Drivers

Paul Hawkins

Paul Hawkins was one of the Australians who came to Europe in the 1960s to race and has the distinction (if one can call it that) to have been the only man other than Alberto Ascari to end up in the harbour after an accident at Monte Carlo.

The son of a motorcycle racer who later turned to God and became a minister, Hawkins started out racing saloon cars in Australia before setting off to Europe with his pal Frank Gardner to try out the Formula 3 scene in Britain.

In 1965 he tried his hand at Formula 1, making his debut on New Year's Day 1965 in East London, South Africa, at the wheel of a John Willment-entered Formula 2 Brabham alongside Gardner. There was then a break of five months before the second round of the World Championship at Monaco where he was driving a private Lotus entered by Dickie Stoop. He lost control at the chicane and the car went over the wall and into the harbour, "Hawkeye" having to swim to safety. He also competed in Germany.

After that he settled into a successful career in sportscars which included drives with the Ferrari and Porsche factory teams in 1967. He won the Targa Florio that year in a Porsche 910 which he shared with Rolf Stommelen. He was a spectacular and committed racer and a great joker, famous for exploding "shark-scarer" devices at inopportune moments. He survived looping the loop in a sportscar race in Mont Tremblant but died in May 1969 at Oulton Park when his Lola T70 crashed into a tree at Island Bend during the Tourist Trophy. He was 31.