David Hobbs (racing driver)

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1962–72, 1979, 1981–85, 1987–89
Teams	Team Lotus Engineering Lola Cars Ltd Standard Triumph Maranello Concessionaires John Wyer Automotive Roger Penske/Kirk F. White Equipe Matra-Simca Grand Touring Cars/Ford France EMKA Racing John Fitzpatrick Racing Joest Racing Richard Lloyd Racing
Best finish	3rd (1969, 1984)
Class wins	1 (1982)

David Wishart Hobbs^[1] (born 9 June 1939 in Royal Leamington Spa, England)^[2] is a British former racing driver. Originally employed as a commentator for the Speed Channel, he currently works as a commentator for NBC and NBC Sports Network. In 1969 Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, a group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.^[3]

Hobbs currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a car dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which continues to exist today, and for which he personally voices advertisements. His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.^[4]

He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs.

Driving career

Hobbs was born just months before the outbreak of World War II, and has a vast, 30-year history of international driving experience at all levels of motor sports, including sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.

Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.^[5]

In 1971 Hobbs won the L&M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America (Elkhart Lake), Edmonton and Lime Rock.^[6] Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500^[7] and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.

Television commentator

Hobbs provides commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Leigh Diffey and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett), the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996 working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013.^[8]

Other appearances

Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC
1967	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM P60 2.1 V8	RSA	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR 8		CAN 9	ITA	USA	MEX					—
1967	Lola Cars	Lola T100	BMW M10 2.0 L4							GER 10^‡									—
1968	Honda Racing F1	Honda RA301	Honda RA301E 3.0 V12	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA Ret	CAN	USA	MEX				—
1971	Penske-White Racing	McLaren M19A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA 10					—
1974	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT 7	ITA 9	CAN	USA	—

^‡ indicates an entry with an F2 car.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1962	Team Lotus Engineering	Frank Gardner	Lotus Elite Mk14	GT 1.3	286	8th	1st
1963	Lola Cars Ltd.	Richard Attwood	Lola Mk6 GT	P +3.0	151	DNF	DNF
1964	Standard Triumph	Rob Slotemaker	Triumph Spitfire	P +3.0	272	21st	3rd
1965	Standard Triumph Ltd.	Rob Slotemaker	Triumph Spitfire	GT 1.3	71	DNF	DNF
1966	Maranello Concessionaires	Mike Salmon	Ferrari Dino 206S	P 2.0	14	DNF	DNF
1967	Lola Cars Ltd. Team Surtees	John Surtees	Lola T70 Mk.III	P +5.0	3	DNF	DNF
1968	J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Paul Hawkins	Ford GT40 Mk. I	S 5.0	107	DNF	DNF
1969	J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Mike Hailwood	Ford GT40 Mk. I	S 5.0	368	3rd	2nd
1970	J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Mike Hailwood	Porsche 917K	S 5.0	49	DNF	DNF
1971	Roger Penske Kirk F. White	Mark Donohue	Ferrari 512M/P	S 5.0		DNF	DNF
1972	Equipe Matra-Simca Shell	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Matra-Simca MS660C	S 3.0	278	DNF	DNF
1979	Grand Touring Cars Ltd. Ford Concessionaires France	Vern Schuppan Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Mirage M10	S +2.0	121	NC	NC
1981	EMKA Productions Limited	Eddie Jordan Steve O'Rourke	BMW M1 Gr.5	Gr.5	236	DNF	DNF
1982	John Fitzpatrick Racing	John Fitzpatrick	Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick	IMSA GTX	329	4th	1st
1983	John Fitzpatrick Racing	John Fitzpatrick Dieter Quester	Porsche 956	C	135	DNF	DNF
1984	Skoal Bandit Porsche Team	Philippe Streiff Sarel van der Merwe	Porsche 956B	C1	351	3rd	3rd
1985	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Jo Gartner Guy Edwards	Porsche 956B	C1	366	4th	4th
1987	Joest Racing	Sarel van der Merwe Chip Robinson	Porsche 962C	C1	4	DNF	DNF
1988	Blaupunkt Joest Racing	Didier Theys Franz Konrad	Porsche 962C	C1	380	5th	5th
1989	Richard Lloyd Racing	Steven Andskär Damon Hill	Porsche 962C GTi	C1	228	DNF	DNF

Indy 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Retired
1971	68	16	169.571	30	20	107	Crash FS
1973	73	22	189.454	30	11	107	Flagged
1974	73	9	184.833	10	5	196	Flagged
1976	33	31	183.580	14	29	10	Water Leak
Totals						420

Starts	4
Poles	0
Front Row	0
Wins	0
Top 5	1
Top 10	1
Retired	2

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1981	JPS Team BMW	Allan Grice	BMW 635 CSi	6 Cylinder & Rotary	113	7th	2nd
1982	JPS Team BMW	Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	A	157	5th	5th

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	NWCC	Pts
1976	DeWitt Racing	73	Chevy	RSD	DAY 34	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL												NA	0
1976	Elliott Racing	9	Ford																				MCH 17	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT	NA	0

References

↑ FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport 1975. Patrick Stephens Ltd. white p. 37. ISBN 0-85059-195-3.
↑ H. H. Pitt and M. N. Wicks, The Pitt Family of Payneham (Adelaide, 1977)
↑ F.I.A. Year Book of Automobile Sport, P.S.L. Publications Limited., London, 1969.
↑ "The Class of 2009". AutoWeek. Detroit, Michigan: Crain Communications. 59 (17): 62. 24 August 2009. ISSN 0192-9674.
↑ http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/hobbs-the-north-american-swing/
↑ Trenton Evening Times, 7 September 1971, Page 37.
↑ David Hobbs 1976 Winston Cup Results – Racing-Reference.info
↑ Hobbs, David (September 2012). "In Racing, Broadcasting: Timing is Everything". Road & Track. 64 (1): 94.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Hobbs.

SpeedTV bio
David Hobbs Honda
Stats from David Hobbs' IROC and NASCAR careers on racing-reference.info
David Hobbs – Test Driver Jaguar XJ13 – Building the Legend

Sporting positions
Preceded by John Cannon	US Formula A/F5000 Champion 1971	Succeeded by Graham McRae

NASCAR on CBS
Commentators	Buddy Baker Dick Berggren Neil Bonnett Dave Despain Chris Economaki Eli Gold Greg Gumbel David Hobbs Ned Jarrett Mike Joy Bud Palmer Benny Parsons Richard Petty Ralph Sheheen Ken Squier Bill Stephens Brock Yates
Lore	The Fight Fastest 500 In History The Bumpergate The Slingshot Pass Elliott's Dominant Performance Beginning of the Curse of Dale Earnhardt Like Father, Like Son Waltrip's Fuel Milage Derrike Cope's Upset over Earnhardt The Dale and Dale Show Smith/Bonnett Incidents and Photo Finish Marlin's First Win: Tragedy in Speedweeks Miller edges Skinner by 0.001 seconds The Dale and Dale Show II Last Tape Delayed Cup race: Earnhardt's Big Wreck at Talladega This One's For You (Hendrick Podium Sweep) Earnhardt's Daytona Win Junior Breaks Through Adam's lone start/Junior's First Cup Win Jeff Burton wins the final NASCAR Winston Cup race on CBS
Daytona 500	1960 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

ESPN SpeedWorld
Major Racing Series	NASCAR Formula One IndyCar CART Champ Car USAC IMSA IROC NHRA
Key figures	Bob Jenkins Larry Nuber Jerry Punch Marty Reid Paul Page Bob Varsha Dave Despain Todd Harris Ned Jarrett Benny Parsons Scott Goodyear Gary Gerould Dick Berggren Jack Arute Rusty Wallace Jamie Little Derek Daly David Hobbs Steve Chassey Larry Rice
Lore	Million Dollar Bill Death of Rich Vogler Kulwicki's Miracle Death of Ayrton Senna Schumacher-Hill Incident at Australia Mario's Last Ride Earnhardt-Labonte Duel at Bristol IndyCar vs the Indy 500 "It Hurt So Good!" The Pass Texas-Sized Argument: Luyendyk vs Foyt Gordon's Winston Million Schumacher-Villeneuve Incident at Jerez Hornaday vs Sprague Title Battle Earnhardt-Labonte Duel at Bristol II: Rattling His Cage Death of Greg Moore The Big One at Daytona: Bodine Takes a Wild Ride Spiderman: Helio Climbs the Fence Mr. "Restrictor Plate": Earnhardt's Final Victory Zanardi's Accident Five-Way Title Fight/Brack's Accident
Other	NASCAR on ESPN SpeedWeek RPM 2Night Saturday Night Thunder ABC Sports ESPN programs

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