Bill Aston

Who was Bill Aston?

William "Bill" Aston was a British racing driver who participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, for his own team Aston Butterworth.

Prior to taking part in Formula One, Aston was a test pilot and motorcycle racer. He turned to four-wheel racing with a Cooper-JAP in Formula Three and later graduated into Formula Two. He came close to winning a heat race at Chimay in 1951, driving an 1,100 c.c. Cooper, but his car failed on the last lap. In the same year he set a 500cc world speed record at Montlhéry in the streamlined Cooper, fitted with a V-twin J.A.P. motor.

For 1952 he teamed up with Archie Butterworth to build the Aston Butterworth, a car that raced quite well, but was unfortunately very unreliable. He entered the car in the 1952 German Grand Prix but failed on the second lap. At the Italian Grand Prix he failed to make it through qualifying. Aston raced on into his 60s, with a Mini and a Jaguar, before he retired.