24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1958–1959, 1962–1966
Teams	Team Lotus Ecurie Ecosse UDT-Laystall Racing Team Aston Martin Maranello Concessionaires Alan Mann Racing Comstock Racing
Best finish	6th (1964)
Class wins	0

Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins including one Tourist Trophy. Ireland was 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."^[1]

Early life

Ireland was born 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to Kirkcudbright, Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with Rolls-Royce, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, he served with the Parachute Regiment in the Suez Canal Zone during 1953 and 1954.^[2]

Racing career

Ireland began racing a Riley 9 in 1954. His first year of nationally competitive events was 1957,^[3] by which time he was running a small engineering firm in Surrey. Success in sports car racing saw him make his Formula One debut for Team Lotus in 1959. In 1960 he won three non-championship Formula One races and finished fourth in the World Drivers Championship. Badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, Ireland recovered to win the Solitude Grand Prix and Flugplatzrennen races, then finished the season with a victory in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. He was sacked at the end of the season as team boss Colin Chapman considered Jim Clark a better bet.^[4]

He was encouraged by Bill France, 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 outside the stands.

He worked as a journalist for ESPN for several F1 races in the late 1980s as well as the American Road & Track magazine, Autocar magazine, and skippering fishing trawlers in the North Atlantic. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, which post he still held at the time of his death from cancer on 22 October 1993, at Reading, Berkshire, England.

Writing

A talented writer, Ireland produced a classic autobiography, All Arms and Elbows (ISBN 0-85184-050-7). Marathon in the Dust, published in 1970 is Ireland's account of the grueling 1968 Daily Express London-Sydney Marathon, which Ireland completed with 2 friends, fellow F1 competitor Michael Taylor and British bobsledder Andy Hedges in a Mercedes Benz 280 SE.

Personal life

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On 30 October 1954 Ireland married Scarborough schoolteacher Norma Thomas. They had two daughters before divorcing in 1967. He then married Edna Humphries also in 1967. Ireland married his third wife Jean Mander (née Howarth), a former fashion model, on 11 June 1993 at Newbury register office. Jean had been engaged to Mike Hawthorn at the time of Hawthorn's death in 1959. Ireland also had a son who died in 1992.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	WDC	Pts.
1959	Team Lotus	Lotus 16	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	MON	500	NED 4	FRA Ret	GBR	GER Ret	POR Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5		14th	5
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	ARG 6	MON 9	500	NED 2	BEL Ret	FRA 7	GBR 3	POR 6	ITA	USA 2	4th	18
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	MON DNS	NED	BEL Ret	FRA 4	GBR 10	GER Ret		USA 1			6th	12
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 18/21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4							ITA Ret				6th	12
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 24	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	NED Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 16	GER	ITA Ret	USA 8	RSA 5		16th	2
1963	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	MON Ret					GER Ret					9th	6
1963	British Racing Partnership	BRP Mk1	BRM P56 1.5 V8		BEL Ret	NED 4	FRA 9	GBR Ret		ITA 4	USA	MEX	RSA	9th	6
1964	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	MON DNS	NED									14th	4
		BRP Mk1				BEL 10	FRA Ret
		BRP Mk2						GBR 10	GER	AUT 5	ITA 5	USA Ret	MEX 12
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM P56 1.5 V8	RSA	MON	BEL 13	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED 10	GER				NC	0
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 33	BRM P56 1.5 V8								ITA 9	USA Ret	MEX DNS	NC	0
1966	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM P60 1.9 V8	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA Ret	MEX Ret		NC	0

Non-championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

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
1957	Equipe Endeavour	Cooper T43 F2	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	BUE	SYR	GLV	NAP	RMS	CAE	INT Ret	MOD	MOR
1959	Team Lotus	Lotus 16 F2	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	GLV	AIN	INT 11	OUL
1959	Team Lotus	Lotus 16	Climax FPF 2.5 L4					SIL Ret
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	BUE Ret	GLV 1	INT 1	SIL Ret	LOM 1	OUL Ret
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	LOM Ret	GLV 5	PAU	BRX 9	VIE	AIN 10	SYR Ret	NAP	LON	SIL		KAN Ret		MOD DNQ
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4											SOL 1		DAN 2		FLG 1	OUL Ret	LEW	VAL	RAN	NAT	RSA
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 18/21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	CAP	BRX 3	LOM Ret	LAV	GLV 3	PAU	AIN Ret
		Ferrari 156	Ferrari 178 1.5 V6								INT 4
		Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8									NAP	MAL	CLP 1
		Lotus 24	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8												RMS 3	SOL DNA	KAN 4	MED	DAN 3	OUL Ret	MEX 3	RAN Ret	NAT
1963	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	LOM 3	GLV 1	PAU	IMO	SYR	AIN 2	INT 4	ROM		KAN	MED	AUT	OUL Ret	RAN
1963	British Racing Partnership	BRP Mk1	BRM P56 1.5 V8									SOL 3
1964	British Racing Partnership	BRP Mk1	BRM P56 1.5 V8	DMT 1	NWT Ret	SYR
1964	British Racing Partnership	BRP Mk2	BRM P56 1.5 V8				AIN Ret	INT Ret	SOL Ret	MED 3	RAN
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM P56 1.5 V8	ROC	SYR Ret	SMT	INT	MED 5
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25/33¹	BRM P60 2.0 V8						RAN 6
1966	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25/33¹	BRM P60 2.0 V8	RSA Ret	SYR	INT
1966	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM P60 1.9 V8				OUL 4

^1 The Parnell Lotus driven by Ireland in 1965 and 1966 was a written-off 25 rebuilt around a 33 monocoque.

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos.	Pts	Class
1962	Ford Motor Company	Ford Zodiac Mk 3	C	SNE	GOO	AIN	SIL ?	CRY	AIN	BRH	OUL	17th	9	2nd
1964	McKechnie Racing	Ford Cortina Lotus	B	SNE	GOO	OUL	AIN	SIL 7	CRY	BRH	OUL	27th	2	11th
Source:^[5]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1960	Team Lotus	John Whitmore	Lotus Elite Mk. 14	S 2.0	0	DNS	DNS
1962	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Masten Gregory	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT 3.0	165	DNF	DNF
1963	David Brown Racing Dept.	Bruce McLaren	Aston Martin DP214	GT +3.0	59	DNF	DNF
1964	Maranello Concessionaires	Tony Maggs	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT 3.0	328	6th	2nd
1965	Ford Advanced Vehicles	John Whitmore	Ford GT40	GT 5.0	72	DNF	DNF
1966	F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing	Jochen Rindt	Ford GT40 Mk I	S 5.0	8	DNF	DNF