We regret to report the death last week of Life Member Bill McGovern. He was 89 years old and had been a BRDC Member since 1973, becoming a Life Member in 1994. Born in Sligo in the Irish Republic, Bill established a retail furniture business in the Kilburn area of London after moving to England. Acquiring a taste for motor sport in various off road events such as driving (auto) tests, Bill took to the tracks in 1964 with a 1071 cc Austin Mini Cooper S. He immediately showed great pace, if slightly on the edge at times, although he did stay on the track long enough to take wins at Snetterton and Silverstone in his first couple of years. After two seasons with Minis, Bill teamed up with sometime Formula 1 constructor, Paul Emery who had given up his impecunious struggle at the highest level to focus on GT and saloon cars. An encouraging start was made at Brands Hatch in the middle of February 1966 with Bill winning first time out in the Emery Imp GTi, followed a month later with a second place at the same circuit but subsequent reliability was not so good, a 1000 cc class win in the touring car race supporting the Martini Trophy at Silverstone being one of the few highlights. Another was a frenetic scrap with the Broadspeed Ford Anglias of John Fitzpatrick and Anita Taylor and the Alan Fraser Hillman Imps of Ray Calcutt and Nick Brittan at Crystal Palace on the rare occasion when the 1-litre cars had their own race in a round of the British Saloon Car Championship. Champion-to-be Fitz won but Bill was a spectacular second.
In 1967 Bill took a brief rest from tin tops by taking to Formula Vee, which had just been introduced to the UK, but did not stay long. Never really enjoying single seater racing Bill was soon back in saloon cars although there was to be a notable one-off outing in Formula 3 in 1972 when Bill drove one of the AIRO (Australian International Racing Organisation) Brabham BT35s in a British Formula 3 Championship round at Brands Hatch. He was running fifth ahead of team mate, a certain Alan Jones no less, before having to retire with accident damage. Another one-off departure from saloon cars was sharing the Dulon-Porsche LD11P in the 1971 BOAC 1000 ks World Sports Car Championship race at Brands Hatch, with Martin Ridehalgh. The car retired with driveshaft failure after qualifying 16th.
For 1968 Bill switched back to rear-engined Hillman Imps but now with George Bevan’s team. He won the 1000 cc class of the Osram-GEC Special Saloon Car Championship in the first year back in Imps before returning to the British Saloon Car Championship in 1969. From 1970 to 1972 the McGovern/Bevan double act was almost invincible in the 1000 cc class of the BSCC, scoring enough points each season to win the Championship overall as well as the 1-litre division. In addition, driving solo in the 4-Hour RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone Bill also won the 1000 cc class in 1970 and 1972.
Early in 1974 Bill was involved in a hefty accident at the start of the BSCC round at Thruxton from which he was hospitalised with concussion. Although he was soon back to his winning ways, Bill was unable to recover the deficit from the missed races and had to settle for second place in the 1-litre class to team mate Les Nash who had acquired Bill’s Championship-winning Imp. In total, in addition to his three BSCC Championship titles, Bill won the 1000 cc class on 31 occasions including a perfect score of 10 out of 10 in 1972. No less an authority than the late Graham Robson stated that throughout his time with George Bevan, Bill used the same basic Imp which was originally a Hillman but for marketing purposes came to be entered most of the time as a Sunbeam Rallye Imp to obtain the full homologation benefits.
With a major change in the BSCC regulations for 1974 to the RAC version of FIA Group 1, the 1000 cc class was no more so Bill and George switched their attention to a 1.5 litre Volkswagen Passat but it was not a successful venture, and Bill withdrew from the series. He was not finished with Imps, however. He acquired one of the John Maguire spaceframe silhouette Imps , which brought him race victories at Donington Park, Mallory Park and Brands Hatch. Away from Imps Bill contested the Renault 5 GT Turbo series, finishing third in 1987 and fourth the following year.
Married to Mary with whom he had four daughters Elaine, Juliet, Kay and Sally, Bill will be best remembered for his achievements in the blue Bevan Imps among which he reigned supreme in his class in the early 1970s in the British Saloon Car Championship. That said, in his early racing days he showed a talent which could well have taken him further up the motor racing ladder had he had the inclination to race professionally. To Bill’s family, the BRDC extends its most sincere condolences. Funeral details will be posted as soon as they are known.