John Love (racing driver)

John Maxwell Lineham Love (7 December 1924 – 25 April 2005) was a Rhodesian racing driver. He participated in 10 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 29 December 1962. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of six championship points. He also won the 1962 British Saloon Car Championship, now known as the British Touring Car Championship[1] All but one of his Formula One entries were in races held within Africa, either as championship or non-championship rounds.

John Love
John Love's Surtees TS9
Born(1924-12-07)7 December 1924
Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia
Died25 April 2005(2005-04-25) (aged 80)
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (19621964)
Rhodesian (1964) (1965 and 19671968)
Rhodesian (19691972)
Active years19621965, 19671972
TeamsCooper, privateer (Cooper, Brabham, Lotus, March, Surtees)
Entries10 (9 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums1
Career points6
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1962 South African Grand Prix
Last entry1972 South African Grand Prix

Love was born in Bulawayo. He attended Gifford High School.[2] He started his car racing career in a single-seat Cooper F3 with a Manx Norton 500 cc engine after racing a Triumph Grand Prix motorcycle, which Love then-allowed Jim Redman to ride when starting his race career, in recognition of Redman's assistance in preparing and maintaining Love's Cooper.[3]

Six times South African Formula One Champion in the 1960s, he had originally shone in the European Formula Junior firmament back in 1961–62 at the wheel of a Cooper-Austin from Ken Tyrrell's team. An unfortunate accident at Albi resulted in a very badly broken arm and effectively thwarted his chances of moving into full-time Formula One, but he came close when he was nominated as Phil Hill's replacement in the works Cooper team for the 1964 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

He was a regular contestant in the South African Grand Prix from 1965 to 1972. He was leading the 1967 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami in his 2.7 L Climax-engined Cooper, when a misfire prompted him to make a precautionary stop for extra fuel. He dropped back to finish second behind the works Cooper-Maserati of Pedro Rodríguez.

Love would dominate racing in southern Africa in the 1960s, winning the South African Formula One Championship six times in succession from 1964 to 1969. He would also win his home race, the Rhodesian Grand Prix, six times.

He owned the Jaguar dealership in Bulawayo and had his own stock car racing team in the 1980s. He died in 2005, aged 80, from cancer, in Bulawayo.[4]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
1962 John Love Cooper T55 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 NED MON BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA RSA
8
NC 0
1963 John Love Cooper T55 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA
9
NC 0
1964 Cooper Car Company Cooper T73 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA
DNQ
USA MEX NC 0
1965 John Love Cooper T55 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 RSA
Ret
MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0
1967 John Love Cooper T79 Climax FPF 2.7 L4 RSA
2
MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX 11th 6
1968 Team Gunston Brabham BT20 Repco 620 3.0 V8 RSA
9
ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
1969 Team Gunston Lotus 49 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA
Ret
ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
1970 Team Gunston Lotus 49 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA
8
ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
1971 Team Peco/Gunston March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA
Ret
ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0
1972 Team Gunston Surtees TS9 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG RSA
16
ESP MON BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0

Complete Formula One non-championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1961 A.H. Pillman LDS Mk1 Porsche Flat-4 LOM GLV PAU BRX VIE AIN SYR NAP LON SIL SOL KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL LEW VAL RAN
WD
NAT
DNS
RSA
WD
1962 A.H. Pillman LDS Mk1 Porsche Flat-4 CAP
9
BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN
John Love Cooper T55 Climax Straight-4 NAT
6
1963 John Love Cooper T55 Climax Straight-4 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL KAN MED AUT OUL RAN
4
1964 John Love Cooper T55 Climax Straight-4 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN
8
1965 John Love Cooper T55 Climax Straight-4 CAP
2
ROC SYR SMT INT MED
Cooper T79 RAN
4
1966 John Love Cooper T79 Climax Straight-4 RSA
6
SYR INT OUL

References

  1. "British Saloon Car Championship - 1962". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. I.P. Maclaren, ed. (1981), Some Renowned Rhodesian Senior Schools 1892 - 1979, Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe, p. 155
  3. Carrick, Peter. Motor Cycle Racing Hamlyn Publishing, 1969, p. 72; ISBN 0 600 02506 3; accessed 13 February 2014.
  4. Jenkins, Richards. "Where are they now – John Love". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
John Whitmore
British Saloon Car Championship
Champion

1962
Succeeded by
Jack Sears
Preceded by
Neville Lederle
South African Formula One Championship
Champion

1964–1969
Succeeded by
Dave Charlton


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