Dear Jaguar lovers let me share with you today; story about a man whose name I decided to add in my Jaguarslover blog and not just his name but also the achievements that he made throughout his career.
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His name was Major Anthony Peter Roylance “Tony” Rolt, he was born in Bordon, Hampshire and got education from Eton College. He was totally crazy about the car racing; therefore he chose racing as his early career, in a very young age. But after a brief pre-war career as racing driver, he then entered the Sandhurst Military Academy and in 1939 got commissioned in the Rifle Brigade.
Tony Rolt performed many wonders in his military career and proved to be a good army man during war days. But his love for car racing increased more and more and finally after the war that major ranked officer (Tony Rolt) decided to get resigned from his duty and went back again to the racing world. So he now returned to his life in motor racing and was totally satisfied from his decision that he made for his love of car racing.
On July 14, 1945 Rolt and Jack Horsfall shared their old ERA in British motor sport’s re-emergence, at Cockfosters. Rolt campaigned the Alfa-Aitken Special, and then the Delage-ERA. He also raced Connaught, HWM, Nash-Healey and Jaguar sports cars and became surprisingly successful in the Walker A-Type Connaught. In 1946 he won the Brussels Bois de la Cambre in an Auston Martin. He also drove an Alfa Romeo ‘Bi-Motore’, an ERA-Delage and Nash-Healay at the Le Mans 24 hour race with the extrovert, Duncan Hamilton. Tony Rolt also took part in Grands Prix and stayed unbeaten.
In 1951 when Jaguar stable won the Le Mans 24 hour, offered Tony Rolt for racing of their new C-type as a reserve driver for the Dundrod race in Ireland. When the works driver retired feeling ill halfway through, Rolt took over to break lap record and finish forth, winning him a permanent place in the Jaguar team in 1952, paired with Duncan Hamilton and won the Le Mans 24 hour race in a works C-type.
On July 14, 1945 Rolt and Jack Horsfall shared their old ERA in British motor sport’s re-emergence, at Cockfosters. Rolt campaigned the Alfa-Aitken Special, and then the Delage-ERA. He also raced Connaught, HWM, Nash-Healey and Jaguar sports cars and became surprisingly successful in the Walker A-Type Connaught. In 1946 he won the Brussels Bois de la Cambre in an Auston Martin. He also drove an Alfa Romeo ‘Bi-Motore’, an ERA-Delage and Nash-Healay at the Le Mans 24 hour race with the extrovert, Duncan Hamilton. Tony Rolt also took part in Grands Prix and stayed unbeaten.
Tony Rolt retired from racing in 1955 and then joined Harry Ferguson Research Ltd. At that time the company was interested in developing the early four-wheel drive system, and gave Tony a chance to work on designing four-wheel drive system for racing and the sports cars, such as Jensen FF. Where. Then Rolt also designed a four-wheel drive Grand Prix car in 1961, known as project 99, which was designed primarily as a high-speed research vehicle and with a front-mounted 4 cylinders 1.5 Coventry Climax engine. That car was driven in a wet International Gold Cup race at Oulton Park by Stirling Moss who also drove in the 1961 British Grand Prix at Aintree after his Lotus’s brakes failed. In the event Rob Walker entered P99 was black-flagged for a push-start.
Although, long retired from spirited motor racing, Tony Rolt got invited by British Leyland for the classic Californian road circuit at Laguna Seca in 1976. There he drove few demonstration laps in the ex-works Jaguar D-Type OKV 3, wearing his 1950’s era helmet.
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Tony Rolt, 1918-2008May he rest in peace. |
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