Stuart Lewis-Evans
Stuart Lewis -Evans ( born April 20, 1930 in Luton, England, † October 25, 1958 in East Grinstead, Sussex ) was a British racing driver.
Like many other racers of that era Lewis -Evans, the son of a garage owner, his spurs in motorsport race in the 500 cm3 class, which at that time attracted a large field of young riders and brands in the UK earned. Even Stuart's father took part in this race, and frequently drove father and son against each other. 1956 the big teams were aware of him, he first came to Connaught, for he could not win a 1957 World Cup scoring run at the Goodwood Circuit. In his first World Cup start, in the GP of Monaco 1957, he finished fourth at first. Then Ferrari gave him a cockpit in the 24- hour race at Le Mans, which he finished in fifth place. Subsequently, he joined the British Vanwall team, where he was only the third driver behind Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks was, but still struck with good benefits. So he finished the GP of Pescara in fifth and reached the GP of Italy, the pole position.
In the Formula 1 season 1958 Lewis -Evans was instrumental in the fact that his team Vanwall won the inaugural constructors' title. With two third places ( Belgium and Portugal) and a fourth place in the UK, he was ninth in the world championship. His fate overtook him at the last race of the season, the GP of Morocco in Casablanca on October 19. On lap 42 his Vanwall had a major engine damage, Lewis -Evans stood beside the line in the sand and the car went up in flames. The Englishman crawled with severe burns from his car, but he went into shock, so he ran away before the firefighters who tried to help him.
His burns were initially not life-threatening. Only through the improper assistance of Moroccan workers ( non-sterile blankets and bandages ) aggravated the injury. Lewis -Evans flew the next day in the same machine as World Champion Mike Hawthorn to England and was then first brought to a hospital, where he however another five days later his severe burn injuries died.
The of the popular, only 28 -year-old driver death was after the fatal accident of Luigi Musso and Peter Collins a renewed shock for Formula 1 and may have had role in ensuring that Vanwall withdrew to the end of the season in Formula 1.