    robert paul hawkins (12 october 1937 in melbourne, victoria, australia â 26 may 1969 at oulton park, cheshire, england) was an australian motor racing driver. the son of a racing motorcyclist-turned-church minister, hawkins was a capable single-seater driver but really made his mark as an outstanding sports car competitor driving ford gt40s and lola t70s. in 1969 hawkins was included in the fia list of graded drivers, an elite group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.f.i.a. year book of automobile sport, p.s.l. publications limited., london, 1969. hawkins was hugely popular and known as hawkeye; the son of a gentleman of the cloth he was a colourful character with a wide colourful vocabulary.peter swinger, âmotor racing circuits in england : then & now" (ian allan publishing, isbn 0 7110 3104 5, 2008) ==early racing career== hawkins began racing in australia with an austin-healey in 1958. he left australia and arrived in england in 1960.castrol advertisement, motor sport, october 1967, page 893. he found employment with the donald healey motor company ltd.,motor sport, july 1960, page 554. under john sprinzel: "i put an ad in the evening standard newspaper looking fora mechanic and employed a really good guy to be our worksforeman; his name was paul hawkins. paul literally came instraight off the boat from australia. heâd done a little bit of racingand was a very good mechanic, very good as he knew his stuff, andcertainly knew the best parts of the english language, too." interview with john sprinzel, vintage racecar, vol 12, issue 5, may 2009. hawkins was soon behind the wheel of an austin-healey sprite, racing at the aintree 200 meeting on 30 april 1960, and winning his class in the gt race.the times, 2 may 1960. he then finished 38th at the 1960 nurburgring 1000 km race, with co-driver cyril simson, known as team 221, on a "miserable foggy day in may".d.s.j., motor sport, july 1960, pa
12_Hours_of_Reims_drivers 1937_births 1969_deaths 24_Hours_of_Le_Mans_drivers Australian_Formula_One_drivers Australian_racing_drivers DW_Racing_Enterprises_Formula_One_drivers Racing_drivers_from_Melbourne Racing_drivers_killed_while_racing Sport_deaths_in_England World_Sportscar_Championship_drivers