Audley Pottinger

Pottinger in a non-championship Eläintarha race in Finland.

Aintree, United Kingdom

**Audley Pottinger** (3rd February 1929 - 27th May 1956) was a British racing driver who raced for Jaguar in the 1956 World Sportscar Championship.

## Racing Career

Pottinger finished an admirable 4th in the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans, the highest of any Jaguar in the field. This result gave him the opportunity to take part in the next championship race, the 1956 Internationales ADAV 1000km Rennen auf dem Nürburgring, where the Jaguars were the favourites for victory.

#### **1956 100km of the Nurburgring**

Pottinger had a poor qualifying, suffering punctures from running wide in his only two laps. Luckily, other drivers also suffered from similar fates and Pottinger started from the front row.

Immediately to start the race, Pottinger was involved in an accident as a Mercedes starting at the back of the field missed his braking zone, coming into contact with Pottinger and another Jaguar being driven by Rick Jones, spinning Pottinger and putting Jones in the grass. The incident caused uproar in the Jaguar pits as front runner Joel Ericsson had suffered car problems and could not start, making Pottinger the favourite. He returned to the road in last with some damage to the rear-end of the car. He was forced to repair this damage in the pits and at the time it was assumed to be purely bodywork damage. Pottinger had the car overfueled in order to finish the race without any more pitstops.

#### **Final lap and fatal accident**

Beginning the final lap, Pottinger had climbed up to 3rd and was hounding Peter Quinn for 2nd. The Mercedes driver had been on the defence the entire race and had worn tyres. Pottinger was patient, but ended up spinning somewhere around the Kallenhard corner. It is suspected that during this spin a piece of the suspension was damaged further, having been weakened by the earlier accident. Pottinger then pushed hard, noted by spectators as driving faster than the qualifying session beforehand. He had re-caught Quinn by Schwalbenschwanz, losing time on the straight, but moved alongside Quinn coming towards Hohenrain. Entering the corner, Pottinger was alongside, but barely. Spectators noted that Pottinger then locked the brakes as Quinn cut across the British driver. Pottinger came across the track, having contact with Quinn, but lost control of the car in the braking zone. It is suspected that a piece of the suspension broke, with debris being found before the corner, though many assume it was simply a driver error.

Pottinger speared a poorly-positioned Armco barrier on the outside of the corner, hitting the end of the wall almost head on. The barrier failed, having been hit in an unusual way, and was uprooted and twisted in the accident. The front of the car had the brunt of the impact. It was torn apart in the process, launching tyres and engine pieces across the road. The rear half of the vehicle (including the cockpit) didn't lose the momentum that the front had and separated, throwing the mangled wreckage clear of the other half of the car, spinning across the road. The extra fuel he had been carrying ignited, having been spread across the track. Pottinger died at the scene of massive injuries inflicted by the barrier and burns.