Norman Graham Hill


Friday 15th February 1929

Born on this day, Graham Hill, the only driver to win the Triple Crown of the Indianapolis 500, the 24 hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship. Working as a mechanic, Graham Hill charmed his way into drives in Cooper and Lotus sportscars in the late Fifties. When Chapman entered F1 with Lotus in 1958, Hill was one of his drivers. He had a quick wit, and was a natural entertainer. In 1962 Hill became a popular World Champion with BRM. Six years later, at the age of forty, Graham picked up the shattered Lotus team after Jim Clark’s death in April 1968 whe Hill won his second title. A year later, during the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, he broke both his legs crashing his Lotus 49B due to tire failure and being thrown from the cockpit. Amidst fears his career could be over, he stunned doctors with his speedy recovery and scored a point upon his return in the South African GP at Kyalami in 1970. With works drives becoming hard to find, Hill set up his own team in 1973: Embassy Hill with sponsorship from Imperial Tobacco. The team used chassis from Shadow and Lola before evolving the Lola into its own design in 1975. After failing to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, where he had won five times, Hill retired from driving to concentrate on running the team and supporting his protege Tony Brise. Sadly he was killed along with Brise and three other team members when his plane crashed in thick fog on the Arkley golf course in north London. He was 46 years old. Graham Hill completed the so-called Triple Crown of motorsport when he won the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours race for Matra, partnered by Henri Pescarolo. He had previously won the 1966 Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. He actually won Monaco on five occasions: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969. For some the Triple Crown is alternatively defined as winning the Indy 500, Le Mans and the Formula 1 World Championship. Using either definition, Graham Hill is the only driver to have achieved this.


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