20 Facts About Tony Rolt

Tony Rolt won the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans and participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.

Tony Rolt was born in Bordon, Hampshire, and brought up at St Asaph in Denbighshire, Wales.

Tony Rolt was the fourth child of Brigadier-General Stuart Rolt, and educated at Eton, where he got into trouble for keeping a car.

Tony Rolt began competing while at Eton, in a Morgan three-wheeler in their trials before, in 1936, making his track debut sharing a Triumph Gloria Vitesse with Jack Elliott in the Spa 24 Hours, where the pair finished 11th, fourth in class.

Tony Rolt drove there because he had just lost his British driving licence for speeding along Denbigh High Street.

Tony Rolt entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and in 1939 received a commission in the Rifle Brigade.

Tony Rolt was in the thick of the fighting and helped defend Calais.

Tony Rolt was captured and taken prisoner of war at the end of the battle for Calais, just before the Dunkirk evacuation.

Tony Rolt escaped seven times from German prisoner-of-war camps including Laufen, Biberach, Posen, Warburg and Eichstatt, before eventually being sent to the maximum security prison, Oflag IV-C in Colditz Castle on 14 July 1943.

From 1952 to 1955, Tony Rolt raced Walker's dark-blue Connaughts in which he was tremendously successful in English national events, winning numerous Formula Two, Formula Libre and handicap races.

Stirling Moss asserts that Tony Rolt would have been among the top GP drivers, if he raced regularly.

Tony Rolt competed in every 24 Heures du Mans race from 1949 to 1955, famously winning the 1953 event in a Jaguar C-Type shared with Hamilton.

When Tony Rolt pitted again the next lap, his goggles were full of water.

Tony Rolt hopped out of the car to fix on a visor and Hamilton jumped into the car and was away.

Tony Rolt subsequently built Indianapolis 500 track-racing 4WD cars for the American STP Corporation, and Ferguson transmissions appeared in the Lotus 56, Novi-Ferguson and STP-Paxton Turbocar Indy Cars of 1964 to 1969.

When Ferguson Development closed, Tony Rolt founded FF Developments in 1971, converting cars, vans and ambulances to four-wheel drive.

Tony Rolt was immensely proud that the Audi sports cars that have dominated the 24 Heures du Mans and the American Le Mans Series endurance championships since 2000 used Ricardo transmissions.

Tony Rolt was a very private man, but had great charm and presence.

Tony Rolt had the dignity to shun personal publicity, and the notion that he had done something heroic in trying to escape from Colditz never crossed his mind.

Tony Rolt was the last surviving driver from that inaugural World Championship Grand Prix held at Silverstone; the last pre-World War member of the prestigious BRDC, having been elected in 1936.