Johnny Dumfries, Racing Driver And Scion Of One Of Many Richest Households In Scotland

His ultimate appearance at Le Mans came in an historic Porsche-powered Cougar C26S. The flat-6 expired on lap forty five and with it the Earl of Dumfries light away from the big scene. At the 2000 Festival of Speed Johnny – within the artwork enterprise these days and himself a talented painter – placed on a brand new set of overalls, these being hearth-proof once more, as he reacquainted himself along with his Le Mans-winning Silk Cut Jaguar mount. A joyful rendez-vous together with his erstwhile group leader Jan Lammers preceded a spectacular run up the hill – or quite, in direction of the hill, as Johnny missed his breaking point at Molecomb, the sharp lefthander turning towards the hill ascent. The Big Cat slid off straight ahead and comprehensively thumped the hay stacks.

There’s no lack of ambition in F1 at the moment as Ferrari chases a competitive comeback, Red Bull becomes an engine producer in its own proper and Aston Martin returns – aiming for championship glory in 5 years. After a few crashes Dumfries was dropped by Walkinshaw, and for 1989 he went to the brand new TOM’S Toyota World Championship operation, with John Watson and Geoff Lees alternating as his group mates. By now he’d attracted the eye of fellow Scot Tom Walkinshaw, which led to a drive in a Jaguar XJR-8 at Spa. His stock remained excessive, and he gained F1 experience testing for numerous groups, notably Ferrari.

But in the extremely-competitive F3000 championship Johnny appeared lost as he didn’t have any robust showings. 8W is forix.autosport.com’s motorsport history section and covers the drivers, automobiles, circuits, eras and expertise that shaped the face, sounds and smells of motor racing. Dumfries raced for them the entire season with two factors-scoring finishes from 16 begins, his finest was a fifth place in Hungry.

Johnny Debuted In Formula 1 With Lotus

Dumfries received the British Formula Three championship in 1984, succeeding Senna, and spent a year as a Ferrari test driver in 1985 before being signed by Lotus. In 2002 he determined to advertise the Mount Stuart Motorsport Classic ñ a motoring competition at his family home on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. The event was an enormous success but was too massive for the amenities and has since disappeared.

After a quiet but encouraging pre-season check, the rate of its recovery will soon become clear. He stayed away from racing thereafter however did make a short return to Le Mans in testing in 2003. For a few years he organised a Festival of Speed-type event at Mount Stuart, however the logistics of getting automobiles and folks to the Isle of Bute proved too difficult. He retained few ties with the game – he remained involved with close pals like Dave Price – but as the years passed he was capable of look back fondly. In 1991 he drove a Cougar-Porsche for the Courage staff at Le Mans, sharing with Anders Olofsson and Thomas Danielsson. The automotive retired on what would prove to be his ultimate outing within the 24 hours.

• In reality, he was a much more accomplished driver than the bare 1986 statistics advised, as he had already proven in his F3 days, and would subsequently reveal in sportscar racing.
• There’s no lack of ambition in F1 in the meanwhile as Ferrari chases a aggressive comeback, Red Bull turns into an engine manufacturer in its own right and Aston Martin returns – aiming for championship glory in 5 years.
• And, with the backing of Serena, he did promote a Festival of Speed on Bute for a few years in the noughties.

Dumfries’ biggest win of his career was in the Hours of Le Mans with fellow International F3000 drivers Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace. It was Johnny Dumfries’s luck to be born into the Scottish aristocracy, as a descendant of Robert the Bruce and the inheritor to the marquisate of Bute. It was his bad luck, when his profession as a grand prix driver gave the impression to be taking off, to be chosen to companion Ayrton Senna in the Lotus team during the 1986 season. In 1986, he made his breakthrough into F1, and raced a single season for the JPS Team Lotus. He was a late addition to the staff, apparently as a result of Ayrton Senna not wanting Derek Warwick as a teammate. He competed in 15 Grands Prix for Lotus , which used the turbocharged Renault engines and scored three championship factors.

Johnny Dumfries Obituary

Johnny chaired the Board of Mount Stuart Trust from its energetic inauguration in 2005 when Mount Stuart and its gardens opened to the general public, and its rural estate was vested into the charitable belief. “The indomitable spirit and power which Johnny brought to his life shall be greatly missed, and the immense warmth and love with which he embraced his household. Growing up in the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s Bute determined to desert his aristocratic surroundings in favour of a life in racing.

In 1985, Dumfries graduated to the brand new Formula 3000 series, which featured a mix of bespoke machinery and former F1 cars. He landed a seat with Onyx, incomes a best of a sixth place at Vallelunga, however funding ran out and he switched to the Lola Motorsport group before his season ground to a halt. At the top of the 12 months he had his first proper sportscar outing, sharing Richard Lloyd’s Porsche 956 with Kenny Acheson at Fuji. In some methods Dumfries was a throwback to an earlier era, following within the footsteps of noblemen who raced ERAs and Bentleys in the pre-WW2 years.

He also launched into a range of tasks, philanthropic and commercial, on Bute and on the West Coast of Scotland. The household also owned Dumfries House in Cumnock, Ayrshire, constructed in the 1750s for William Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries, by John and Robert Adam and inherited in 1814 by the 2nd Marquess of Bute. Regarded as one of the finest mid-18th century Scottish nation houses to have survived intact, till 1993 it was lived in by John’s grandmother, Lady Eileen, Dowager Marchioness of Bute. The household acquired an earldom in 1703, however the foundations of the family’s fortunes had been laid by John, third Earl of Bute, briefly and unsuccessfully Prime Minister to King George III, who made a considered marriage to an heiress, Mary Wortley-Montagu. The marquisate was created in 1794 for his son, the 4th Earl of Bute, who served as ambassador to Spain. The household claim descent from King Robert the Bruce through John Stewart (1360–1449), the “Black Stewart”, Sheriff of Bute, an illegitimate son of the Bruce’s grandson Robert II, who was granted the lands of Bute, Arran and Cumbrae by his father.

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