Lance Macklin

Who was Lance Macklin?

Lance Noel Macklin was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952.

Macklin's father was the automotive entrepreneur Noel Macklin, founder of both the Invicta and Railton car companies, as well as Fairmile Marine, a manufacturer of motor gun and torpedo boats during World War II. Macklin was born in Kensington, and educated at Eton College. He volunteered for service with the Royal Navy in 1939 and was assigned to work on motor gun boats.

On demobilisation, Macklin decided to follow his early ambition and become a racing driver, although an early attempt to enter a race on the Isle of Man was refused on grounds that he had no experience. During his Formula One career, Macklin scored no championship points, principally due to his uncompetitive HWM cars. His best career result came when he won the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy, at Silverstone in 1952. In the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans he was involved in the most catastrophic accident in racing history, which killed Pierre Levegh and 80 spectators. Macklin swerved to avoid hitting the Jaguar of Mike Hawthorn, who was braking hard in a late attempt to pit, and moved into the path of Levegh's car causing it to clip his. Although Macklin's car crashed, he was uninjured. Following a later incident in the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod, in which Macklin crashed his Austin-Healey 100S avoiding an accident in which Jim Mayers and William T. Smith were killed, Macklin retired from motor sport at the urging of his then girlfriend.