Friday 13th May 1994

Duncan Hamilton (74), British amateur racing driver who famously won Le Mans 24 Hours, died. Hamilton was a garage owner as his primary job description and raced a Talbot-Lago and an HWM in a handful of Championship Grands Prix as an amateur driver. He won Le Mans in 1953 sharing a works Jaguar C-type with his close friend Tony Rolt. Story has it the two of them had resorted to drinking in a French pub prior to their glorious win because their car had initially had its entry refused. By the time the team managed to rectify the steward’s mix-up, Hamilton and Rolt had a few and had to be put into a severe dark coffee and cold shower regime to get them back into shape.