Skylar West

Birmingham, United Kingdom

**Skylar West** (born 25th September 1956) is a retired British racing driver. He was the 1983 Formula One World Drivers' Champion and was the 4th British driver to do so after Spencer Harvey, Alexander Wilson and Nicolas Hill.

## Early Career

Skylar began to have an interest in racing after attending the 1967 British Grand Prix with his family, where he saw his heroes Alexander Wilson and Nicolas Hill have a memorable duel. West started in regional karting until 1976, when he began taking part in British Formula 3. In the three seasons he was in the series he managed to finish a strong second place in 1977 and 4th in 1978 but was forced to leave mid-season due to his commitment to Wolf Racing.

## Formula One

### **Wolf Racing, Lotus and Brabham (1978 - 1981)**

Skylar's impressive performances in Formula 3 caught the eye of Wolf Racing. It was announced prior to the 1978 British Grand Prix that he was going to debut after a successful testing day with the team. Despite a retirement, he managed to set some respectable lap times and was one of the fastest cars in practice. In the Canadian Grand Prix, Skylar managed an impressive fifth place in qualifying, but retired following an accident.

His performances earned him a full-time seat for the 1979 season. However, the Wolf would be uncompetitive compared to the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Dingley's Tyrrell. Despite that, Skylar managed to take two suprising victories in the German and Canadian Grands Prix. Skylar finished 9th overall in the 1979 Drivers' Championship.

In 1980 Skylar went to Lotus to partner the four-time champion Stefan Van Damme. The car however was highly uncompetitive with Lotus recording their worst finish at the time in constructors in 5th. Skylar managed to secure the team's best result of the season with a victory in the German Grand Prix, after a close battle with Chuck Dingley late in the race.

In the off-season Skylar West signed with Brabham for an one year deal. While it was expected that the new team-driver combination was going to be one of the dark horses of the championship, the team had an underwhelming season. Skylar managed a consistant season but the team finished 8th in the constructors, after finishing 2nd the year prior. Skylar would match his 1980 season finish of 11th place in the standings, but would go winless for the first time in his full time career.

### **Renault (1982 - 1984)**

Renault announced at the Italian Grand Prix that Skylar West would partner Strip Weathers for the 1982 season. The team had just finished 6th with an impressive win for Strip at the German Grand Prix. The team however would have a unreliable year in 1982. Skylar and Strip had good qualifying pace, but their race pace was left to desire. Skylar qualified a then best second place in the German Grand Prix, only to finish in 6th after lacklustre pace throughout the race.

1983 however would be Skylar's best year yet. In a surprise turn of events, Renault came to South Africa with a brand new engine and a major revision of their 1982 car. Skylar and Strip dominated the time sheets and West would secure his first win of the season. Suspicions arose of the car's performance throughout the season due to the power of the new engine and with rumours of a launch control system being present in their cars. In the meantime, Skylar managed to take three wins in the opening four races and took a commanding lead in the championship. Despite retiring in the next three, West would take an emotional home victory in Donington Park.

West managed a further fourth place in Germany, but the unreliability of the Renault would prove costly as at the final race of the season with West being tied on points with Vivaldo Margheriti. The two would be involved in a controversial accident at the entry to turn one when Skylar turned into Vivaldo's Williams causing a collision between the two. West was out on the spot but Vivaldo continued with a damaged car. Margheriti would finish outside the points, giving West his first championship and becoming the fourth British champion. After the race, West was escorted from the circuit with guards to avoid angry fans following the incident at the start of the race.

West and Renault would then dominate the 1984 season with West scoring a further five victories and what appeared to be a second championship. However an FIA investigation was taking part during the season and found Renault guilty of running with an illegal car. The announcement took place shortly after the Italian Grand Prix, in which the FIA voided Renault's season, along with both West and Weathers being stripped out of any points scored throughout the year. Following the announcement, Renault would leave the sport as a team but would continue to supply engines. This left West without a drive for 1985 until he struck a deal to drive for Ligier.

### **First stint at Ligier (1985)**

West was forced to miss the first race of the 1985 season as part of the FIA's punishment.

### **Ferrari and sabbatical (1986-1987)**

For the 1986 season, West went to Ferrari for a one year deal, as he was a late replacement after the team couldn't sign Jack Wilson before the season began. Without much preperation, Skylar struggled while his teammate Fabiano Margheriti won his first championship. Ferrari managed to secure the constructors but after the season the team decided to not retain Skylar's services and instead opted to sign Jack Wilson. West's best finish of the season 2nd in the Canadian Grand Prix.

After the season had finished, Skylar took a year off doing a full year sportscar programme with Spice Engineering in 1987.

### **Second stint at Ligier (1988-1990)**

Skylar returned to Ligier for the 1988 season after the team showed promise in the previous season. West would manage to secure the team a top six finish in the Constructors' Championship and a podium in the Italian Grand Prix in a race of attrition.

*(1989)*

*(1990)*