In 2012 The Lancashire Automobile Club was 110 years young, and was delighted to present two Racing Greats with a combined continuing motor racing heritage of more than 110 years at the 2012 Motor Sport Luncheon. A full house turned out to be enthralled by the exploits of David Piper and Richard Attwood.
They have been friends, competitors and rivals through the golden age of Sportscar and Grand Prix racing, rising to the very top. Both are former Grand Prix drivers and one a winner at Le Mans. It doesn`t get much better than that!
David Piper has been described as one of the most successful sportscar racing privateers and a “Right Proper Chap”, known as “Pipes” to his mates, he is the epitome of the English Gentleman racer. Starting his racing career in the early 50`s David went on to race in F1 and F3 before buying a Ferrari 250 GTO and moving into the world of sportscar racing, competing at Le Mans and across the world. Along with his wife, Liz, he has organised very successful historic racing events around the world, and still enjoys competing at prestigious events such as Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed.
In the sixties, David Piper Auto Racing built up an enviable reputation for operating at the highest professional level; when not at the wheel himself, he was able to call upon the services of some of the best deputies in town, including Jo Siffert, Pedtro Rodriguez, Richard Attwood, Mike Parkes, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Brian Redman and team regular, the South African, Works cooper F1 driver Tony Maggs.
When David was not driving for his own stable, his services were highly regarded enough to be sought out to grace the cockpits of rival concerns, as revered as Ferrari, Porsche and the legendary, Gulf sponsored JW Automotive Team.
Richard Attwood started racing in l960 at the wheel of a Triumph TR3. His career rapidly developed as in l965 he drove for Reg Parnell Racing in a F1 Lotus-BRM in several Grand Prix and finished sixth in both Italy and Mexico. In 1967 he appeared in F1 just once at the wheel of a Cooper Maserati in the Canadian Grand Prix and then joined the Works BRM Team in `68. The highlight of his season was a superb chase to second place and fastest lap at Monaco behind Graham Hill`s winning Lotus.
As a successful Sportscar Racing driver he won the l970 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Porsche 917.
It was with David Piper that Richard developed perhaps his longest lasting professional relationship driving Pipers green Ferraris on many occasions over the following 5 years and pairing up with him for the Maranello Concessionaire`s Team.
Richard did not restrict himself to Ferrari and Ford, putting in drives in machinery as diverse as the Porsche 906 and Alfa Romeo T33. He was also one of the few drivers to race the infamous Ford P68, GT successor to the GT40, failing to finish due to mechanical maladies in the `68 Nurburgring 1000km.
Today, he is still very active in Historic Motorsport, making memorable appearances at great events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival.
See the gallery for photos from the event.