David Hobbs (racing driver)

David Wishart Hobbs[1] (born 9 June 1939)[2] is a British former racing driver. He worked as a commentator from the mid 1970s for CBS until 1996, Speed from 1996 to 2012 and NBC from 2013 to 2017. In 1969 Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, a group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.[3] Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.[4]

David Hobbs
BornDavid Wishart Hobbs
(1939-06-09) 9 June 1939 (age 85)
Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityBritish
Active years19671968, 1971, 1974
TeamsBRM, Honda, McLaren
Entries7
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1967 British Grand Prix
Last entry1974 Italian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1962–72, 1979, 1981–85, 1987–89
TeamsTeam Lotus Engineering
Lola Cars Ltd
Standard Triumph
Maranello Concessionaires
John Wyer Automotive
Roger Penske/Kirk F. White
Equipe Matra-Simca
Grand Touring Cars/Ford France
EMKA Racing
John Fitzpatrick Racing
Joest Racing
Richard Lloyd Racing
Best finish3rd (1969, 1984)
Class wins1 (1982)
NASCAR Cup Series career
2 races run over 1 year
First race1976 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Driving career

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Hobbs was born, in Royal Leamington Spa, England, just months before the outbreak of World War II. His career as an international racing driver spanned 30 years at all levels including in sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.

Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.[5]

In 1971 Hobbs won the L&M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America, Edmonton and Lime Rock.[6] Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500[7] and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.

Television commentator

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Hobbs provided commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett) until 2013, the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996 working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013.[8] He also worked for ESPN, serving as an analyst for their Formula 1 coverage from 1988 until 1992.

Other appearances

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Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.

Personal life

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Hobbs's father, Howard Frederick Hobbs, was an Australian-born engineer and inventor who developed an early version of the automatic transmission, known as the Mecha-Matic. Colin Chapman had this transmission fitted to his Lotus Elite racecars.[9] Hobbs lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a car dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which was sold to the Van Horn Automotive Group in March 2023.[10] His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs.[who?]

Racing record

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Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Pts
1967 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P60 2.1 V8 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR
8
CAN
9
ITA USA MEX NC 0
Lola Cars Lola T100 BMW M10 2.0 L4 GER
101
1968 Honda Racing F1 Honda RA301 Honda RA301E 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA
Ret
CAN USA MEX NC 0
1971 Penske-White Racing McLaren M19A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
10
NC 0
1974 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT
7
ITA
9
CAN USA NC 0
Source:[11]
Notes
  • ^1Formula 2 entry.

Non-Championship Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1964 Merlyn Racing Merlyn Mk7 (F2) Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 DMT NWT SYR AIN
Ret
INT SOL MED RAN
1966 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 33 BRM P60 2.0 V8 RSA SYR
3
INT OUL
1968 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P101 3.0 V12 ROC
9
INT
6
OUL
6
1970 Team Surtees Surtees TS5 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT
Ret
OUL
1971 Hogan Racing McLaren M10B (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE
DNQ
SPR INT RIN OUL VIC
1973 Hogan Racing Lola T330 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC
Ret
INT
Ret
1974 Hogan Racing Lola T332 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 PRE ROC INT
DNS
Source:[11]

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts Class
1962 Peter Berry Racing Ltd Jaguar Mk II 3.8 D SNE
?
GOO
4
AIN
3
SIL
4
CRY AIN BRH
5
OUL 18th 8 6th
1968 Malcolm Gartlan Racing Ford Falcon Sprint D BRH
4
THR
2
SIL
Ret
CRY
Ret†
MAL BRH SIL
1
CRO
2
OUL
3
BRH BRH
2
9th 32 3rd
1970 Pierre de Plessis Chevrolet Camaro Z28 D BRH SNE THR SIL
Ret
CRY SIL SIL CRO BRH OUL BRH BRH NC 0 NC
Source:[12]

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1962   Team Lotus Engineering   Frank Gardner Lotus Elite Mk14-Climax GT
1.3
286 8th 1st
1963   Lola Cars Ltd.   Richard Attwood Lola Mk6 GT-Ford P
+3.0
151 DNF DNF
1964   Standard Triumph   Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire P
+3.0
272 21st 3rd
1965   Standard Triumph Ltd.   Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire GT
1.3
71 DNF DNF
1966   Maranello Concessionaires   Mike Salmon Ferrari Dino 206S P
2.0
14 DNF DNF
1967   Lola Cars Ltd.
  Team Surtees
  John Surtees Lola T70 Mk.III-Aston Martin P
+5.0
3 DNF DNF
1968   J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.   Paul Hawkins Ford GT40 Mk. I S
5.0
107 DNF DNF
1969   J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.   Mike Hailwood Ford GT40 Mk. I S
5.0
368 3rd 2nd
1970   J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.   Mike Hailwood Porsche 917K S
5.0
49 DNF DNF
1971   Roger Penske
  Kirk F. White
  Mark Donohue Ferrari 512M/P S
5.0
DNF DNF
1972   Equipe Matra-Simca Shell   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Matra-Simca MS660C S
3.0
278 DNF DNF
1979   Grand Touring Cars Ltd.
  Ford Concessionaires France
  Vern Schuppan
  Jean-Pierre Jaussaud
Mirage M10-Ford Cosworth S
+2.0
121 NC NC
1981   EMKA Productions Limited   Eddie Jordan
  Steve O'Rourke
BMW M1 Gr.5 Gr.5 236 DNF DNF
1982   John Fitzpatrick Racing   John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick IMSA
GTX
329 4th 1st
1983   John Fitzpatrick Racing   John Fitzpatrick
  Dieter Quester
Porsche 956 C 135 DNF DNF
1984   Skoal Bandit Porsche Team   Philippe Streiff
  Sarel van der Merwe
Porsche 956B C1 351 3rd 3rd
1985   John Fitzpatrick Racing   Jo Gartner
  Guy Edwards
Porsche 956B C1 366 4th 4th
1987   Joest Racing   Sarel van der Merwe
  Chip Robinson
Porsche 962C C1 4 DNF DNF
1988   Blaupunkt Joest Racing   Didier Theys
  Franz Konrad
Porsche 962C C1 380 5th 5th
1989   Richard Lloyd Racing   Steven Andskär
  Damon Hill
Porsche 962C GTi C1 228 DNF DNF
Source:[13]

Indianapolis 500 results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 NWCC Pts Ref
1976 DeWitt Racing 73 Chevy RSD DAY
34
CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL NA 0 [14]
Donlavey Racing 9 Ford MCH
17
BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT
Daytona 500
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Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1976 DeWitt Racing Chevrolet 16 34

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1981   JPS Team BMW   Allan Grice BMW 635 CSi 6 Cylinder & Rotary 113 7th 2nd
1982   JPS Team BMW   Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi A 157 5th 5th

References

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  1. ^ FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport 1975. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1975. white p. 37. ISBN 0-85059-195-3.
  2. ^ H. H. Pitt and M. N. Wicks, The Pitt Family of Payneham (Adelaide, 1977)
  3. ^ F.I.A. Year Book of Automobile Sport, P.S.L. Publications Limited., London, 1969.
  4. ^ David Hobbs at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  5. ^ "FORMULA ONE - HOBBS: The North American Swing". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  6. ^ Trenton Evening Times, 7 September 1971, Page 37.
  7. ^ "David Hobbs 1976 Winston Cup Results – Racing-Reference.info". Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  8. ^ Hobbs, David (September 2012). "In Racing, Broadcasting: Timing is Everything". Road & Track. 64 (1): 94.
  9. ^ "Howard Frederick Hobbs and His Transmission Heritage". 2020.
  10. ^ "Plymouth-based van Horn Auto Group acquires David Hobbs Honda in Glendale". 9 March 2023.
  11. ^ a b "David Hobbs – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  13. ^ "All Results of David Hobbs". RacingSportCars. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  14. ^ "David Hobbs − 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by US Formula A/F5000
Champion

1971
Succeeded by