The victorious Ron Flockhart/Ivor Bueb Ecurie Ecosse entered D-Type Jaguar during the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours, it was the third and last win for the fabulous car which reigned supreme at la Sarthe from 1955-1957…
The winning car covered 4397km, an average speed of 183kmh, a record which remained unbroken for four years. D-Types also finished second, third, fourth and sixth, an unparalleled result to that time. Ninian Sanderson/John Lawrence were second, Jean Lucas/ Jean-Marie Brussin third, Paul Frere/’Freddy’ Rouselle fourth and Mike Hawthorn/Masten Gregory sixth. Flockhart also won the race in 1956 partnered with Ninian Sanderson.
The car on its back is the Tony Brooks/Noel Cunningham-Reid Aston Martin DBR1/300. Brooks ran wide on the exit of Tertre Rouge, rolled and was hit by Umberto Maglioli’s Porsche, the cars were running second and seventh respectively at the time. Both drivers escaped without serious harm, the incident happened during the twelfth hour of the race.
XKD606, Bueb up leading the Lewis-Evans/Marino/Martino Ferari 315S (fifth), #4 behind the Ferrari is the Hamilton/Gregory D Type (sixth)(unattributed)
Undated unattributed shot of the ‘Browns lane’ factory, a C-Type being fettled as well as the Ds. (unattributed)
Technical Specifications and XKD606…
The summary technical specifications of the ‘XKD’ were included in this earlier post on its close brother the ‘XKSS’; https://primotipo.com/2014/05/30/72/
The winning car was XKD606, the last long nosed 1956 works car built, it was unraced that year as Desmond Titterington crashed it in practice. Jag withdrew as a factory team from racing at the end of 1956, 606 was delivered to Ecosse in November 1956 and was successful in 1957 with a 3.8-litre fuel injected engine at Le Mans with plenty of works support. This engine gave circa 306bhp@5500rpm and 312lb ft of torque@4500rpm.
Flockhart in red alongside Ivor Bueb post victory with the Ecosse Team and XKD606. (unattributed)
The car was raced at Buenos Aires later in 1957 by Flockhart and Galvez, but was crashed by Flockhart and rebuilt with a new chassis and bonnet.
The car remained in Ecosse’ hands in 1958-1960 and raced again at Le Mans by Flockhart and Bruce Halford in 1960, it failed to finish. The car raced on into 1961 in the hands of privateer Jack Wober and was split into two after a crash – the body and rear suspension, and front subframe and engine, both halves were then completed with replica parts creating two ‘original cars’.
The Louman Museum in The Hague acquired both cars in 1994. XKD606 was recreated by repair and uniting its original components, these days it is used frequently in historic events.
Flockhart returns the car post finish, Le Mans 1957. (unattributed)
Ron Flockhart…
Ron Flockhart at the wheel of the awesome, wild but unsuccessful BRM Type 15, the 1.5-litre supercharged V16 racer by then running as a Formula Libre car in the UK. In essence the car was late and largely missed the Grand Prix formula for which it was designed. Goodwood, Easter Monday 1954. (John Ross Motor Racing Archive)
Flockhart began racing motor bikes in Italy and the Middle East after the War before being de-mobbed by the British Army, having served in WW2.
He commenced in cars with the the ex-Raymond Mays ERA R4D in 1952, progressed to a Connaught and was picked up by the Owen Organisation where he was essentially their third driver. He contested fourteen championship Grands Prix between 1954 and 1960, the last aboard a Cooper T51 Climax in the US Grand Prix at Sebring. He was very competitive in sports cars, inclusive of the two victories at Le Mans.
# 6,8,7 Jean Behra, Ron Flockhart and Harry Schell in BRM P25’s and #2 Masten Gregory Maserati 250F, #15 Horace Gould Maser 250F. Daily Express Trophy, Silverstone 1957. Behra won from Schell and Flockhart, Gregory was 5th. (John Ross Motor Racing Archive)
Flockhart in his BRM P25 Monaco GP 1959. He spun on lap 64 having qualified well in 10th. Jack Brabham won in a Cooper T51 Climax, his first Championship GP victory.(unattributed)
Like many drivers of the period, Ron Flockhart was a pilot who flew to and from the circuits of Europe more quickly than commercial airline or car travel allowed.
He used an Auster for a long time to places such as Folkingham, Snetterton and Silverstone while testing for BRM in the UK, and introduced Jack Brabham to light aircraft.
His racing injuries restricted his activities somewhat, but his love of flying and passion for speed led him to decide to attempt the Sydney-London record for petrol powered planes. The attempt was backed by the United Dominions Trust who wanted publicity for their racing team ‘UDT Laystall’, a noted equipe of the period.
His first attempt in 1961 fell 1500 miles short of London when his Mustang suffered serious engine failure, rain having seeped into the engine whilst on the ground in Greece. Flockhart enjoyed Rock-star fame and attention in Australia before and during the attempts. To add insult to injury the first plane was written off after suffering a cockpit fire before take-off.
Ron Flockhart in his ‘Border Reivers’ Cooper T53 Climax, Ballarat Airfield, Victoria 1961. He raced well, 3rd behind the factory BRM P48’s of Dan Gurney and Graham Hill. He also raced in Australia the following summer in a Lotus 18. (autopics)
Ron competed in New Zealand and Australia that summer before setting off for London in a second ex-RAAF Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation built Mustang G-ARUK on 12 April 1962.
He left Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne’s southern outer suburbs enroute to Sydney where he was heading to have additional fuel tanks fitted. The Mustang had only been in the air 10 minutes, heading east over the Dandenong Ranges when he radioed in to report ‘I’ve got trouble. I’ve lost my compass, I’m at 3000ft and in heavy cloud’, immediately after this, contact with the plane was lost, the aircraft crashed into bush on the Monbulk hillside in thick cloud and light misty rain. Flockhart was still in the aircraft debris which was spread around the crash site, strapped to the remains of his seat with his parachute attached.
Ron Flockhart in the hours before his death. P51 Mustang CA-18 Mk21 frame # ‘A68-113’ was one of many built by the Australian ‘Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation’ in Melbourne during WW2 (Geoff Goodall)
A Ministry of Aviation Report did not conclusively determine the cause of the accident but it was considered a possibility ‘that the pilot temporarily lost control of the aircraft whilst circling in cloud, and that it subsequently stalled during the recovery and turn to avoid the high terrain…’
Etcetera…
Lovely portrait of Ron Flockhart at the 1959 Silverstone ‘Daily Express International Trophy’ meeting in May. RF finished 3rd in his BRM P25, the race won by Brabhams’ Cooper T51 Climax. (John Ross Racing Archive)
Etcetera…
Flockhart Le Mans 1957 (Automobile Year)
Nice shot of Flockhart cornering the D Type during the ’57 race. ‘XKD606’ works supported with factory 3.8-litre injected engine, last of the ‘long-noses built’ (unattributed)
Ron Flockhart in the D Type he shared with Ninian Sanderson to win Le Mans in 1956 (Automobile Year)
Flockhart leads the second placed sister Ecurie Ecosse D Type of Sanderson/Lawrence over the line, record distance travelled which stood for the next four years (unattributed)
Flockhart fifth in his Cooper T51 Climax, Warwick Farm 100 January 1961. The race was won by Moss in a Lotus 18 Climax (John Arkwright)
Photo Credits…
Motorsport Magazine, autopics, Geoff Goodall, John Ross Motor Racing Archive, John Arkwright, Automobile Year
Finito…
primotipo... 