Sunday 29th March 1981

David Prophet (43), British racing driver, who participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, died. A keen amateur who was a regular at British and European circuits during the 1960s, he also raced in South Africa during the British winter months and twice started that country’s Grand Prix.

Working for Austin Motors from the early 1960s, Prophet started to race in British Formula Junior at the time. He fitted his FJ Brabham BT6 with a Ford twin cam engine and shipped it to South Africa for its 1963/64 season. Second in the Rhodesian GP, he also took part in the South African GP that was the final round of the 1963 World Championship. Prophet qualified in 14th position despite engine problems before retiring on his GP debut.

Formula 2 with a Lotus 23 and then a Brabham BT10 followed in 1964 but Prophet returned to South Africa at the end of the year. He took part in the GP again – held on New Year’s Day and now the opening round of the 1965 season. Prophet finished 14th in his second and final world championship GP.

By now he was running a successful garage in King’s Norton that funded his hobby and an impressive house outside Stratford-upon-Avon. Prophet, who always prepared his own racing cars, continued in F2 before switching to sports cars with some national success. He also shared the Lola T70 with which Paul Hawkins qualified on pole position for the 1969 Spa 1000Kms.

The launch of Formula 5000 in 1970 enticed Prophet back into single-seaters with a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He finished fourth in the 1971 Argentine GP – a non-championship F1/F5000 event – and drove the car until the end of the following season without outright success.

Prophet remained a keen enthusiast after he stopped racing himself. He was at Silverstone for the opening European F2 race of 1981 and was returning home when the helicopter he was flying crashed shortly after take-off, killing Prophet and his three passengers.