NOTICE OF DEATH - PETER PROCTER (1930 - 2024)
It is with great sadness that the Club has to inform Members of the death of Peter Procter last Thursday 15th August at the age of 94. He had been suffering from ill health for several months. Originally elected as a Full Member in 1968, Peter became a Life Member of the BRDC in 1990. He was the Club’s Regional Co-ordinator for North East England from the beginning of the scheme some 20 years ago.
Racing was very much a feature of Peter’s life, first in cross-country running while living in Bradford during World War Two. To escape to the country Peter joined the East Bradford Cycling Club in 1947, where his proficiency soon resulted in him being selected to ride for Great Britain in the 1950 World Championships in Belgium. He was then called up for two years’ National Service in the Royal Artillery during which time he was again selected to represent Great Britain in the World Championships. In 1952 Peter won the British Road Racing Championship and the ‘King of the Mountains’ title in the Tour of Britain. He also came close to selection for the British team in that year’s Olympic Games in Helsinki.
After being demobbed Peter, together with his brother Gerald, established a property repair and development business which prospered so that by 1954 he was able to acquire a new Aston Martin DB2/4. Initially seeing it as a desirable road car, the racer in Peter soon meant that he entered the car for a Bentley Drivers’ Club race meeting in April 1955 at Oulton Park. Third place in a scratch race and second in a handicap were the encouraging results. Peter continued to compete with the Aston in various events at club level through the year, but his thoughts were turning towards something more suitable for racing.
And so, for 1956 Peter acquired a new Formula 3 Cooper-Norton T42. Although there were no wins, he finished second at Oliver’s Mount and at Charterhall. Results improved the following year with a heat and final win at Mallory Park, and also a victory at Charterhall. By the late 1950s, 500 cc Formula Three was losing support but Peter retained the Cooper for another season during which he notched up wins at Mallory Park and Sherburn-in-Elmet.
It was also at this time that Peter took up rallying, initially with the DB2/4 and then a rather more suitable Sunbeam Rapier. It was the beginning of a relationship with the Rootes Group which, over the next few years, brought Peter considerable success in some of the major rallies. In 1960, sharing a Rapier with Peter Harper, Peter finished third overall and first in class on the Acropolis Rally and first in class and fifth overall in the Touring Car division of the Alpine Rally. A year later the same pairing again won their class in Greece, being classified fifth overall in the Touring Division. Also in 1961, with Graham Robson as co-driver, Peter won the national Mini-Miglia Rally, Peter and Graham going on to finish fourth on the 1962 Monte Carlo Rally, and second in class.
The association with the Rootes Group was not confined to rallying. The two Peters – Procter and Harper – shared a Sunbeam Alpine in the Le Mans 24 Hours three years running from 1961, finishing 16th overall in the first year, second in their class but most rewardingly winning the Index of Thermal Efficiency which paid prize money matching that on offer to the overall winner of the race, the organisers having anticipated that a French car would take the honours! The following year the two Peters finished 15th overall and third in class. The Sunbeam Alpine connection led to Peter sharing a Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans Coupe with Jimmy Blumer in the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours but their race ended with a spectacular engine failure.
Peter’s last success with the F3 Cooper came in 1959 with a third place at Rufforth, his local circuit, before he took delivery of a new Formula Junior Lotus Type 18. A win first time out at Rufforth in a Formula Junior race, and second place to Greg Wood’s Cooper Monaco in a formule libre race, were an encouraging start, followed by a first place at Mallory Park. In the two FJ races supporting the Oulton Park Gold Cup Peter ran fourth behind the Team Lotus 18s of Jim Clark, Trevor Taylor and Peter Arundell only to spin off a couple of laps before the end of the second leg. Peter continued with the 18 into 1961 even though the state-of-the-art FJ Lotus was now the Type 20. Racing only in the British Isles, Peter enjoyed considerable success with his obsolete car winning at Rufforth, Charterhall, Linton-on-Ouse and Aintree and finishing second at the Phoenix Park and Dunboyne road circuits. Before the year was out, Peter had been offered the chance to drive a works-run Alexis Mk 3 with which he won at Aintree and Rufforth with seconds at Oulton Park and Silverstone.
Such were his performances in the Type 18 that it was not only Alexis which was keen to have Peter as its driver. Colin Chapman offered a deal for 1962 with Team Lotus. The original proposal not being appealing enough, by the time Colin Chapman had had second thoughts and offered Peter what he wanted, the latter had accepted an offer from Graham Warner to drive a works-entered Gemini Mk 4. A man of his word, Peter felt obliged to reject the Lotus offer and instead stick with the troublesome Gemini to which he had committed himself. The only rays of single-seater sunshine in 1962 were the chance to drive one of Ken Tyrrell’s Cooper T59s at Dunboyne where he won and at Zandvoort where he finished fourth. The Gemini could manage no better than ninth at Brands Hatch in one of the only two races which it finished all year.
The Tyrrell opportunity became a full season with Uncle Ken’s team for 1963, the last year of Formula Junior. Disappointingly, the promised new version of the BMC engine never materialised with the result that Peter and his teammate Timmy Mayer had to cope as best they could with less power than the mainly Ford-powered opposition. At Monaco Peter finished third in his heat and fourth in the final of the Prix Junior, and also managed a third place at Denmark’s tiny Roskilde Ring while fourth place at Phoenix Park and fifth at Easter Goodwood were the only other notable results. Mid-season Ken Tyrrell asked Peter whether he would be interested in driving a Formula 1 Cooper, an offer which Peter, after a good deal of thought, politely declined since he had a family and a thriving business to care for. Peter had no regrets about his decision although there cannot be many drivers who have turned down an offer of a place in a Formula 1 team for no financial contribution. For the end of the year races, Peter was released to join Ron Harris Team Lotus, finishing second in his heat and fourth in the final at Albi and finishing fourth at Innsbruck in a Lotus Type 27 in the last ever period Formula Junior race in Europe.
For 1964 Peter continued with Ron Harris Team Lotus in the new 1-litre Formula 2, running in the European Championship with Formula 1 World Champion Jim Clark as his occasional team mate, driving the Lotus Type 32 evolution of the Formula Junior Type 27. Although Peter did not win a race, he put in some impressive performances against the F1 drivers who contested F2 at the time, finishing second on aggregate at the Aspern airfield circuit near Vienna and being similarly placed at the thoroughly dangerous AVUS track near Berlin. Principal highlight of the year, however, was victory in the Touring Car category of the Tour de France in an Alan Mann Ford Mustang, sharing driving duties with Andrew Cowan who drove the rally-type stages while Peter concentrated on the tarmac sections. Peter also shared an Alan Mann Lotus Cortina to win the Brands Hatch 6 Hours with John Whitmore.
Peter continued to drive for Alan Mann’s team in 1965, securing good results with a Lotus Cortina in the European Touring Car Championship and generally finishing in the top three. For 1966 he signed up with Broadspeed as team mate to John Fitzpatrick in the British Saloon Car Championship, driving a Ford Anglia in the 1000 cc class. At Goodwood on Easter Monday, early in the race Peter’s car was hit in the rear and rolled over violently, immediately catching fire with Peter trapped inside. Somehow, he found the strength to burst through the melted plastic side window of the Anglia but not before he had sustained burns to two thirds of his body. After many months at the Queen Victoria Hospital at East Grinstead, renowned for its treatment under Sir Archibald McIndoe of seriously burned RAF aircrew, Peter was able to return to a more or less normal life but apart from a few celebrity races, he never raced again.
Peter never lost his enthusiasm for motor sport. With his wife Shirley he was a regular visitor to Silverstone, showing a keen and very well-informed interest both in the affairs of the BRDC and in the wider world of motor racing. As Regional Co-ordinator for the Northeast he organised annual dinners which attracted Members from around the country because they were so enjoyable and convivial. Peter cared. He cared about his wonderful wife Shirley and their four sons and he also cared about the BRDC and its Members. As a long-serving and involved Regional Co-ordinator, his views, when sought by members of the Board, were heeded. He was truly an exceptional, and very brave, man who will be very much missed. The BRDC offers its deepest condolences to Shirley, their sons Derek, Paul, Gary, Andrew and Stuart, and their families.
Peter’s funeral will be at 2.00pm on Friday 30 August at St Wilfrid’s Church, Church Lane, Burnsall, North Yorkshire BD23 6BN. Peter’s family would then gladly welcome anybody wishing to celebrate Peter’s life to join them at The Red Lion in Burnsall (BD23 6BU). If you would like to attend, please email Peter’s son Andrew at andrew.procter@hunters.com to confirm that you are coming. Exclusive parking will be available at the Red Lion for the church service and celebration of Peter’s life afterwards, with overflow parking available in one of the adjacent fields.
Accommodation is available at the Red Lion on a first come, first served basis. The Fell Hotel in Burnsall and the Devonshire Arms in Bolton Abbey are two other recommended alternatives. In lieu of flowers, there will be a collection on the day for the Queen Victoria Hospital Charity or you can also CLICK HERE to use the Tributes and Donations page of the Funeral Directors to make a donation.
