# Gordon Spice

Gordon Spice (18 April 1940 – 10 September 2021) was a British racing driver who competed in both sports cars and Touring Car racing in the 1960s and 1970s, before starting Spice Engineering with fellow racing driver Ray Bellm in the 1980s.

## Racing career

Spice was most notable for his involvement with the Ford Capri, both as a driver and as part of Spice Engineering. Starting off his British Saloon Car Championship career racing Minis in the late 1960s for Downton Engineering Spice went on to paid drives in Minis for Jim Whitehouse’s Equipe Arden team in 1968 (winners of the British Saloon Car Championship title with a Mini the year later with Alec Poole) and raced John Cooper’s team Minis with Steve Neal in 1969 but despite Spice’s pace and occasional race win were outclassed by the 1300 Broadspeed Ford Escorts. Gordon eventually progressed to the works Ford team, CC Developments, co-run by Dave Cook, running the Capri 3.0S. He won his class on five occasions between 1976 and 1980, but never won the championship outright. In all, he took 24 overall race victories. In 1980, he took on Andy Rouse as teammate, and the two dominated their class, only losing out on the title to Win Percy.
In the 1980s, Spice competed in the World Endurance Championship with his own cars, under the banner Spice Engineering, or those of Jean Rondeau. He won the C2 class in the World Championship in 1988.
Spice, as well as running a car accessory shop in Ashford (Middlesex), in the early days of car accessory retailing, he co-founded in 1971, with his brother Derek, Gordon Spice Cash And Carry. They supplied motor accessories to trade customers and, at the peak of the business, they had cash and carry depots in Staines, Watford, Canning Town and Leicester. Subsequent flotation as a PLC in 1986, and an over ambitious investment in a state-of-the-art central distribution centre, plus changing market conditions, led to the demise of the company.

## Personal life

Spice died on 10 September 2021 from cancer, at the age of 81.

## Racing record
### Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos. | Pts | Class |
| 1965 | Gordon Spice | Austin Mini Cooper S | B | BRH | OUL | SNE | GOO | SIL | CRY | BRH 2 | OUL | | | | | | | | 25th | 6 | 9th |
| 1966 | Gordon Spice | Austin Mini Cooper S | B | SNE | GOO | SIL 16 | | BRH 10 | | | | | | | | | | | 19th | 12 | 5th |
| 1966 | Gordon Spice | Morris Mini Cooper S | B | | | | CRY 2† | | BRH 8 | OUL 5† | BRH DNS | | | | | | | | 19th | 12 | 5th |
| 1967 | Gordon Spice | Morris Mini Cooper S | B | BRH 5 | SNE Ret | SIL ? | SIL 5 | MAL 3† | SIL ? | SIL ? | BRH Ret | OUL 3† | BRH Ret | | | | | | 10th | 24 | 3rd |
| 1968 | Equipe Arden | Austin Mini Cooper S | A | BRH ? | THR 10 | SIL 13 | CRY Ret† | MAL Ret† | BRH ? | SIL 23 | CRO 11 | OUL 15 | BRH Ret | BRH 14 | | | | | 7th | 40 | 1st |
| 1969 | Britax-Cooper-Downton | Morris Mini Cooper S | B | BRH 4 | SIL 6 | SNE Ret | THR 6 | SIL Ret | CRY 1† | MAL 1† | CRO 7 | SIL 7 | OUL 14 | BRH 11 | BRH 14 | | | | 5th | 47 | 2nd |
| 1970 | Equipe Arden | Morris Mini Cooper S | B | BRH | SNE | THR | SIL 5 | CRY 2† | SIL 14 | SIL 18 | CRO | BRH 12 | OUL 10 | BRH 10 | BRH DNS | | | | 6th | 48 | 2nd |
| 1974 | Wisharts Garages | Chrysler Hemi 'Cuda | D | MAL | BRH | SIL | OUL | THR | SIL Ret | THR | BRH | ING | BRH | OUL | SNE | BRH | | | NC | 0 | NC |
| 1975 | Wisharts Garages | Ford Capri 3000 GT | C | MAL 3† | BRH Ret | OUL 3† | THR | SIL 10 | BRH 6† | THR 7 | SIL | MAL 6† | SNE 4 | SIL Ret | ING | BRH | OUL | BRH | 7th | 46 | 1st |
| 1976 | Wisharts Garages | Ford Capri II 3.0s | D | BRH 1 | SIL 1 | OUL 2† | THR 2 | THR 6 | SIL 1 | BRH Ret | MAL 3† | SNE 1† | BRH 6 | | | | | | 4th | 58 | 1st |
| 1977 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri II 3.0s | D | SIL 1 | BRH 7 | OUL 2† | THR 2 | SIL 5 | THR Ret | DON 3† | SIL 8 | DON Ret† | BRH 7 | THR 2 | BRH 1 | | | | 5th | 28 | 1st |
| 1978 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri III 3.0s | D | SIL 3 | OUL 1† | THR 1 | BRH 1† | SIL 1† | DON 2† | MAL 1† | BRH 9 | DON DSQ† | BRH 2 | THR 1 | OUL 2† | | | | 4th | 75 | 1st |
| 1979 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri III 3.0s | D | SIL 1 | OUL 1† | THR 1 | SIL 3 | DON 1† | SIL 1 | MAL 4† | DON 5 | BRH Ret | THR 1 | SNE | OUL 4† | | | | 4th | 75 | 1st |
| 1980 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri III 3.0s | D | MAL 2† | OUL 1† | THR 1 | SIL Ret | SIL Ret | BRH 5 | MAL 1† | BRH 1 | THR 1 | SIL 1 | | | | | | 3rd | 67 | 1st |
| 1981 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri III 3.0s | D | MAL 11† | SIL 2 | OUL 2† | THR 2 | BRH | SIL 2 | SIL Ret | DON 5† | BRH 4 | THR 7 | SIL Ret | | | | | 10th | 38 | 4th |
| 1982 | Gordon Spice Racing | Ford Capri III 3.0s | D | SIL 5 | MAL 3† | OUL 1† | THR 2 | THR 3 | SIL 4 | DON Ret | BRH 2 | DON 3 | BRH Ret | SIL ? | | | | | 11th | 39 | 4th |
| 1983 | Gordon Spice Racing | Rover Vitesse | A | SIL | OUL | THR | BRH | THR | SIL Ret | DON | SIL 28 | DON 4 | BRH 5 | SIL | | | | | 21st | 5 | 9th |
| 1984 | Team Toyota GB / Hughes of Beaconsfield | Toyota Celica Supra | A | DON | SIL | OUL | THR | THR | SIL 6 | SNE 4 | BRH | BRH | DON | SIL | | | | | 21st | 4 | 13th |
| Source: ||||||||||||||||||||||
† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

### Complete Formula One non-championship results

(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 1970 | Gordon Spice | Kitchiner K3A | Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | ROC | INT 14 | OUL | | | | | |
| 1971 | Gordon Spice | McLaren M10B | Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | ARG NC | ROC | QUE | SPR | INT 16 | RIN | OUL 15 | VIC 13 |
| 1972 | Gordon Spice | Kitchmac M10B | Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | ROC | BRA | INT Ret | OUL | REP | VIC | | |

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1964 | Lawrence Tune Engineering | Chris Lawrence | Deep Sanderson 301 | P 1.3 | 13 | DNF | DNF |
| 1978 | Charles Ivey Racing | Larry Perkins John Rulon-Miller | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | IMSA GTX | 278 | 14th | 2nd |
| 1979 | Dome Co. Ltd. | Chris Craft Tony Trimmer | Dome Zero RL | S +2.0 | 40 | DNF | DNF |
| 1980 | Belga Jean Rondeau | Philippe Martin Jean-Michel Martin | Rondeau M379 | GTP | 329 | 3rd | 1st |
| 1981 | Otis Jean Rondeau | François Migault | Rondeau M379 | GTP 3.0 | 335 | 3rd | 2nd |
| 1982 | Malardeau Automobiles Jean Rondeau | François Migault Xavier Lapeyre | Rondeau M382 | C | 150 | DNF | DNF |
| 1984 | Spice-Tiga Racing | Ray Bellm Neil Crang | Tiga GC84 | C2 | 69 | DNF | DNF |
| 1985 | Spice Engineering | Ray Bellm Mark Galvin | Spice-Tiga GC85 | C2 | 312 | 14th | 1st |
| 1986 | Spice Engineering | Ray Bellm Jean-Michel Martin | Spice SE86C | C2 | 257 | 19th | 6th |
| 1987 | Spice Engineering | Fermín Velez Philippe de Henning | Spice SE86C | C2 | 321 | 6th | 1st |
| 1988 | Spice Engineering | Ray Bellm Pierre de Thoisy | Spice SE88C | C2 | 351 | 13th | 1st |
| 1989 | Spice Engineering | Ray Bellm Lyn St. James | Spice SE89C | C1 | 229 | DNF | DNF |