Brian Henton
Brian Henton | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1946 England |
| Occupation(s) | Racing driver, team owner, businessman |
| Years active | 1971–1983 (racing) |
| Known for | British Formula Three Champion (1974), European Formula Two Champion (1980), Formula One driver |
Brian Henton (born 19 September 1946) is a retired English racing competitor, notable for clinching the British Formula Three Championship twice in 1974 and securing the European Formula Two Championship title in 1980. He participated in 38 Formula One Grand Prix events, making his first appearance on 19 July 1975, though he did not accumulate any championship points during his F1 career.
Known by the moniker "Superhen," Henton entered the racing scene at age 23, emerging from a humble council housing background. After capturing the British Formula Vee championship in 1971, he boldly set his sights on becoming World Champion. While this ultimate ambition remained unfulfilled, he achieved considerable success in both Formula Three and Formula Two categories.
Henton's initial Formula One race occurred with Lotus in 1975 amid a challenging phase for the team, which restricted his opportunities to make a significant mark. Between 1975 and 1978, he alternated between competing in Formula One and Formula Two, including operating a private March vehicle under his own British Formula One Racing Team banner. His triumph in the 1980 Formula Two championship came with Toleman, who subsequently advanced him to their F1 squad in 1981. Unfortunately, the Toleman-Hart car suffered from excessive weight and developmental shortcomings, resulting in only a single race qualification. In the following year, drives with Arrows and Tyrrell yielded no points; however, he recorded the fastest lap at the 1982 British Grand Prix—making him uniquely the sole F1 driver to achieve this feat without earning championship points.
Henton's last appearance in a Formula One event was at the 1983 Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch, recognized as the final non-championship F1 race of the modern era.
Upon retiring from active racing, Henton resumed managing a car dealership before transitioning into property development and engineering ventures. He occasionally takes part in historic motorsport competitions and organizes equestrian activities at his Ingarsby Hall estate located in Leicestershire.
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | John Player European British Formula Three | Brian Henton Racing | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 10th |
| Lombard North British Formula Three | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10th | ||
| Forward Trust BARC British Formula Three | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8th | ||
| 1974 | Lombard North British Formula Three | March Racing Team | 11 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 78 | 1st |
| Forward Trust BARC British Formula Three | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 81 | 1st | ||
| European Formula Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22nd | ||
| 1975 | European Formula Two | Brian Henton | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 11th |
| Wheatcroft Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Formula One | John Player Team Lotus | 2 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !NC | |||||||
| Japanese Formula Two | Victory Circle Club | 1 ! 0 ! 0 ! ? ! 1 ! 0 ! NC | |||||||
| 1976 | Shellsport International Series | Netherton and Worth-Boxer Cars | 3 !0 !0 !0 !2 !27 !11th | ||||||
| 1977 | European Formula Two | Netherton and Worth-Boxer Cars | 12 !rowspan=2 |10th | ||||||
| Ardmore Racing | - | Formula One | Rothmans International Racing | 0 !rowspan=2 |NC | |||||
| HB Bewaking Alarmsystemen | - | Shellsport International Series | Hexagon Racing | 1 !0 !0 !0 !1 !12 !16th | |||||
| 1978 | European Formula Two | Brian Henton | 12 !0 !1 !1 !0 !3 !17th | ||||||
| Japanese Formula Two | 1 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !NC | ||||||||
| 1979 | European Formula Two | Toleman Group Motorsport | 2nd |- !1980 !align=left |
European Formula Two !align=left | Toleman Group Motorsport !11 !3 !2 !7 !9 !61 !style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st |- !1981 !align=left | Formula One !align=left | Candy Toleman Motorsport !1 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !NC |- !rowspan=2 | 1982 !rowspan="2" style="text-align:left" | Formula One |
align=left | Team Tyrrell |
13 ! 0 ! 0 ! 1 ! 0 ! rowspan=2 | 0 ! rowspan=2 | NC | ||||
align=left |
Arrows Grand Prix International #Season results and statistics Arrows [Ragno Arrows] |
1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || |
Full European Formula Two Championship Results
(key) (Races shown in bold represent pole positions; those in italics denote fastest laps)
| Year | Team | Car | Power Unit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:F2 | March Racing Team | March 742 | BMW | BAR | HOC | PAU | SAL | HOC | MUG 6 |
KAR | PER | HOC | VLL | 22nd | 1 | ||||
| Template:F2 | Brian Henton | March 752 | Hart | EST | THR 8 |
HOC 3 |
NÜR 10 |
PAU DSQ |
HOC Ret |
SAL 13 |
ROU | MUG Ret |
PER | 11th | 10 | ||||
| Wheatcroft Racing | Wheatcroft 002 | Ford BDA | SIL 3 |
ZOL | NOG | VLL | |||||||||||||
Full Formula One World Championship Results
(key)
| Year | Team Entrant | Car Model | Engine Type | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | World Championship Position (WDC) | Points Accumulated |
|---|
|-
| Template:F1 | nowrap | John Player Team Lotus | nowrap | Lotus 72F | nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | NED | FRA |style="background:#CFCFFF;" |GBR
16 | GER |style="background:#ffffff;" |AUT
DNS | ITA |style="background:#CFCFFF;" |USA
NC | colspan=3 | ! NC ! 0
|-
!rowspan=3 Template:F1│1977 ! nowrap |Rothmans International March Engineering│Racing ! nowrap |March Engineering│March March 761│761B !rowspan=3 nowrap │Cosworth DFV│Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 ! 1977 Argentine Grand Prix│ARG ! 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix│BRA ! 1977 South African Grand Prix│RSA !style="background:#CFCFFF;" │1977 United States Grand Prix West│USW
Template:Small│10 ! colspan=13 | !rowspan=3 │ NC !rowspan=3 │0
|-
! nowrap │British F1 Racing│British Formula One Racing Team ! nowrap │March Engineering│March March 761 ! colspan=4 | !style="background:#FFCFCF;" │1977 Spanish Grand Prix│ESP
Template:Small│DNQ !1977 Monaco Grand Prix│MON !1977 Belgian Grand Prix│BEL !1977 Swedish Grand Prix│SWE !1977 French Grand Prix│FRA !style="background:#FFCFCF;" │1977 British Grand Prix│GBR
Template:Small│DNQ !1977 German Grand Prix│GER !style="background:#FFCFCF;" │1977 Austrian Grand Prix│AUT
Template:Small│DNQ ! colspan=5 |
|-
! nowrap │Boro (Formula One)│HB Bewaking Alarmsystemen ! nowrap │Boro (Formula One)│Boro Boro 001 ! colspan=12 | !style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff" │[[1977 Dutch Grand Prix │NED ]]
Template:Small │DSQ !style="background:#FFCFCF;" │1977 Italian Grand Prix │ITA
Template:Small │DNQ !1977 United States Grand Prix │USA !1977 Canadian Grand Prix │CAN !1977 Japanese Grand Prix │JPN
|-
| Template:F1│1978 ! nowrap │Durex Surtees Racing Organisation │Team Surtees ! nowrap │Surtees Racing Organisation │Surtees Surtees TS20 ! nowrap │Cosworth DFV │Ford Cosworth DFV V8, 3.0L !1978 Argentine Grand Prix │ARG !1978 Brazilian Grand Prix │BRA !1978 South African Grand Prix │RSA !1978 United States Grand Prix West │USW !1978 Monaco Grand Prix │MON !1978 Belgian Grand Prix │BEL !1978 Spanish Grand Prix │ESP !1978 Swedish Grand Prix │SWE !1978 French Grand Prix │FRA !1978 British Grand Prix │GBR !1978 German Grand Prix │GER !style="background:#F1F8FF;" │1978 Austrian Grand Prix │AUT
POTemplate:Smallsup│‡ !1978 Dutch Grand Prix │NED !1978 Italian Grand Prix │ITA !1978 United States Grand Prix │USA !1978 Canadian Grand Prix CAN ! ! |- ! Template:F1 1981 ! nowrap Candy Toleman Motorsport ! nowrap Toleman TG181 ! nowrap Hart 415T engine, turbocharged inline-4,1.5 L ! USW ! BRA ! ARG !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ SMR !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ BEL !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNPQ MON !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ ESP !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ FRA !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ GBR !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ GER !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ AUT !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ NED !style="background:#CFCFFF;" ITA10 !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ CAN !style="background:#FFCFCF;" DNQ CPL colspan=2 | ! NC !
0
|- !
rowspan=2 Template:F1│1982
!
nowrap Ragno Arrows
!
nowrap Arrows A4
!
rowspan=2 nowrap Ford Cosworth DFV, V8,3.0L
style="background:#FFCFCF;" RSA DNQ BRA DNQ USW Ret colspan=14| !
rowspan=2 NC
!
rowspan=2 0
|- !
nowrap Tyrrell Racing Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 011
colspan=3| style="background:#EFCFFF;" SMR Ret BEL Ret style="background:#CFCFFF;" MON8 DET9 CAN NC style="background:#EFCFFF;" NED Ret style="background:#CFCFFF;" GBR8 FRA10 GER7 style="background:#EFCFFF;" AUT Ret style="background:#CFCFFF;" SUI11 style="background:#EFCFFF;" ITA Ret style="background:#CFCFFF;" CPL8 |
|} Brian Henton participated in practice sessions driving Rupert Keegan's No.18 Surtees at the 1978 Austrian GP; however, he was not officially entered to compete in the race.
Complete Formula One Non-Championship Results
(key)
| Year | Team | Car | Power Unit | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:F1 | British Formula One Racing Team | March 761 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ROC 4th |
| Template:F1 | Theodore Racing Team | Theodore N183 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ROC 4th |
| Template:Center | ||||
External links
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- English racing drivers
- English Formula One drivers
- European Formula Two Championship drivers
- British Formula Three Championship drivers
- People from Castle Donington
- Sportspeople from Leicestershire
- 1946 births
- Living people
- Team Lotus Formula One drivers
- March Formula One drivers
- Boro Formula One drivers
- British Formula One Racing Team Formula One drivers
- Toleman Formula One drivers
- Arrows Formula One drivers
- Tyrrell Formula One drivers
- Formula One team owners
- Formula One team principals
- 20th-century English sportsmen