Pat Griffith

Pat Griffith
Nationality	British
Born	26 April 1926 Weybridge, Surrey, England
Died	January 28, 1980(1980-01-28) (aged 53) Vale Royal, Cheshire, England
24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1952 Teams Aston Martin Best finish DNF (1952)

Pat Griffith, (26 April 1926 – 28 January 1980), was an English racing driver, who raced for the works Aston Martin team during the early 1950s, winning the 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy. However, after a bad crash the 1954 12 Hours of Hyères, he retired to concentrate on the family business.

Racing career

In 1951, Griffith was racing a Lester T51, which was an MG Special, when he first came to the fore. During the British Empire Trophy, he was lapping the Douglas circuit so swiftly, Stirling Moss commented that he believed that he wouldn’t have caught Griffith despite his car being in a higher class, when Griffith’s Lester engine seized.^[1] This race brought Griffith to the attention of David Brown, and he was signed by the works Aston Martin team for the 1952 season.^[2]

1952 saw Griffith make his only start at Le Mans, but fail to finish the race, likewise in the 1952 Mille Miglia. After those races in Europe, Griffith score two victories for the team. The first being a National event at the Welsh circuit, Fairwood. The second came when he shared the winning DB3 with Peter Collins in the Goodwood Nine-Hour race.^[3] He continued to race his Lester. In that season’s British Empire Trophy, he again set a cracking pace, but collided with a dog. Both the car and dog survived the incident, with Griffith going on to win.^[4]

In 1953 saw Griffiths continue with the Aston Martin team, still as co-driver to Collins. The partnership finished second in the Goodwood Nine-Hour and won the RAC Tourist Trophy. He also drove the Monkey Stable’s Kieft-MG during the season when his job and Aston Martin commitments allowed, with other minor success.^[5] 1954 started well, when he and Collins drove the works Aston Martin DB3S to third place in the 1000 km Buenos Aires.^[6] Following retirements in the 12 Hours of Sebring and Mille Miglia,^[7] Griffiths was planning to retire from the sport at the end of the season, when he suffered a major accident in the 12 Heures de Hyères. Whilst driving Graham Whitehead’s DB3S, he was forced off the road by another driver and was thrown out of the car.^[8] After missing that year's Le Mans, he returned to racing at the RAC Tourist Trophy, but afterwards admitted he had become apprehensive about going too fast", and left the sport for good.

Racing record

Career highlights

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1952	Aston Martin Ltd.	Dennis Poore	Aston Martin DB3	S3.0		DNF Water pump

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1954	Aston Martin, Ltd.	Peter Collins	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	26	DNF Brakes

Complete Mille Miglia results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Pos.	Class Pos.
1952	Aston Martin Ltd.	George Abecassis	Aston Martin DB2	GT+2.0	DNF Clutch
1953	Aston Martin Lagonda	George Abecassis	Aston Martin DB3	S+2.0	DNF Steering, accident
1954	David Brown	Peter Collins	Aston Martin DB3S	S+2.0	DNF Accident

Complete 12 Hours of Hyères results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Pos.	Class Pos.
1954	Graham Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3S		DNF Accident

References