Ian Ashley

Ian Hugh Gordon Ashley (born 26 October 1947) is a British and German racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Token, Williams, BRM and Hesketh teams.

Driving career

Ashley began racing in 1966, when he took a course at the Jim Russell Racing School. He was fast but rather erratic, and soon earned the nickname "Crashley". He reached Formula 5000 in 1972 and was a front-runner in 1973. He made his debut in Formula One in 1974, and briefly drove for the Williams team the following year. His luck got worse over the mid-1970s in Formula One. He was to become a victim of two nasty accidents on circuits that were no longer used by Formula One soon after his two accidents. During 1975, at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring where during practice, he crashed severely at the tricky Pflanzgarten section and broke both his ankles, and during practice for the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park in 1977, he went over a bump, flipped his Hesketh, vaulted the barrier and crashed into a television tower. He never raced in Formula One again.

In 1985, Ashley made his CART Championship Car debut at the Miami Grand Prix. He was entered in the 1986 Indianapolis 500 but the car did not appear on track. However, he did make three CART starts in 1986 and finished ninth at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, enough for 28th in the championship. He failed to finish in his other two 1986 starts. He also made a single Indy Lights start at Pocono Raceway and finished sixth. He made one more CART appearance in 1987, again in Miami but was knocked out by drivetrain trouble.

After Formula One, Ashley built a career as a pilot for executive jets in the United States. However, in 1993, he made a return to racing, driving a Vauxhall in the British Touring Car Championship. Following this he briefly raced motorcycle sidecar combinations, before a stint in the TVR Tuscan Challenge one-make series.

In November 2009, Ashley competed in Formula Ford for the first time in over 40 years driving an Elden MK8 in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results (key)

Indy Car World Series (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref 1985 Tom Hess Racing LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MOH SAN MCH LAG PHX MIA 48th 0 1986 PHX LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC MOH SAN MCH ROA LAG PHX MIA 28th 4 1987 Dick Simon Racing LBH PHX INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC ROA MOH NAZ LAG MIA20 43rd 0

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Pts 1993 Tamchester Team Maxted Vauxhall Cavalier SIL DON SNE DON OUL BRH1 BRH2 PEM SIL KNO1 KNO2 23rd 2 Colin Davids Racing OUL17 BRH21 THRRet DON115 DON29 SIL19