Johnny Hindmarsh
Johnny Hindmarsh at the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Born
John Stuart Hindmarsh

(1907-11-25)25 November 1907
Died6 September 1938(1938-09-06) (aged 30)
Near Brooklands, Surrey, England
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19301931, 19341935, 1937
TeamsFox & Nicholl
A.A. Rigby
Best finish1st (1935)
Class wins1 (1935)

John Stuart Hindmarsh (25 November 1907 – 6 September 1938) was an English racecar driver and aviator.

Career

Hindmarsh was educated at Sherborne, Dorset and then attended the Royal Military College. He joined the Royal Army Tank Corps in 1928, then in 1930 learned to fly with the Royal Air Force.

Hindmarsh also raced Talbot and Lagonda cars; he won the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1935 in a 4½ litre Lagonda M45R Rapide with Luis Fontés (222 laps; 3006.797 km; average speed 125.283 km/h).

Hindmarsh was killed aged 30 while test flying Hawker Hurricane I L1652 at Brooklands on 6 September 1938; he is thought to have been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes in the cockpit, and the aeroplane then dived almost vertically into the ground and exploded at the foot of St George's Hill almost opposite the Vickers factory entrance.

Family life

Hindmarsh married the multiple record breaking racing driver Violette Cordery on 15 September 1931 at Stoke D'Abernon parish church, and they had two daughters, one of whom married the racing driver Roy Salvadori. Widowed in 1938, Cordery retired from public life until her death on 30 December 1983 in Oxshott, Surrey.[1][2]

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1930 United Kingdom Fox & Nicholl United Kingdom Tim Rose-Richards Talbot 90 3.0 160 4th 2nd
1931 United Kingdom Fox & Nicholl United Kingdom Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon Talbot AV105 3.0 132 DNF
(Chassis)
1934 United Kingdom A.A. Rigby United Kingdom Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon Singer Le Mans 1½ Litre 1.5 195 7th 3rd
1935 United Kingdom Arthur W. Fox & Charles Nicholl United Kingdom Luis Fontés Lagonda M45R Rapide 5.0 222 1st 1st
1937 United Kingdom Arthur W. Fox United Kingdom Charles Brackenbury Lagonda LG45 5.0 30 DNF

References

  1. Williams, Jean; Williams, Simon. "Cordery, Violette". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/101214. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Obituary - Roy Salvadori, The Guardian, 6 June 2012, by Alan Henry
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