire P
+3.0 		272 21st 3rd
1965 Template:Flagicon Standard Triumph Ltd. Template:Flagicon Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire GT
1.3 		71 DNF DNF
1966 Template:Flagicon Maranello Concessionaires Template:Flagicon Mike Salmon Ferrari Dino 206S P
2.0 		14 DNF DNF
1967 Template:Flagicon Lola Cars Ltd.
Template:Flagicon Team Surtees 		Template:Flagicon John Surtees Lola T70 Mk.III-Aston Martin P
+5.0 		3 DNF DNF
1968 Template:Flagicon J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Template:Flagicon Paul Hawkins Ford GT40 Mk. I S
5.0 		107 DNF DNF
1969 Template:Flagicon J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Template:Flagicon Mike Hailwood Ford GT40 Mk. I S
5.0 		368 3rd 2nd
1970 Template:Flagicon J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Template:Flagicon Mike Hailwood Porsche 917K S
5.0 		49 DNF DNF
1971 Template:Flagicon Roger Penske
Template:Flagicon Kirk F. White 		Template:Flagicon Mark Donohue Ferrari 512M/P S
5.0 		DNF DNF
1972 Template:Flagicon Equipe Matra-Simca Shell Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jabouille Matra-Simca MS660C S
3.0 		278 DNF DNF
1979 Template:Flagicon Grand Touring Cars Ltd.
Template:Flagicon Ford Concessionaires France 		Template:Flagicon Vern Schuppan
Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jaussaud 		Mirage M10-Ford Cosworth S
+2.0 		121 NC NC
1981 Template:Flagicon EMKA Productions Limited Template:Flagicon Eddie Jordan
Template:Flagicon Steve O'Rourke 		BMW M1 Gr.5 Gr.5 236 DNF DNF
1982 Template:Flagicon John Fitzpatrick Racing Template:Flagicon John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick IMSA
GTX 		329 4th 1st
1983 Template:Flagicon John Fitzpatrick Racing Template:Flagicon John Fitzpatrick
Template:Flagicon Dieter Quester 		Porsche 956 C 135 DNF DNF
1984 Template:Flagicon Skoal Bandit Porsche Team Template:Flagicon Philippe Streiff
Template:Flagicon Sarel van der Merwe 		Porsche 956B C1 351 3rd 3rd
1985 Template:Flagicon John Fitzpatrick Racing Template:Flagicon Jo Gartner
Template:Flagicon Guy Edwards 		Porsche 956B C1 366 4th 4th
1987 Template:Flagicon Joest Racing Template:Flagicon Sarel van der Merwe
Template:Flagicon Chip Robinson 		Porsche 962C C1 4 DNF DNF
1988 Template:Flagicon Blaupunkt Joest Racing Template:Flagicon Didier Theys
Template:Flagicon Franz Konrad 		Porsche 962C C1 380 5th 5th
1989 Template:Flagicon Richard Lloyd Racing Template:Flagicon Steven Andskär
Template:Flagicon Damon Hill 		Porsche 962C GTi C1 228 DNF DNF
Source:[15]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Indianapolis 500 results

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />NWCCScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Pts Ref
1976 DeWitt Racing 73 Chevy RSD DAY
34Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL NA 0 [16]
Donlavey Racing 9 Ford MCH
17Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1976 DeWitt Racing Chevrolet 16 34

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />Class
pos.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1981 Template:Flagicon JPS Team BMW Template:Flagicon Allan Grice BMW 635 CSi 6 Cylinder & Rotary 113 7th 2nd
1982 Template:Flagicon JPS Team BMW Template:Flagicon Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi A 157 5th 5th

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ H. H. Pitt and M. N. Wicks, The Pitt Family of Payneham (Adelaide, 1977)
  3. ↑ F.I.A. Year Book of Automobile Sport, P.S.L. Publications Limited., London, 1969.
  4. ↑ David Hobbs at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Trenton Evening Times, 7 September 1971, Page 37.
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Howard Frederick Hobbs (1902–1982)
  11. ↑ Hobbs Gearless Drive
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Template:Sister project

Sporting positions
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check US Formula A/F5000
Champion
1971 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

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