Page 222 - They Also Served

Demobbed as a major, Rolt returned to motor racing and competed in three of the early Formula One races, including the British Grand Prix in 1950, the first race of the modern era. However, his real talent lay as an endurance driver and partnered by the extrovert Duncan Hamilton, a wartime Fleet Air Arm pilot, finished sixth in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in 1951, fourth in 1950, second in 1954 and, driving a Jaguar C-Type, winners in 1953. Both drivers had initially been disqualified during practice and so retired to the bar to drown their sorrows. Their team manager denied they were drunk: ‘Of course, I would never have let them race under the influence; I had enough trouble when they were sober!’ Nevertheless, attempts to assist Hamilton’s performance with coffee failed, so he was plied with more brandy instead, and he continued driving with a broken nose after hitting a bird at 130 mph.
After witnessing the 1955 Le Mans accident, which claimed 80 lives, Rolt retired from racing to concentrate on engineering. He became one of the early pioneers of four-wheel-drive, firstly for racing cars and then, later road cars. The current Audi 4WD sports cars use a transmission developed by Rolt’s company. An intensely private man, Rolt rarely spoke of his wartime exploits, only once commenting when asked to compare his experiences with recent Hollywood POW films: ‘Escaping was not fun, nor was it a game. It was a duty’. Tony Rolt MC and Bar died in 2008.
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