Peter Quinn

Quinn in 1957

London, United Kingdom

**Sir Peter James Quinn** is a British former racing driver, later turned journalist and restauranteur. He currently writes for the F1 Racing magazine.

As a racing driver, he drove in the World Sportscars Championship and raced with Mercedes, Porsche, and Ford. He also raced sporadically for multiple teams in Formula One and stood on the podium multiple times, but failed to win a race. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever racing drivers and one of the best drivers to never win in Formula One.

## Early Life

The child of James and Catherine, Peter had a privileged ubringing in central London. His father was an engineer who fought in the First World War.

Quinn's family moved away from London before the Second World War. Peter's childhood home in London was destroyed in the Blitz during the war.

## Racing Career

Quinn had his first taste of racing when he accompanied his father to watch the 1938 Donington Grand Prix. Peter enjoyed the race and was a fan of Richard Seaman until Seaman's death in 1939.

With the help of his father, Peter took part in his first car race at 17. He initially only raced at local circuits, gaining the necessary experience and knowledge, before branching out to race nationally. He met his lifelong friend, John Mackintosh, at a race at Brands Hatch in 1951 and the pair would later become teammates with each other throughout their respective racing careers.

Quinn was noticed by a Mercedes engineer after he dominated a rain-soaked race at Oulton Park. The engineer was impressed by Quinn's consistency and his ability to push relentlessly throughout an entire race. After a few months, Quinn was contacted by a Mercedes representative and he was hired to join their team for the World Sportscar Championship of 1955.

Quinn initially struggled to get used to the Mercedes 300SLR car due to it's power and weight but eventually tamed it after rigorous testing throughout the end of 1954. He made his race debut with the team at the 1955 12 Hours of Sebring, teaming up with John Mackintosh, who had been with the team since 1954. Quinn had plenty of success with Mercedes during his time with the team and remained there until the end of 1958 before they withdrew from racing that year. Quinn joined Porsche in 1959 and achieved mixed success with the team, before switching to race for Ford for the 1965 season.

Quinn's arguably greatest drive would come at the 1967 12 Hours of Charade. He had already taken wins in the first two events of the season at Buenos Aires and Le Mans and was favourite to take the championship that year. His teammate Mackintosh started the race but would crash early on at *La Carriere*. He limped the car back to the pits, despite a broken wrist and suspected concussion. The car was now a lap down on the rest of the pack, having required repairs after Mackintosh's shunt and Quinn also knew that he would have to do almost twice as many hours due to Mackintosh's injuries. Despite this, he jumped into the car and pushed his hardest to catch up. After several hours he had unlapped himself and as the Sun set and the night closed in he hunted down the other cars. He passed Teunissen at the start of the final lap, before outbraking the Ferrari of Alexander Wilson into the hairpin. He finished almost a minute behind the winning Ferrari of Bisset, but his recovery drive to second place is widely regarded as one of the most legendary drives of all time. Quinn would pass out as he exited the car and was barely able to stand on the podium due to exhaustion.

He remained in the WSC for several more seasons before retiring in 1972, having achieved all that he had wanted to in racing.

## Post-Racing

Quinn retired from racing at the end of the 1972 World Sportscar Championship to spend more time with his family. He continued to be involved in the racing world and reported for several racing magazines. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 due to his racing achievements.

Quinn was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1985 for his services to motorsport.