On This Day: British Racer John James Dies
By Stephen Latham
Born in Packwood, Warwickshire, John James competed in Britain’s national racing scene and drove in the 1951 British Gand Prix.
He raced at the Brooklands Whitsun meetings in 1935 and 1936, in a supercharged Lea-Francis, and after World War II he returned and raced in hillclimbs and sprints with an Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 and a Bugatti T54. In circuit racing, in 1949, he took a fourth place finish with his Sunbeam at the Wakefield Trophy at the Curragh in Ireland.
In 1951 he bought a Formula One Maserati 4CLT/48 from Reg Parnell and entered that year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, though after qualifying seventeenth he had retire after twenty three laps due to a damaged radiator. There were also two eighth place finishes at Goodwood’s short F1 races.
Regulation changes for the following year limited his Maserati to Formula Libre only and he competed in several sprint events before retiring.
John would later move to Malta, living there until he passed away on the 27th of January, 2002.
