John Duff
John Duff ( born January 17, 1895 in Jiujiang, † January 8, 1958 in Epping Forest ) was a Canadian race car driver.
John Duff won in 1924 as the first and only Canadian in the 24- hour race at Le Mans. In addition to his wife, Kay Petre country he is the second rider from the North American country to have won a race on the track of Brooklands. In his career, he set more than 50 speed records.
John Duff was born in 1895 in China, the son of a Canadian entrepreneur pair. However, his upbringing and schooling he received in the UK. In 1912 he returned to China, only to come again two years later to Europe to serve in the British Army during the First World War. He was severely wounded in the Third Battle of Ypres. Duff disarmed as a captain of infantry and married after the war, the nurse who had cared for him after wounding.
Duff began his racing career in 1920 when he, at Brooklands was launched with a private 10 -liter Fiat, built in 1908. Over the years he modified the Fiat again and was able to achieve some success with the aged race car. In 1922 he founded Duff & Aldington, a Bentley dealership and began to drive Bentleys race. In Brooklands he presented in September 1922 on some speed and distance records.
In 1923 he was the first 24 - hour race at Le Mans at the start. Walter Bentley did indeed send no factory cars in the race, but Duff supported with personnel and material. The Duff privately reported 3- liter sports was prepared in the Bentley factory and the Bentley test driver Frank Clement asked the Canadians as a partner. At the end of the duo finished in fourth place overall. A year later, Duff won with Clement in Le Mans and made for the first overall victory of the British brand at the Sarthe. Until the mid- 1920s, Duff drove in Europe races for Bentley and presented in September 1925 on the racecourse of Montlhery new distance records.
In 1926, Duff in the United States and signed a work contract with Miller to go to the start the 500-mile race at Indianapolis. The race had to be canceled because of rain after 400 miles and Duff was seen as ninth. After a third place in the AAA National race in Aaltona, Duff had a serious accident, which ended his career at the next race in Salem. After a puncture of the Miller bounced into a wall and Duff suffered serious fractures.
After his racing career, Duff and his family lived in California and worked as a stuntman in Hollywood and fencing instructor at the University of California. After the outbreak of the Great Depression Duff moved with his family to China to his native town. In the late 1930s, the UK made career as a fencer and came to economic prosperity. In the 1950s he became a passionate horse rider. John Duff died in January 1958 in a riding accident in a forest near London.