Roy Francesco Salvadori (1922–2012)

Just days after his 1959 Le Mans-winning teammate, Carroll Shelby, and a matter of weeks since Ted Cutting, designer of the DBR1, both died, Roy Salvadori passed away. Despite his Italian surname and parentage, Roy Salvadori was born in the small seaside town of Dovercourt, Essex, England, and always looked the dapper English gent around motor racing paddocks for over 60 years. Like many racing drivers of the era, Salvadori began his working life as a car dealer. He became a regular part of the motor racing world, particularly in the UK, beginning in 1946, first in sprint events with a Riley Special and later racing the Alfa Romeo Tipo B that had taken Nuvolari to victory at the 1935 German GP. In the first major event at Silverstone, the 1948 RAC International GP, he drove a Maserati, finishing 8th some five laps down.

In 1951, while leading a production car race at Silverstone driving a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, he tangled with backmarkers at Stowe. His car rolled and he was partially thrown out, coming to rest only when the car hit a concrete marker post. So severe were his head injuries he was administered last rites. Fortunately, he survived and resumed racing within months of the accident. Such was his appetite for racing that he would enter a number of races at any one meeting whether it be driving formula, sports or production cars. He was particularly successful in these events, winning a number of national trophies.