David Hobbs

David Wishart Hobbs (born 9 June 1939) is a British former racing driver. He worked as a commentator from the mid 1970s for CBS until 1996, Speed from 1996 to 2012 and NBC from 2013 to 2017. In 1969, Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, a group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.

Driving career Hobbs was born in Royal Leamington Spa, England, just months before the outbreak of World War II. His career as an international racing driver spanned 30 years at all levels including in sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.

Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.

In 1971, Hobbs won the L&M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America, Edmonton and Lime Rock. Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500 and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.

Television commentator Hobbs provided commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett) until 2013, the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996 working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013. He also worked for ESPN, serving as an analyst for their Formula 1 coverage from 1988 until 1992 working with Chris Economaki, John Bisignano and Bob Varsha.

Other appearances Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.

Personal life

Hobbs's father, Howard Frederick Hobbs (21/9/1902 – 15/12/1982), was an Australian engineer born and raised in Adelaide. He was an inventor who developed an early version of the automatic transmission, known as the Mecha-Matic. Colin Chapman had this transmission fitted to his Lotus Elite racecars.

Howard Hobbs married Phyllis Dorothy Reid (25/3/1904 – 1989) on 12 May 1925 and the couple had three children. Barbara, born in Adelaide on 5 May, 1927, and sons John (b. 1 July 1933) and David (b. 9 June 1939), both boys being born in Lemington Spa after the young Hobbs family had sailed for England in 1931 with the intent on Howard showing his transmission to automotive engineers in Coventry, settling in Royal Lemington Spa where they would remain for approximately the next 35 years.

Hobbs lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a car dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which was sold to the Van Horn Automotive Group in March 2023. His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key)