David Hobbs

Before he became the widely-recognized Formula 1 color commentator for SPEED TV, David was a successful racer in his native England and throughout Europe, but achieved his greatest successes once he focused on American racing … Started with the SCCA’s Formula 5000 series in 1969, won 13 races in a four year span, and became the series champion in 1971 … followed that with a 1983 championship in the SCCA Trans-Am series, where he won four more races … had 11 wins in IMSA Camel GT events between 1977-83 in the GT and GTP classes … Finished 5th in his 1974 Indianapolis 500 debut for Roger Penske, one of four times he competed in the 500 … Led two laps in the 1976 Daytona 500 and did the Michigan 400 later that year … raced in the 1979 IROC series … Back in Europe, he won the GT class and finished 8th overall driving a Lotus Elite in the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans … His Le Mans career spans 20 races with third places in 1969 and 1984 … Drove seven Formula 1 races between 1967-74 for McLaren, Honda, BRM and Penske, with five top 10 finishes and a career best of 7th in his final F-1 race, the 1974 Austrian GP, for Yardley-McLaren … Won four European Formula 5000 races between 1969-74, and the 1968 Monza 1000K World Sports Car Championship race … also has a 1969 European Touring Car GTU class win in the Nurburgring 6-hour, one in 1972 Tasman Cup, plus many non-championship sports car race wins from Kyalami to Mid-Ohio. Hobbs was a 2009 inductee into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He was honored at the RRDC’s 2019 Annual Dinner at Long Beach. His autobiography, “Hobbo: Motor Racer, Motor Mouth”, is a romp of a read.