Innes Ireland

Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) was a British racing driver and journalist, who competed in Formula One from 1959 to 1966.

Upon retiring from motor racing, Ireland started a career as a journalist in the late-1980s for ESPN, later working with automobile magazines Road & Track and Autocar.

[7] Ireland was encouraged by Bill France Sr., founder of NASCAR, to participate in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his year-old Dodge exploded opposite the stands.

Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, a post he still held at the time of his death from cancer on 22 October 1993,[8] in Reading, Berkshire.

Ireland married his third wife Jean Mander (née Howarth), a former fashion model, on 11 June 1993 at Newbury register office.

Ireland was described as a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst, and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone.