Jack Sears
British driver (1930–2016)
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Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.
| Jack Sears | |
|---|---|
Sears' 1958 Championship-winning Austin Westminster | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | 16 February 1930 Northampton, England |
| Died | 6 August 2016 (aged 86) |
| Retired | 1965 |
| Relatives | David Sears |
| British Saloon Car Championship | |
| Years active | 1958–1965 |
| Wins | 12 |
| Best finish | 1st in 1958 and 1963 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1958, 1963 1958, 1965 1962 1963 | British Saloon Car Championship BSCC - Class C BSCC - Class D BSCC - Class B |
Biography
Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is also involved in motorsport.
He won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship in 1958, driving an Austin Westminster. After finishing on joint maximum points with Tommy Sopwith, it was initially suggested the champion would be decided by the toss of a coin. The idea was very unpopular with both drivers and at the final meeting at Brands Hatch, with a draw being a likely possibility, two identical looking Marcus Chambers-owned Riley One-Point-Five works rally cars were brought along for a five lap shoot-out. To make the race fair, they raced five laps, switched cars, then raced five laps again with the driver who had the quickest combined time being crowned champion. In pouring rain, Sears became the first ever champion by 1.6 seconds.[1]
He regained the title in 1963, driving a variety of cars including a Ford Cortina GT, a seven-litre Ford Galaxie and a Lotus Cortina, which was used for the final two races.[2] Sears also co-drove a Ferrari 330 LMB with Mike Salmon to a fifth place in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, the best result in the abbreviated racing history of the LMB.[3]
AC Cobra
In 1964 AC Cars decided to enter a works Cobra in that years Le Mans 24 race and hired Sears as one of their drivers. To test its stability and gearing at the speeds the car (which had the chassis number A98) was expected to reach along the three mile long Mulsanne straight they decided to test it along the only available place that was long enough to reach its potential top speed.[4] This was the northern end of the first section of the six lane M1 motorway which had no barriered central reservation and no speed limit. The use of the motorway for high speed testing was not unusual as Aston Martin, Jaguar and the Rootes Group had also using it.[5]
After Sears had some food at the Blue Boar service station and waiting beside it for no traffic to pass for several minutes he set off at about 4:15 am on 11 June 1964.[5] In top gear the car reached 6,500 rpm on its rev-counter (it had no speedometer), moved no more and was rock-solid. Sears then slowed down and returned to the engineers.[5] From the engine revolutions and after compensating for tyre growth it was calculated that the car had reached 185mph. [5][6]
With days after a conversation in a Fleet Street bar reports of the high speed run was headlines in the national newspapers.[5] This led to the Ministry of Transport investigating, but no action was taken as no laws had been broken.[4]
Nine days after the test on the M1, the car with Sears and Peter Bolton sharing the driving participated in the 1964 Le Mans race.[4] While being driven in the evening by Bolton the car had a rear tyre blowout. The car spun and was then collected by the Ferrari of Giancarlo Baghetti.[7] Tragically, the Cobra speared off into the barriers and killed three young French spectators who had been standing in a prohibited area.[4] Baghetti was uninjured, and Bolton was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Death
Sears died on 6 August 2016 from lung cancer.[8] He had previously survived a heart attack.
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 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Jack Sears | Austin A105 | C | BRH 1† |
BRH 4‡ |
MAL 3† |
BRH 3† |
BRH 3† |
CRY | BRH 3 |
BRH 2 |
BRH 2 |
1st | 48 | 1st | ||
| 1959 | Equipe Endeavour | Jaguar 3.4-Litre | D | GOO | AIN | SIL | GOO | SNE 2 |
BRH | BRH 1† |
NC | 0 | NC | ||||
| 1960 | Equipe Endeavour | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | BRH | SNE | MAL | OUL | SNE 1* |
BRH 2* |
BRH 1* |
BRH | NC* | 0* | |||||
| 1961 | Equipe Endeavour | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | D | SNE Ret |
GOO | AIN 2 |
SIL | CRY Ret |
SIL | BRH 3 |
OUL | SNE ? |
16th | 12 | 6th | ||
| 1962 | Equipe Endeavour | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | D | SNE 2 |
GOO 3 |
AIN 4 |
SIL 3 |
CRY 2 |
AIN 1 |
BRH 2 |
OUL 2 |
3rd | 38 | 1st | |||
| 1963 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | B | SNE | OUL 4 |
GOO 7 |
AIN 4 |
BRH 3 |
1st | 71 | 1st | ||||||
| Ford Cortina Lotus | OUL 3 |
SNE 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Ford Galaxie | D | SIL 1 |
CRY 1† |
SIL 1 |
BRH Ret |
3rd | |||||||||||
| 1964 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Galaxie | D | SNE Ret |
GOO 1 |
OUL Ret |
AIN 3 |
SIL 1 |
CRY Ret† |
BRH 1 |
OUL Ret |
8th | 22 | 3rd | |||
| 1965 | Team Lotus | Ford Cortina Lotus | C | BRH Ret |
OUL Ret |
SNE 6 |
GOO 2 |
SIL 1 |
CRY 3† |
BRH 3 |
OUL 2 |
4th | 38 | 1st | |||
Source:[9] | |||||||||||||||||
† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.
‡ Event with 3 races staged for the different classes.
- Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | J.G. Sears |
Peter Riley |
Austin-Healey 3000 | GT3.0 | 89 | DNF | DNF |
| 1963 | Maranello Concessionaires Ltd. |
Mike Salmon |
Ferrari 330 LMB | P +3.0 | 314 | 5th | 1st |
| 1964 | AC Cars Ltd. |
Peter Bolton |
AC Cobra Coupé | GT5.0 | 77 | DNF | DNF |
| 1965 | AC Cars Ltd. |
 Dick Thompson |
AC Cobra Daytona Coupé | GT5.0 | 304 | 8th | 1st |