Jack Sears

Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. The British Touring Car Championship has a trophy named after him, being the Jack Sears Trophy.

Biography Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is also involved in motorsport.

Sears won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship in 1958, driving an Austin Westminster. After finishing on joint maximum points with Tommy Sopwith, it was initially suggested the champion would be decided by the toss of a coin. The idea was very unpopular with both drivers and at the final meeting at Brands Hatch, with a draw being a likely possibility, two identical looking Marcus Chambers-owned Riley One-Point-Five works rally cars were brought along for a five lap shoot-out. To make the race fair, they raced five laps, switched cars, then raced five laps again with the driver who had the quickest combined time being crowned champion. In pouring rain, Sears became the first ever champion by 1.6 seconds.

Sears regained the title in 1963, driving a variety of cars including a Ford Cortina GT, a seven-litre Ford Galaxie and a Lotus Cortina, which was used for the final two races. Sears also co-drove a Ferrari 330 LMB with Mike Salmon to a fifth place in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, the best result in the abbreviated racing history of the LMB.

AC Cobra In 1964, AC Cars decided to enter a works Cobra in that years Le Mans 24 race and hired Sears as one of their drivers. To test its stability and gearing at the speeds the car (which had the chassis number A98) was expected to reach along the three mile long Mulsanne straight they decided to test it along the only available place that was long enough to reach its potential top speed. This was the northern end of the first section of the six lane M1 motorway which had no barriered central reservation and no speed limit. The use of the motorway for high speed testing was not unusual as Aston Martin, Jaguar and the Rootes Group had also been using it.

After Sears had some food at the Blue Boar service station and waiting beside it for no traffic to pass for several minutes, he set off at about 4:15 am on 11 June 1964.

With days after a conversation in a Fleet Street bar reports of the high speed run was headlines in the national newspapers. Tragically, the Cobra speared off into the barriers and killed three young French spectators who had been standing in a prohibited area. He had previously survived a heart attack.

Racing record

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 9 10 11 DC Pts Class 1958 Jack Sears Austin A105 BRH1† BRH4‡ MAL3† BRH3† BRH3† CRY BRH3 BRH2 BRH2 1st 48 1st 1959 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar 3.4-Litre GOO AIN SIL GOO SNE2 BRH BRH1† NC 0 NC 1960 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar Mk II 3.8 BRH SNE MAL OUL SNE1* BRH2* BRH1* BRH NC* 0* 1961 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar Mk II 3.8 SNERet GOO AIN2 SIL CRYRet SIL BRH3 OUL SNE? 16th 12 6th 1962 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar Mk II 3.8 SNE2 GOO3 AIN4 SIL3 CRY2 AIN1 BRH2 OUL2 3rd 38 1st 1963 John Willment Automobiles Ford Cortina GT SNE OUL4 GOO7 AIN4 BRH3 1st 71 1st Ford Cortina Lotus OUL3 SNE4 Ford Galaxie SIL1 CRY1† SIL1 BRHRet 3rd 1964 John Willment Automobiles Ford Galaxie SNERet GOO1 OULRet AIN3 SIL1 CRYRet† BRH1 OULRet 8th 22 3rd 1965 Team Lotus Ford Cortina Lotus BRHRet OULRet SNE6 GOO2 SIL1 CRY3† BRH3 OUL2 4th 38 1st † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Event with 3 races staged for the different classes.

Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1960 J.G. Sears Peter Riley Austin-Healey 3000 GT3.0 89 DNF DNF 1963 Maranello Concessionaires Ltd. Mike Salmon Ferrari 330 LMB P +3.0 314 5th 1st 1964 AC Cars Ltd. Peter Bolton AC Cobra Coupé GT5.0 77 DNF DNF 1965 AC Cars Ltd. Dick Thompson AC Cobra Daytona Coupé GT5.0 304 8th 1st