With great regret we have to inform Members that Life Member David Welpton died suddenly at his home in Spain last Sunday. He was 82 years of age. David first became a BRDC Member in 1995. His racing career began in the mid ‘60s with an Austin-Healey Sprite with which he enjoyed success in the STP Modified Sports Car Championship. Together with fellow Spridgeteer Yorkshiremen Richard Sutherland and Pete ‘Rhubarb King’ Smith, David raced regularly in Special GT and modified sports car events, not just in Yorkshire but around the country including an overall victory against more potent machinery at Mallory Park and several class wins at his local circuits Croft, Cadwell Park and Rufforth.
At the end of the 1970 season, David and Pete Smith joined forces to race a Chevron-FVA B8 in long-distance events whilst also going it alone for shorter national races where the Chevron B6/B8 GT was prolific and the competition intense. David’s best result with the B8 came at Silverstone with third place in a round of the Motoring News Special GT Championship behind John Markey’s Lotus 30 and John Jordan’s McLaren M1C. By 1972, the B8 was becoming uncompetitive against the new generation of sports-prototypes from both Chevron itself and also the likes of Lola, Alpine Renault, and Abarth so David and Pete followed the trend and acquired a pair of Chevron B19/B21s in which they achieved one of their best results with fourth place overall in the 1972 Nürburgring 500ks among a large entry of some 50 starters. Dave was also fourth in a round of the RAC British Sports Car Championship at Snetterton, fifth in the Barcelona 400ks with Brian Robinson, fifth in a round of the European 2-litre Sports-Prototype Championship at the Nürburgring, seventh in the 1973 Nürburgring 1000ks round of the World Sports Car Championship with Pete Smith and, with a new Chevron B23, 11th in the Osterreichring WSR round.
David’s plan for 1974 was to continue competing in as many rounds of the World Sports Car Championship as were affordable and could fit in around running his motor business. However, at the second round of the WSR at Spa he was diagnosed with diabetes, and, under the rules of the time, his competition licence was withdrawn. David continued his financial involvement with Pete Smith in a team managerial capacity, achieving a class win, two class second places and two class thirds in rounds of the World Sports Car Championship over the following two years.
David was highly regarded in the Hull business community and served on the Rover dealer council for 10 years, finally retiring in 2010.
David’s father Charles and mother Edna had been a motor cycle racing combination in the 1930s and Charles had been instrumental in founding the Hull Motor Club. Charles died prematurely when Dave was only 13 leaving him and his Mother to run the family motor business, a Rover dealership. Although living in Humberside, some way away from Silverstone, David was a proud and involved BRDC Member and a familiar face in the BRDC Clubhouse. He is survived by his wife Pauline, twin sons Scott and Richard and daughter Allie to whom the BRDC extends its deepest condolences. David’s funeral has already taken place.