Paddy Driver (born in Johannesburg, 13 May 1934) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and a racing driver from South Africa.
He competed on the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit from 1959 to 1965. His best result was in 1965 when he rode a Matchless to a third-place finish in the 500cc world championship behind Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini.
He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. Driver was a regular competitor in the South African Formula One championship for many years, starting with the 1963 Rand Grand Prix, but only graduated full-time in 1969, driving a Formula 5000 Lola for Doug Serrurier. From 1971 he entered his own McLaren under the guise of Team Personality, finishing third in the series final classification. In 1974 he was hired by Team Gunston, racing a Formula One Lotus 72, and repeating his third place.
Formula One Career[]
After achieving success in motorcycle racing, Driver transitioned to car racing, competing in both Formula One and Formula 5000 events. He participated in a total of 2 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix — both at his home South African Grand Prix, in 1963 and 1974.
He drove a non-works Lotus 21 in 1963 and later, a Formula 5000-based McRae GM1 under the LDS marque in 1974. Although he did not score any championship points in F1, his appearances were notable for representing South African talent on the world stage.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 |  Selby Auto Spares
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Lotus-BRM | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1974 | Team Gunston
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Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
Full Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Results[]
| Year | Class | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Poles | FLs | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 500cc | Norton | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 7th |
| 1959 | 500cc | Norton | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | NC |
| 1960 | 500cc | Norton | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | NC |
| 1961 | 500cc | Norton | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 11th |
| 1962 | 500cc | Norton | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | NC |
| 1963 | 500cc | Norton | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 6 | 9th |
| 1964 | 500cc | Norton | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 6th |
| 1965 | 500cc | Matchless (AJS) | 6 | 0 | 2 | – | – | 22 | 3rd |
| 1966 | 500cc | Matchless / AJS | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | NC |
| 1967 | 500cc | Matchless / AJS | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 14th |
| 1968 | 500cc | Matchless / AJS | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | NC |
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 | Pts | Pos | ||||||||
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| 1974 | 
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| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||