Tony Brooks (racing driver)

Charles Anthony Standish "Tony" Brooks (25 February 1932 – 3 May 2022) was a British racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1956 to 1961. Nicknamed "the Racing Dentist",Template:Efn-num Brooks was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1959 with Ferrari and Vanwall, and won six Grands Prix across six seasons.

Born and raised in Dukinfield, Brooks was the son of a dental surgeon. He began motor racing in 1952, driving sportscars at club events until he progressed to Formula Two in 1955. That year, Brooks debuted in Formula One machinery at the non-championship Syracuse Grand Prix with Connaught, becoming the first British victor in a British car in Grand Prix motor racing since 1923. He made his World Championship debut at the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix with BRM.

Joining Vanwall for 1957, Brooks took his maiden win at the Template:F1GP, sharing the victory with Stirling Moss. He finished third in the World Drivers' Championship in 1958, and runner-up to Jack Brabham the following season after his move to Ferrari, taking multiple victories across both seasons. Brooks joined BRP in 1960—driving a privateer Cooper T51—and departed without a podium finish. In 1961, he took his final podium at the Template:F1GP with BRM, retiring at the conclusion of his campaign; he achieved six wins, three pole positions, three fastest laps, and 10 podiums in Formula One, in addition to his non-championship race win.

Outside of Formula One, Brooks was successful in sportscar racing, winning the 1957 1000km of Nürburgring and the 1958 RAC Tourist Trophy, driving the Aston Martin DBR1. He also entered four editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1955 to 1958 with Aston Martin.

Career

Brooks was born on 25 February 1932, in Dukinfield, Cheshire, and educated at Mount St Mary's College. He was the son of a dental surgeon, Charles Standish Brooks, and studied the practice himself. He was also a cousin of Norman Standish Brooks, a former British Olympic swimmer. He took up racing in 1952 and drove a Healey and a Frazer Nash at club events until 1955. In that same year, Brooks drove in Formula Two a Connaught at Crystal Palace and finished fourth. Later in 1955, Brooks made his first Formula One start at the non-championship Syracuse Grand Prix, winning the race. This was the first international Grand Prix win for a British car since 1924 at the San Sebastián Grand Prix.

File:Vanwall VW5 Aintree 1957.jpg

Brooks shared this Vanwall VW5 with Stirling Moss to win the 1957 British Grand Prix.

In 1957, Brooks claimed the first victory for a British-constructed car in a World Championship race in the British Grand Prix at Aintree, which he shared with Stirling Moss. Along with Moss, Brooks is considered one of the best drivers never to have been World Champion and both Moss and three-time World Champion Jack Brabham were known to have thought highly of his ability.

In 1959, Brooks, together with Brabham and Moss, had a chance to win the title due to the retirement and subsequent death in a road accident of Mike Hawthorn and the death in the previous season of Peter Collins. Brooks started well, with a second place at the Monaco Grand Prix, behind Brabham. He failed to finish at the Dutch Grand Prix but dominantly won the French Grand Prix at Reims. Having failed to finish in a Vanwall at the British Grand Prix, which he drove due to Ferrari workers in Italy being on strike, he won the only German Grand Prix of Formula One to be held at AVUS. The race was split unusually into two heats, and he won both. He had a slow car in Portugal, qualifying 10th and finishing five laps down. He retired shortly after the start at Monza but was still in contention to win the championship. At the first ever United States Grand Prix for Formula One at Sebring, he was hit by German teammate Wolfgang von Trips and pitted to check for any damage, losing two minutes. It proved to be a waste of time but still finished in third place. He finished second in the championship with 27 points, seven behind Brabham, and one-and-a-half ahead of Moss.

File:1957 Aston Martin Tony Brooks Hotel de France.jpg

Brooks parked outside the 1957 Le Mans Aston Martin base, the Hotel de France, at the wheel of his DBR1 race car.

Brooks won six races for Vanwall and Ferrari, secured four pole positions, achieved ten podiums, and scored a total of 75 championship points. He drove for British Racing Motors but retired from the team at the end of 1961, just before their most successful season. He ended his career with a third place at the first ever United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. He was also an accomplished sports car driver, winning both the 1957 1000 km Nürburgring and the 1958 RAC Tourist Trophy, with co-driver, Moss, racing an Aston Martin DBR1. He was less successful at Le Mans in 1957 due again to an accident which occurred while racing an Aston Martin DBR1 at that year's 24-hour race, which brought about a change in his racing philosophy. A crash in the 1956 British Grand Prix and the subsequent Le Mans crash both occurred in cars with mechanical problems, of which he was aware, and Brooks, being a devout Catholic, vowed he would never again risk his life in a car that was in less than sound condition. He had fewer qualms when it came to his own condition, saying: "I was lucky in the Le Mans shunt in that I didn't break anything, but I did have very severe abrasions – there was a hole in the side of my thigh I could literally have put my fist into." It was with these injuries that he went on to race in the 1957 British GP with Moss, and win. In 2007, Brooks was honoured by his home town. The Dukinfield District Assembly, part of Tameside Council, held a dinner in his honour and unveiled a plaque outside his former home on Park Lane.

Brooks died aged 90 on 3 May 2022. As a result, in addition to Brooks becoming the last surviving Grand Prix winner from the 1950s after the death of Moss in April 2020, three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart (who first raced in the 1960s) was now the oldest Formula One Grand Prix winner.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1956	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	ARG	MON DNS	500	BEL	FRA	GBR Ret	GER	ITA				NC	0
1957	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON 2	500	FRA	GBR 1*	GER 9	PES Ret	ITA 7**				5th	11
1958	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON Ret	NED Ret	500	BEL 1	FRA Ret	GBR 7	GER 1	POR Ret	ITA 1	MOR Ret	3rd	24
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 246	Ferrari V6	MON 2	500	NED Ret	FRA 1		GER 1**	POR 9	ITA Ret	USA 3			2nd	27
	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4					GBR Ret
1960	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4	ARG	MON 4	500	NED Ret	BEL Ret		GBR 5	POR 5	ITA	USA Ret		11th	7
	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4						FRA Ret
1961	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48/57	Climax Straight-4	MON 13	NED 9	BEL 13	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	ITA 5	USA 3				10th	6
Source:

* Brooks won the 1957 British Grand Prix sharing his car with Stirling Moss. Both were awarded half points for their victory (4 instead of 8).
** Brooks was also awarded one point in the 1957 Italian Grand Prix and 1959 German Grand Prix for recording the fastest lap.

Non-championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
1955	Equipe Endeavour	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis Straight-4	BUE	VLN	PAU	GLV	BOR	INT	NAP	ALB	CUR	CRN	LON 4	REC	RDX	TLG 4	OUL	AVO 5
	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type B	Alta Straight-4																	SYR 1
1956	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	NZL	BUE	GLO Ret	SYR	BAR 2	INT	NAP	AIN Ret	VAN	CAE	SUS	BRS	AUS
1957	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	BUE	SYR Ret	PAU	GLV 6	NAP	RMS				MOR Ret
	Tony Brooks	Cooper T43	Climax Straight-4							CAE Ret	INT Ret	MOD
1958	Tony Brooks	Cooper T45	Climax Straight-4	BUE	GLV	SYR	AIN 3	INT Ret	CAE
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246	Ferrari V6	GLV	AIN 2	INT Ret	OUL	SIL
1960	G.A. Vandervell	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	GLV 7	INT DNA
	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4			SIL Ret
	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Lotus 18	Vanwall Straight-4				LOM DNS	OUL
1961	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48/57	BRM Straight-4	LOM	GLV Ret	PAU	BRX	VIE	AIN 7	SYR Ret	NAP	LON	SIL 3	SOL	KAN	DAN	MOD 6	FLG	OUL 4	LEW	VAL	RAN	NAT	RSA
Source:

External links

• Profile at grandprix.com