Tony Brooks
Name: Tony Brooks
Nationality: Great Britain
Date of birth: February 25, 1932 - Dunkinfield, Chesire
Tony Brooks was a man who coupled star quality behind the wheel of an F1 car with a genuine lack of conceit which earned him many friends and admirers all over the world. Modest and self-effacing, Brooks is widely regarded as one of the most underrated drivers of the postwar era. A gentleman in every sense of the word, to meet him in retirement it is difficult to imagine that this was the man who mastered Spa, Nurburgring and Monza with such magical assurance at the wheel of the elegant Vanwall F1 car during the golden summer of 1958. The son of a dental surgeon, Brooks also qualified in dentistry. When he was flying down to the Syracuse circuit in Sicily early in 1955 to race a Connaught F1 car he had his books spread out in front of him, studying for his final exams. He would return to Britain as the driver who earned the country its first continental victory since Sir Henry Seagrave won the San Sebastian Grand Prix 31 years earlier. In 1956, Brooks had an abortive season with BRM after which he signed for the Vanwall team for the next two years, sharing the winning car in the '57 British Grand Prix at Aintree with Stirling Moss. In 1958 he duly followed that up with superb wins in the Belgian, German and Italian Grands Prix, all classic races on the three most challenging circuits in the world.
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