Peter Ashdown

Peter Ashdown, born in 1934, is a British former racing driver who recorded one start in the Formula One World Championship, driving a Cooper T45 F2 car in the 1959 British Grand Prix at the Aintree Circuit.

He was much more active in the sports car racing, scoring several notable class victories in some international events, including at Sebring 12 Hours or Nurburgring 1000 Km.

Peter Ashdown

Successful start of a career in sportscar racing

Peter Ashdown started his racing career in 1955, driving a Lotus Mark IX in national sports car events. He was pretty successful, scoring several victories and podiums in his debut season.

He stayed in Climax-powered Lotus Mark IX in 1956, recording also some good international results, such as third place overall and class victory at the Kanonloppet in Sweden.

Victory at Kanonloppet in 1957

Lotus Eleven was his new car in 1957. He was a member of the Lotus factory team for Le Mans but didn't start the race. In August 1957, he won Kanonloppet race at Swedish track Karlskoga, sharing a podium with Alan Stacey and Bill Frost.

Parallel to sports car commitments, Ashdown raced in Formula Junior races. That period of his career is most remembered by an accident at Rouen-Les-Essarts in which he broke his collarbone. However, serious injury didn't stop him.

Formula 1 debut at 1959 British Grand Prix

In 1959, Ashdown switched to Lola Mk.1-Climax in sports car races, winning races at the greatest British race tracks (Goodwood, Aintree, Silverstone, Brands Hatch) but also outside the UK (Auvergne, Roskilde).

However, the highlight of that season was Ashdown's debut in Formula 1. In July, he was driving Cooper T45-Climax Formula 2 car in the British Grand Prix at the Aintree. Starting 23rd on the grid, he finished twelfth overall and third among F2 drivers.

Peter Ashdown in Lola race car at Silverstone in 1959

Class victories at Sebring and Nurburgring

In 1960, Ashdown started the season with the class victory at Sebring 12 Hours. He was sharing the #58 Lola Mk.1-Climax with Charles Vögele, finishing 17th overall and first in the S1.15 class. Later that year, the same duo scored a class victory at Nurburgring 1000 Kilometers, a part of the World Sportscar Championship.

In June 1960, Ashdown finally started his first 24 Hours of Le Mans race, sharing the #45 Lola-Climax with Charles Vögele. They retired after 148 laps with the broken engine.

Outside sportscar races, Ashdown raced mostly in Formula 2 events and his most notable result was the second place at the Grand Prix de Monaco, where he was driving a Lola Mk2-Ford.

Ashdown slowed down his racing activities in 1961 and recorded his last racing attempts in 1962. In that period, he scored one more class victory at 1962 Nurburgring 1000 Kilometers. He was driving the #65 Lotus 23-Cosworth, sharing a car with Bruce Johnstone.

Peter Ashdown raced a lot with Lola cars

Photos: Lola Heritage,