Roger Williamson (born February 2, 1948 in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom – died July 29, 1973 at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort, North Holland, Netherlands) was a Formula One driver who died in the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Park Zandvoort.
Formula One Career[]
Pre-Formula One[]
Williamson raced in the British Formula Three Championship, in which he managed to win both the 1971 and 1972 championship titles.
After winning his second title, Williamson was offered a testing position in the BRM Formula One team for the 1973 season.
1973[]
During the 1973 season, Williamson was offered a position on the March Formula One team. Prior to this, he was testing for the BRM Formula One team and was advised not to take a racing position.
Williamson made his Formula One debut in the British Grand Prix, in which he retired after an eleven car pile up on the first lap of the race.
Death[]
Williamson was only at his second race, his début coming just two weeks earlier at the 1973 British Grand Prix. On the 8th lap, a suspected tyre failure caused Williamson's car to fly into the barriers at high speed, then was catapulted 300 yards (275 metres). His cars petrol tank had been ignited as the car scraped along the track. Williamson was not seriously injured, but trapped in the blaze.
The race continued (under yellow flags), but Williamson's friend and fellow racer, David Purley, went to help overturn Williamson's car. Purley could not do this, while the marshalls, that were not in fire-proof clothing, refused to help. The single fire extinguisher in the area (wielded by Purley after taking it forcibly from a marshall) was not enough to stop the flame.
After eight minutes, a fire truck arrived, but by the time the fire was put out and the car righted, Williamson had died of asphyxiation.
Helmet Design[]
Roger Williamson's helmet design
Williamson wore a simplistic helmet design. It was red, with the exception of the lower area and an oval on each side of the head which were white.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
F1 Career Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Pts | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | STP March Racing Team | March-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
Statistics[]
| Entries | 2 |
| Starts | 2 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Front row starts | 0 |
| Victories | 0 |
| Podia | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Laps raced | 7 |
| kms raced | 29.582 |
| Races led | 0 |
| Laps led | 0 |
| kms led | 0 |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pts | Pos | ||||||||
| 1973 | 
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0 | NC | ||||||||
| Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||
Notes[]
External links[]
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