Piers Courage

Piers Courage

Piers Courage (1968)
Born	27 May 1942 Colchester, Essex, England, UK
Died	21 June 1970 (aged 28) Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1967–1970
Teams	Lotus, BRM, Brabham, De Tomaso
Entries	29 (27 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	2
Career points	20
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1967 South African Grand Prix
Last entry	1970 Dutch Grand Prix

Piers Raymond Courage (27 May 1942 – 21 June 1970) was a British racing driver. He participated in 29 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 January 1967. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored a total of twenty championship points.

Biography

Piers Courage was the eldest son and heir to the Courage brewing dynasty. Educated at Eton College, he began his racing career in his own Lotus 7, although these early efforts were mostly marked by long periods pointing in the wrong direction following spins.

Following a brief stint touring the European F3 racing circuit in 1964 with a Lotus 22, along with Jonathan Williams, good results persuaded him to pursue a full season in 1965. It was in this season, driving a 1.0L F3 Brabham for Charles Lucas, that he first formed an alliance with Frank Williams, at that time Lucas's other driver and sometime mechanic. A string of good results, including four high-profile wins, encouraged Colin Chapman to offer Courage a seat in a Lotus 41 for the 1966 F3 season. This car was inferior to the dominant Brabhams but Courage still managed to outperform them on occasion, earning him a step up to the F2 category for the 1966 German Grand Prix, where he crashed out.

Piers Courage in a Frank Williams Racing Cars Brabham BT26A at the 1969 British Grand Prix

Signed by the BRM works Formula 1 team for 1967, alongside Chris Irwin, his career nearly ended in ignominious failure. Courage's wild driving style caused him to crash out more times than was professionally healthy, and his tendency to spin at crucial moments led to the team dropping him after the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix. He completed the remainder of the season concentrating on his alternative drive, as was common in the 1960s, in John Coombs's F2 McLaren M4A, finishing fourth in the unclassified drivers' championship. At the end of the season he purchased the car from Coombs. A good run in the McLaren during the winter Tasman Series, including a win at the last race, resulted in Tim Parnell offering a drive in his works-supported Reg Parnell Racing BRM team for 1968. In addition to a good run in F1 in 1968 – including points-scoring finishes in France and Italy – Courage also drove for old friend Frank Williams's F2 team. When Frank Williams Racing Cars decided to make the step up to F1 in 1969, Courage was their first choice as driver.

In Courage's hands, Williams's dark-blue liveried Brabham BT26 was more than a match for many of the works teams. He finished second in both the Monaco Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix, at Watkins Glen. Perhaps his finest drive of the season, though, was during the 1969 Italian Grand Prix at the high-speed Monza circuit. Despite an older car, and a power deficit, he managed to stay with the leading pack for the majority of the race. Only fuel starvation caused his pace to slow near the end, and he finally finished in fifth. A second fifth place, in the British Grand Prix, saw Courage finish the season on sixteen points in eighth place in the drivers' championship.

Accident and death

Courage's fatal accident

Following a business arrangement with Alejandro de Tomaso, Williams switched to a newly designed De Tomaso chassis for the 1970 Formula One season. Unfortunately for Courage, the De Tomaso proved to be overweight and unreliable, and only a third place in the non-championship International Trophy alleviated a poor string of results in the early season. The Dutch Grand Prix seemed to be going slightly better, with Courage qualifying in ninth place around the Zandvoort Circuit. Running in the middle of the field, the De Tomaso's front suspension or steering broke on the bump at Tunnel Oost, causing the car to suddenly go straight on instead of finishing the high-speed bend. It then rode up an embankment (one of the Zandvoort dunes) and disintegrated, with the engine breaking loose from the monocoque, upon which it burst into flames. To lighten the De Tomaso, magnesium was used in its chassis and suspension. The magnesium burned so intensely that many nearby trees and bushes were set alight.

During the impact, one of the front wheels broke off the car and hit Courage's head, tearing away his helmet (both came rolling out of the cloud of dust at the same time). It is assumed that this impact broke Courage's neck or caused fatal head injuries and that he died instantly as a result. Courage was survived by his wife, Lady Sarah Curzon, and his two sons.

Just three years later, Roger Williamson crashed fatally when his car came to rest upside down and burst into flames at exactly the same spot—the Tunnel Oost bump—where Courage's accident had started.

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points
1966	Ron Harris / Team Lotus	Lotus 44 F2	Cosworth straight-4	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER Ret	ITA	USA	MEX					NC	0
1967	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM	RSA Ret													NC	0
		BRM P261	BRM		MON Ret	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR DNS	GER	CAN	ITA	USA	MEX
1968	Reg Parnell Racing	BRM P126	BRM	RSA	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	NED Ret	FRA 6	GBR 8	GER 8	ITA 4	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret		19th	4
1969	Frank Williams Racing Cars	Brabham BT26A	Ford	RSA	ESP Ret	MON 2	NED Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 5	GER Ret	ITA 5	CAN Ret	USA 2	MEX 10			8th	16
1970	Frank Williams Racing Cars	De Tomaso 505/38	Ford	RSA Ret	ESP DNS	MON NC	BEL Ret	NED Ret	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX	NC	0

Complete Tasman Series results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
1967	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P261	PUK	WIG	LAK Ret	WAR	SAN	LON			-	0
1968	Piers Courage	McLaren M4A	LEV 3	PUK 2	WIG 4	TER 5	ORA 3	SUR 3	ADE 5	SAN 1	3rd	34
1969	Frank Williams Racing	Brabham BT24	PUK 3	LEV 2	WIG 4	TER 1	LAK Ret	WAR Ret	SAN Ret		3rd	22

Further reading

• Cooper, A. 2003. Piers Courage: Last of the Gentleman Racers. Haynes Group. 224pp. ISBN 1-85960-663-6

External links

• Career synopsis at gpracing.net
• Career synopsis at sportnetwork.net