David Purley

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters | check | ignoreblank = y | unknown = Template:Main other | preview = Page using Template:Infobox F1 driver with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | embed | child | subbox | name | Name | image | Image | image_size | upright | image_upright | alt | caption | birth_name | birth_date | birth_place | death_date | death_place | relations | relatives | nationality | Nationality | years | Years | teams | Teams | Team(s) | team | Team | engines | Engines | current_team | current team | Current team | 2025 Team | 2026 Team | car_number | car number | Car number | races | Races | championships | Championships | wins | Wins | podiums | Podiums | points | Points | poles | Poles | fastest_laps | fastest laps | Fastest laps | first_race | first race | First race | first_win | first win | First win | last_win | last win | Last win | last_race | last race | Last race | last_position | last position | Last position | last_season | last season | Last season | bf1_years | bf1 years | BF1 Years | bf1_races | bf1 races | BF1 Races | bf1_championships | bf1 championships | BF1 Championships | bf1_wins | bf1 wins | BF1 Wins | bf1_podiums | bf1 podiums | BF1 Podiums | bf1_points | bf1 points | BF1 Points | bf1_poles | bf1 poles | BF1 Poles | bf1_fastest_laps | bf1 fastest laps | BF1 Fastest laps | signature | signature_size | signature alt | signature_alt | website | module | module1 | module2 | module3 | module4 | module5 | record template1 | record template2 | record template3 | record template4 | record template5 | career template1 | career template2 | career template3 | career template4 | career template5 | updated | Updated }} David Charles Purley, GM (26 January 1945 – 2 July 1985) was a British racing driver born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, who participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at Monaco in 1973.

Purley is best known for his actions at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix,<ref>David Tremayne, Racers Apart: Memories of Motorsport Heroes, MRP, 1991, p.293</ref> where he abandoned his own race and attempted to save the life of fellow driver Roger Williamson, whose car was upside down and on fire following a serious accident. Purley was awarded the George Medal for his courage in trying to save Williamson, who suffocated in the blaze.

During pre-qualifying for the 1977 British Grand Prix Purley sustained multiple bone fractures after his car's throttle stuck open and he crashed into a wall. His deceleration from 108 mph (173 km/h) to 0 in a distance of 26 inches (66 cm) is one of the highest G-loads survived in a crash (180 G). He scored no championship points during his Formula One career. He died in a plane crash, having retired from motorsport and taken up aerobatics, in 1985.

Early life

Purley's father was Charles Purley, the founder of LEC Refrigeration. Birth and death records show that his father's name was originally Puxley but he preferred the name Purley.<ref>see 'Discussion' for BMD information.</ref> His mother was Welsh, having been born in the small village of Cwmfelinfach. David went to school at Seaford College and then Dartington Hall School in Devon.

Career

Purley joined the British Army and was an Officer Cadet at Sandhurst on Intake 38. Commissioned into the Parachute Regiment, he lost the first of his nine lives when his parachute failed to open on a training jump. Miraculously, he landed on his Platoon Sergeant's 'chute and both survived the heavy landing.<ref name="MSA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Having seen action with his Battalion in Aden, he left the Army to pursue a career in motor racing.<ref name="MSA"/>

He later raced in various series with an AC Cobra and a Chevron, before racing in Formula Three, winning three times at Chimay between 1970 and 1972.<ref name="MSA"/>

In 1972 Purley was one of two drivers to attempt to race the Connew Grand Prix car in its original Formula One configuration. He was entered at the end of season World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch but did not start. Purley had asked for an electrical "kill" switch to be fitted to the steering wheel, but this malfunctioned on the warm up lap, the engine stopped, and the car was retired.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1973 Purley hired a March and with backing from his family's refrigeration company he made an attempt at Formula One.

Template:External media At the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, upon witnessing a crash which left fellow British driver Roger Williamson trapped in his overturned and burning car, Purley abandoned his own race and attempted to save Williamson, who was participating in only his second Formula One race. Purley later recalled that upon arriving at the scene, he heard Williamson crying for help as the fire began to take hold. Purley's efforts to right the car and extinguish the flames were in vain as he received no help from nearby track marshals or emergency workers, in spite of attempts to encourage them, and other passing drivers, to come to his aid; Williamson died from asphyxiation. The marshals were not wearing fire resistant clothing and the passing drivers assumed that Purley was attempting to extinguish his own car, having escaped a fiery crash unharmed.

A sequence of pictures taken by photographer Cor Mooij of the accident won the Photo Sequences category of that year's World Press Photo.<ref>1974 World Press Photo, Photo Sequences, 1st Prize</ref> Later, Purley was awarded the George Medal for his rescue attempt. The story, and film footage of the rescue attempt, feature in a 2010 BBC documentary titled Grand Prix: The Killer Years.

Apart from a one-off participation with Token at his home Grand Prix in 1974, Purley stayed out of Formula One for a few years, preferring to compete in Formula Two driving Chevrons and Marches for Hong Kong-based millionaire Bob Harper, and Formula 5000 where he won the British Championship in 1976 in a Chevron powered by the Cosworth GA 3.4-litre V6 engine. In 1974 Purley won the Brighton Speed Trials driving a Trojan-Chevrolet T101, winning again the following year in a Chevron-GA B30.

He returned to Formula One in 1977 with his own LEC chassis designed by Mike Pilbeam and run by Mike Earle.<ref name="Purley">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was this car in which he suffered serious injuries in an accident during practice for that year's British Grand Prix. He survived an estimated 179.8 g when he decelerated from 108 mph (173 km/h) to 0<ref name="Purley"/> in a distance of 26 inches (66 cm)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> after his throttle became stuck wide open and he hit a wall. Purley recovered to race again, although he confined his activities to the minor Aurora AFX series of Formula One races in Britain. As a result of his earlier accident, Purley's left leg was shorter than his right and he underwent innovative corrective surgery in Belgium, from which he again took several months to recover.<ref name="MSA"/>

Following his decision to quit motorsport, Purley moved into competition aerobatics.

Death

Purley died on 2 July 1985 when his Pitts Special aerobatic biplane crashed into the English Channel off Bognor Regis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is buried in the churchyard of St. Nicholas Church, West Itchenor, near Chichester.

Legacy

The remains of Purley's crashed LEC CRP1 and its replacement were displayed at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition until 2011. The second car has since been restored and now competes in historic Formula One racing, alongside a replica car built more recently.<ref name="Brown">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:David Purley Memorial.jpg

Memorial to racing driver David Purley GM 1945-1985

A David Purley memorial, in the form of a sculpture by the British artist Gordon Young, was erected in 2017 close to the site of the former LEC factory in Bognor Regis. It is inscribed with the words that appear on the headstone of his grave at Itchenor: "Gone now your eager smile, high held head and soldier's stride, etched were skies by your elegant style, and this earth enriched by your pride".

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F2	LEC Refrigeration Racing	March 722	Ford	MAL Template:Small	THR Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	PAL Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	ROU Template:Small	ÖST Template:Small	IMO Template:Small	MAN Template:Small	PER	SAL	ALB Template:Small	HOC	19th	4
Template:F2	Team Harper	March 742	BMW	BAR	HOC Template:Small	PAU Template:Tooltip												5th	13
		Chevron B27	Ford				SAL Template:Small		MUG Template:Small
			BMW					HOC Template:Small		KAR Template:Small	PER Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	VAL Template:Small
Template:F2	Masami Kuwashima Racing	March 752	BMW	EST	THR	HOC	NÜR	PAU	HOC Template:Small	SAL	ROU	MUG	PER	SIL	ZOL	NOG	VAL	NC	0
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Complete Formula One World Championship results

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Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Template:Abbr	Pts
1973	LEC Refrigeration Racing	March 731	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON Template:Small	SWE	FRA	GBR Template:Small	NED Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT	ITA Template:Small	CAN	USA			NC	0
1974	Token Racing	Token RJ02	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR Template:Small	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			NC	0
1977	LEC Refrigeration Racing	LEC CRP1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP Template:Small	MON	BEL Template:Small	SWE Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	NC	0
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Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

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Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6
1972	LEC Refrigeration Racing	Connew PC1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC	BRA	INT	OUL	REP	VIC Template:Small
1975	LEC Refrigeration Racing	Chevron B30 (F5000)	Ford GAA 3.4 V6	ROC Template:Small	INT	SUI
1977	LEC Refrigeration Racing	LEC CRP1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC Template:Small
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Complete European F5000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1975	LEC Refrigeration Racing	Chevron B30	Ford GAA 3.4 V6	BRH Template:Small	OUL Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	ZOL Template:Small	ZAN Template:Small	THR Template:Small	SNE Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	THR Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	OUL Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	SNE Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	5th	98
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Complete Shellsport International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1976	LEC Refrigeration Racing	Chevron B30	Ford GAA 3.4 V6	MAL Template:Small	SNE Template:Small	OUL Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	THR Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	SNE Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	THR Template:Small	OUL Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	1st	188
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Complete British Formula One Championship results

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Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1979	LEC Refrigeration Racing	LEC CRP1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ZOL	OUL	BRH	MAL	SNE	THR	ZAN	DON	OUL	NOG	MAL	BRH Template:Small	THR Template:Small			17th	4
		Shadow DN9															SNE Template:Small	SIL Template:Small
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Books

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External links

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