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David Purley 1966.
The son of the founder of LEC Refrigeration, David Charles Purley was born in Bognor Regis on 26th January 1945. Educated at Dartington Hall School, Devon, he trained at Sandhurst as a member of Intake 38. One fellow cadet remembers him arriving on the first day, traditionally known as Ironing Board Sunday, in a Rolls- Royce. Commissioned into the Parachute Regiment, he lost the first of his nine lives when his parachute failed to open on a training jump. Miraculously, he landed on his platoon sergeant’s ‘chute and both survived the heavy landing. Having seen action with his battalion in Aden, where he earned the nickname ‘Brave Dave’, he left the army to pursue a career in motor racing. Driving a hired car emblazoned with the logo of his father’s company, Purley competed in seven Formula One Grands Prix, with a best finish of ninth at Monza in 1973. By no means a ‘rich kid’ racer, he had genuine talent and, during this race, beat two past and two future world champions.
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