Peter Walker (racing driver)

Peter Douglas Conyers Walker (7 October 1912 – 1 March 1984) was an English racing driver. He was born in Huby, Yorkshire and died in Newtown, Worcestershire. He proved a strong driver in most disciplines, but was most adept in sports cars, winning the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and the Goodwood Nine-Hours in 1955. He effectively retired after a crash in 1956 left him with serious injuries.

Peter 'Skid' Walker was born in Yorkshire in October 1912. He really started his racing career in 1935, after linking up with Peter Whitehead. He enjoyed success in both circuit racing and hillclimbing with an ERA prior to World War II, with victories at Brooklands and Donington Park. Throughout this period, he could be found racing Whitehead's ERAs. His aggressive, sliding style made him a crowd favourite and gained him a little bit of notoriety. After the hostilities finished, he returned to the sport.

Although competitive before the war, Walker's aggressive style and experience helped him become even more successful. In fact, he was one of handful of driver who could get the ERA E-type to perform. In 1948, he was able to put together some impressive performances both in hillclimbing, but in Grand Prix Racing. One of those races was the inaugural British Grand Prix, at RAF Silverstone. However, the race did not go to plan. He entered the race driving an ERA E-type, but the manufacturer was unable to deliver the chassis in time, so Walker used his older B-type. During the race, he survived the massive attrition to finish in 11th place, 12 laps adrift of the winner, Luigi Villoresi.

In the inaugural World Championship of Drivers, Walker was present at the very first race, the RAC British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In fact, he was one of the first to enter the event, in his own ERA E-type. After qualifying tenth, he shared the race driving duties with Tony Rolt, pitting after just two laps to hand the car over. Unfortunately, the pace show in qualifying wasn't matched by its endurance, was Rolt retiring the car on the fifth lap due to gearbox problems. Walker's inaugural Formula One season ended there, as he did not contest another Grand Prix that season.

A month later his victory at Circuit de la Sarthe, he finished seventh in the RAC British Grand Prix in a supercharged 1.5-litre V16 BRM Type 15, with his teammate Reg Parnell in fifth. Both drivers legs were so badly burnt by heat from the engines and exhaust systems that even walking was painful. Gregor Grant reported: "Parnell and Walker saved the day for British motor racing. Their heroism in sticking to their task whilst suffering from agonising burns will enable the BRM designers to go ahead and modify the cars to make them completely raceworthy." Sadly, Walker did not race the BRM again.

After four years away, Walker returned to Formula One, racing twice. The first was aboard Stirling Moss's Maserati 250F, where he retired from the Grote Prijs van Nederland, with mechanical issues. For the next race of the season, RAC British Grand Prix, at Aintree, he shared a works Connaught Type B with Rolt. In what turned to be his last Grand Prix, the car was retired with a failed throttle after just 19 of the 90 laps.

Walker performances of the hills brought him to the attention of Lofty England, the manager of Jaguar's sports car racing team, rewarded him with a drive in a Jaguar XK120 in this newly launched car's first race at Silverstone in 1949. Walker finished second, but won at same event 12 months later, in an alloy-bodied works-prepared XK120.

After the success of XK120, they developed an endurance racing version, the XK120C, or C-Type and need a driver. Walker was approached and with it, Jaguar embarked on their first racing programme aimed at winning the 24 Heures du Mans outright. On its first attempt, just six weeks after completion, Walker achieved the victory for which he is best remembered, when he and co-driver, Whitehead won the 1951 race. Of the three entered, they filled the top three positions after four hours. However, after just 50 laps, only Walker's remained in the race. The victory providing the Coventry marque with much publicity and acclaim.