Mike Salmon

Michael Thomas Salmon (12 October 1933 – 13 January 2016)

Early life Salmon was from the Channel Islands and was evacuated to Britain in 1940 as the islands came under threat from enemy forces in World War II. He served an apprenticeship with Jaguar Cars and subsequently joined their service department, working at various dealerships around the UK to gain experience. In the four-year period, Salmon only finished out of the top-six in three, out of 16, national-level races.

In 1963, Salmon began the year with the Aston Martin DB4GT, but competed in the Nürburgring 1000 km race in a Ferrari 250 GT alongside entrant Chris Kerrison, finishing eighth. He also won the Brands Hatch six-hour race in July, a round of the European Touring Car Championship, co-driven by Peter Sutcliffe in a Jaguar Mk II. However, the car was subsequently disqualified as the engine did not meet the regulations. Salmon competed in domestic sportscar and GT racing throughout the season with Dawnay Racing but entered Le Mans under his own name in a DP214, co-driven by Sutcliffe. The car completed 235 laps, but was disqualified due to an infringement of the rules in respect of taking on oil, having been running third in class at one point. Domestically, Salmon's best result was second place at the Silverstone International (GT). A Ferrari 250LM was also entered by Maranello Concessionaires in the Monza 1,000 km race. Co-driven by Innes Ireland, the car finished sixth. This was followed by a non-finish at the Spa 1000 km race in a Ferrari 365 P2, entered and co-driven by Piper and also in the Nürburgring 1,000 km in a Ford GT40 entered by Ronnie Hoare and co-driven by Ireland. Domestically, his best result was second with a GT40 at the Eagle Trophy at Brands Hatch in August. Domestically he competed in a GT40 entered by either Dawnay Racing or Viscount Downe, with a best result of second in the Martini Trophy at Silverstone. In 1979, the same combination retired after 17 laps.

In 1983, Salmon again paired with Mallock and was joined by Earle for Le Mans. The car finished seventh at the Silverstone 1000 km and fourth at the Brands Hatch Thundersports race. However it failed to finish at both the Spa and Brands 1000 km events.

1984 was Salmon's final entry at Le mans, teamed with Richard Attwood and John Sheldon the Nimrod again did not finish, completing 92 laps. The car crashed at the end of the Mulsanne Straight with Sheldon at the wheel. A marshall died in the incident but the driver was able to extricate himself with burns to his hands and side.

Salmon continued to compete in historic racing and in 2008, at 74 years of age, participated in the Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour race, in a BMW 330d but failed to finish. Salmon died on 13 January 2016, having been in poor health for some time.

24 Hours of Le Mans results