David Charles Purley, GM (26 January 1945 – 2 July 1985) was a British Formula One racing driver, born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, who participated in 11 Grands Prix, debuting at Monaco in 1973.
Purley is known for being heroic during the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, as he stopped his car and tried to save his countryman Roger Williamson, who was unable to saved after his car had a massive crash and set on fire, eventually killing him. For his attempted heroism, Purley was given the George Medal.
After his racing career ended, Purley went in to professional aerobatics. But he was killed when his specially modified biplane crashed into the English Channel, offshore from his home town.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
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| 1973 |  LEC Refrigeration Racing
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March-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1974 | Token Racing
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Token-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1977 | LEC Refrigeration Racing
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LEC-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos | |||
| 1973 | 
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| Ret | DNS | Ret | 15th | 9th | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 |
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| 1977 |
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| DNQ | 13th | 14th | Ret | DNPQ | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | DNS | Did not start | ||
| Italics | Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap | [+] More Symbols | |||
