| John Fitzpatrick | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality | {{{{{natflag}}}}} British | |
| Date of Birth | 9/6/1943 | |
| Début | The Molyslip Trophy 1963 | |
| Championships | 1 (1966) | |
| Previous Teams | Team Broadspeed Cooper Car Co. | |
| Career Statistics | ||
| Total Entries | 0 (0 Starts) | |
| Pole Positions | 0 | |
| Fastest Laps | 0 | |
| Wins | 0 (0 in Class) | |
| Total Points | 0 | |
John Fitzpatrick is a former British Touring Car Championship champion, who made his debut in 1963. Fitzpatrick won the championship and his class in 1966 using a Ford Anglia, breaking the hold on the class that the Mini had held since 1961.
Background[]
Fitzpatrick had little racing experience before he entered the British Saloon Car Championship, with his pre-career largely unknown.
BTCC History[]
From 1963, Team Broadspeed, run by Ralph Broad, employed Fitzpatrick for three of the closing rounds of the year.[1] A successful debut saw him claim points, although his season was brought to a close with two retirements in the final rounds.[1] For 1964, Fitzpatrick switched to the factory backed Cooper Car Co. team, taking his first victory (in class) at the first race.[2] A second win resulted from the fourth meeting, ultimately finishing second in the championship (no where near the championship winner Jim Clark).[2]
The Anglia Man[]
In 1965, Fitzpatrick returned to Team Broadspeed, remaining with them for the rest of his BTCC career. The season saw Fitzpatrick claim three podiums (including a class win) in his Cooper.[3] It would be in 1966, however, that Fitzpatrick put his name into the BTCC history books. Six wins in class saw him take the overall title, having seen Team Broadspeed purchase a pair of new Ford Anglias to continue to compete in Class A.[4] He followed this with a second place overall the following year, before Broadspeed decided to invest, once more, in new equipment.
Escort to the End[]
In the final four years that he competed in the BTCC, Fitzpatrick would not challenge for the title. Team Broadspeed bought a Ford Escort for Fitzpatrick, which meant he would compete directly with the Mini Coopers once more. 1968 saw the Escort struggle early on, however, as the car was not homologated until the third race of the year.[5] Nonetheless, Fitzpatrick took four class wins on the trot during the middle of the season, finishing sixth overall.[5] 1969 saw a further three wins for Fitzpatrick, however his ultimate finishing position was not known.
In 1970 and 1971, Fitzpatrick would claim a further fifteen wins in class, taking third on the championship in 1970.[6] The new regulations introduced that year seemed to provoke Fitzpatrick to end his driving career in the series, as he entered the world of endurance racing full time after 1971.
BTCC Record[]
A table containing John Fitzpatrick's best results in the BTCC. The figures after the information about the car used indicate John Fitzpatrick's best finish at that meeting.
| John Fitzpatrick's BTCC Record | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Pos | Pts | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 1963 | Team Broadspeed | 2 | Mini Cooper S | bgcolor="#E52525" rowspan="2" style="border-radius:5px; color:white;"|A | N | 4 | R | N | - | ||||||||
| 1964 | Cooper Car Co. | 2nd | 38 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | N | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1965 | Team Broadspeed | 18 | N | R | 3 | R | 2 | 1 | R | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 1966 | 1st | 50 | Ford Anglia | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | R | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1967 | 2nd | 62 | R | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | R | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | |||
| 1968 | 6th | 42 | Ford Escort | bgcolor="#214B9B" rowspan="2" style="border-radius:5px; color:white;"|B | R | 2 | R | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | R | 3 | - | |||
| 1969 | bgcolor="Purple" style="color:white; border-radius:7px;"|NC | 1 | 1 | R | 4 | R | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 1970 | 3rd | 62 | R | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | |||
| 1971 | 4th | 67 | bgcolor="#008000" rowspan="2" style="border-radius:5px; color:white;"|C | 1 | 1 | R | 1 | R | 1 | N | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | R | ||
References[]
Images
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://touringcarracing.net/Races/1963%20Brands%20Hatch%20BSCC.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1964%20BSCC.html
- ↑ http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1965%20BSCC.html
- ↑ http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1966%20BSCC.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1968%20BSCC.html
- ↑ http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1970%20BSCC.html