Ian Ashley

Ian Ashley

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Born	(1947-10-26) 26 October 1947 Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1974–1977
Teams	Token, Williams, BRM, Hesketh; non-works Brabham
Entries	11 (4 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1974 German Grand Prix
Last entry	1977 Canadian Grand Prix

Ian Hugh Gordon Ashley (born 26 October 1947 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a British racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Token, Williams, BRM and Hesketh teams.

Ashley began racing in 1966 when he took a course at the Jim Russell Racing School. He was fast but rather erratic, and soon earned the nickname "Crashley". He reached Formula 5000 in 1972 and was a front-runner in 1973. He made his debut in Formula One in 1974, and briefly drove for the Williams team the following year. His luck got worse over the mid-1970s in Formula One. He was to become a victim of two nasty accidents on circuits that were no longer used by Formula One soon after his two accidents. During 1975, at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring where during practice, he crashed severely at the tricky Pflanzgarten section and broke both his ankles, and during practice for the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park in 1977, he went over a bump, flipped his Hesketh, vaulted the barrier and crashed into a television tower. He never raced in Formula One again.

In 1985 he made his CART Championship Car debut at the Miami Grand Prix. He was entered in the 1986 Indianapolis 500 but the car did not appear on track. However, he did make three CART starts in 1986 and finished ninth at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, enough for 28th in the championship. He failed to finish in his other two 1986 starts. He also made a single Indy Lights start at Pocono Raceway and finished sixth. He made one more CART appearance in 1987, again in Miami but was knocked out by drivetrain trouble.

After Formula One he built a career as a pilot for executive jets in the United States. However, in 1993 he made a return to racing, driving a Vauxhall in the British Touring Car Championship. Following this he briefly raced motorcycle sidecar combinations, before a stint in the TVR Tuscan Challenge one-make series.

In November 2009, he competed in Formula Ford for the first time in over 40 years driving an Elden MK8 in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone.

Ashley is currently one of many professional drivers taking passengers in 'Hot Rides' as part of the Silverstone Experience, where you get to sit in the passenger seat of a Lotus, Aston Martin, Lamborgini or Ferrari as he takes you through some of the most famous corners in Formula One history at extremely high speeds.

Ashley racing an LDS-Alfa Romeo

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts.
1974	Token Racing	Token RJ02	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER 14	AUT NC	ITA					NC	0
	Chequered Flag	Brabham BT42	Cosworth V8														CAN DNQ	USA DNQ
1975	Frank Williams Racing Cars	Williams FW03	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER DNS	AUT	ITA	USA				NC	0
1976	Stanley BRM	BRM P201B	BRM V12	BRA Ret	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN		NC	0
1977	Hesketh Racing	Hesketh 308E	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT DNQ	NED DNQ	ITA DNQ	USA 17	CAN DNS	JPN	NC	0