Tommy Sopwith

Thomas Edward Brodie Sopwith (15 November 1932 – 4 May 2019) was a British businessman and car racing driver.

Biography Thomas Sopwith was the son of English aviation pioneer and yachtsman Sir Thomas Sopwith – builder of the Sopwith Camel and later chairman of Hawker Aircraft – and Phyllis Brodie. He was educated at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire.

Sopwith took up motor racing and formed his own team, Equipe Endeavour, named after his father's racing yacht. His success as a racing driver saw him win the first-ever round of the British Saloon Car Championship in 1958. That year, he narrowly lost out on the driver's title to Jack Sears after a ten lap shoot-out at the end of the season, after the two drivers finished on equal points. In 1961, he switched from car to powerboat racing. In 1961, he won the first ever Cowes - Torquay race in Thunderbolt, following up with wins in 1968 (Telstar) and 1970 (Miss Enfield II). In 1965, he won the Cornish "100" Offshore Class 3, powerboat race in a boat called 'Thunderflash', just beating Mike Beard in 'Mongaso'.

Sopwith was the owner of Endeavour Holdings Limited, a car dealership in Portslade, Brighton, with a turnover of £17 million.

Sopwith died on 4 May 2019 at the age of 86 at Basingstoke Hospital.

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 DC Pts Class 1958 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar 3.4-Litre BRH1† BRH1‡ MALRet† BRH1† BRH1† CRY1† BRH1 BRH1 BRH1 2nd 48 1st † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Event with 3 races staged for the different classes.