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Mike Parkes

2015-02-10

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{{Infobox F1 driver

|name = Mike Parkes

|image = [[File:Mike Parkes 1969 kl.JPG|250px]]

|nationality = {{flagicon|UK}} British

|birth_date = {{birth date|1931|9|24|df=y}}

|birth_place = Richmond Surrey, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|1977|8|28|1931|9|24|df=y}}

|death_place = Turin, Italy

|Years = {{F1|1959}}, {{F1|1966}}–{{F1|1967}}

|Team(s) = [[Fry (racing team)|Fry]], [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]

|Races = 7 (6 starts)

|Championships = 0

|Wins = 0

|Podiums = 2

|Points = 14

|Poles = 1

|Fastest laps = 0

|First race = [[1959 British Grand Prix]]

|First win =

|Last win =

|Last race = [[1967 Belgian Grand Prix]]

}}

'''Michael Johnson Parkes''' (born 24 September 1931 in Richmond, Surrey; died 28 August 1977 near Turin, Italy<ref name="WATN">{{cite web |url=http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Michael_Parkes |title=The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? |accessdate=2007-07-29 |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |publisher=OldRacingCars.com}}</ref>) was a British [[racing driver]], from England. Parkes was born into an automotive background as his father John, was Chairman of the [[Alvis Car and Engineering Company|Alvis Group]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

He participated in 7 [[Formula One]] World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 July 1959. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also secured one [[pole position]]. When not racing cars, Parkes worked as an automotive engineer,<ref name=bachelor>''Sebring 'Crasher' Swept By Ferrari'', Los Angeles Times, 22 March 1964, Page B5.</ref> and whilst working for the [[Rootes Group]] was involved in the project which led to production of the [[Hillman Imp]].

==Sports car career==

Parkes began his racing career in the mid 1950s initially with an [[MG Cars#Motorsport|MG]] before moving on to a [[Frazer Nash]].<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> In 1957 he raced a [[Lotus Cars|Lotus]] and came to the attention of [[Colin Chapman]] who invited him to act as reserve driver for the works team at [[24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans]].<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> He then became involved with the [[Fry (racing team)|Fry]] [[Formula Two]] project in 1958 and 1959, before returning to sportscars in 1960.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1960 Parkes drove a [[Lotus Elite#Type 14 (1957 to 1963)|Lotus Elite]] for [[Gawaine Baillie|Sir Gawaine Baillie]] before moving to [[Tommy Sopwith (racing driver)|Tommy Sopwith's]] Equipe Endeavour, in 1961 where he drove in sportscars and [[Formula Junior]]. He also drove a [[Ferrari]] GT for UK Ferrari franchise, Maranello Concessionaires.<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> At Le Mans he shared a [[Ferrari TR|three-litre Ferrari Testa Rossa]] with [[Willy Mairesse]] and finished second.<ref name ="ReferenceA"/>

In May 1962, Mairesse and Parkes came second in the [[1000km Nürburgring]] race in a [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] behind the winning car of the same [[marque]] driven by [[Phil Hill]] and [[Olivier Gendebien]]. The race was 44 laps.<ref>''Phil Hill Wins Nürburgring'', Los Angeles Times, 28 May 1962, Page B6.</ref> Parkes finished a mere car length

behind [[Graham Hill]] in the 28th [[Royal Automobile Club]] tourist trophy race in August 1963.<ref>''Datelines In Sports'', Los Angeles Times, 25 August 1963, Page K5.</ref>[[Umberto Maglioli]] and Parkes drove one of the Ferraris which claimed the top five

qualifying positions for the 1964 [[12 Hours of Sebring]]. The Ferraris were stocked with new power plants. Parkes was clocked at 3:10.4.<ref>''Ferraris Taking Over Top 5 Sebring Spots'', Los Angeles Times, 20 March 1964, Page B7</ref> In the race Parkes established a speed record and completed the most miles ever for a winner.

[[File:1965-05-23 Ferrari Südkehre.jpg|thumb|262px|left|Parkes at the 1965 [[1000km Nürburgring]] in front of [[Graham Hill]], both in [[Ferrari]]s.]]

Parkes and Maglioli, working together for the first time, finished a considerable distance ahead of the Ferrari of [[Ludovico Scarfiotti]] and [[Nino Vaccarella]].<ref name=bachelor/> Parkes teamed with [[Jean Guichet]] in a Ferrari to capture the 1,000 kilometer Classic of [[Autodromo Nazionale Monza|Monza, Italy]] in April 1965. Tommy Spichiger, 30, of Switzerland, died instantly on the 34th lap of the race when his Ferrari 365 [[prototype]] went off the track and burst into flames. Parkes and Guichet led most of the race in their Ferrari prototype, after taking the lead from [[John Surtees]] and [[Ludovico Scarfiotti]].<ref>''Swiss Driver Dies at Monza'', Los Angeles Times, 26 April 1965, Page B3.</ref> Parkes and Guichet placed 2nd to Surtees and Scarfiotti in a 620-mile race at the [[Nürburgring]] in May 1965. The winning pair led the full 44 laps. It was a 4th consecutive victory for Ferrari.<ref>''Ferrari Pair Wins Race Marred by Driver Death'', Los Angeles Times, 24 May 1965, Page B3</ref> [[Dan Gurney]] eclipsed the time of Parkes in the sole factory Ferrari in the final

practice for the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring. The blue [[Ford Motor Company#Motorsport|Ford]] was clocked at 2:54.6, 2 seconds faster than a lap run by Parkes the previous day. In a [[Ferrari P|Ferrari P3]] prototype, Parkes lap was so fast ''that none of the time-speed conversion charts would accept it.'' Parkes and [[Bob Bondurant]] started 2nd after Gurney and his co-driver, [[Jerry Grant]].<ref>''Gurney Roars 107 m.p.h. in Final Tineup'', Los Angeles Times, 26 March 1966, A5</ref> Surtees and Parkes were in a Ferrari prototype in their victory in a 620-mile Monza sports car event in April 1966<ref>''Datelines:Monza'', Los Angeles Times, 26 April 1966, Page B3</ref> [[Chris Amon]] and [[Lorenzo Bandini]] were triumphant in a 100 lap, 1,000 kilometer Monza race in April 1967. They drove a four litre Ferrari for an average speed of 122.30 m.p.h. Parkes and Scarfiotti finished second with a time of 5:10:59.2. The winning time was 5 hours seven minutes, 43 seconds. The Ferraris were in front after the [[Chaparral Cars|Chaparral]]s of [[Phil Hill]] and [[Mike Spence]] had to make pit stops following the 17th and 18th laps.<ref>''Ferraris Run 1-2 at Monza'', Los Angeles, 26 April 1967, Page C5.</ref> Parkes competed in a 1,000 kilometer sports car race in [[Argentina]] in January 1971. He was paired with [[Joakim Bonnier]] in a five litre Ferrari entered and owned by the Swiss Filippinetti stable which maintained operations in [[Modena]].<ref>"Ferrari To Enter New Car In Argentine Race Jan. 10", New York Times, 3 January 1971, Page S6.</ref>

==Formula One career==

Parkes first entered a World Championship Grand Prix at [[1959 British Grand Prix|Aintree]] in 1959 driving a [[Formula 2]] (F2) [[Fry (racing team)|Fry]] [[Coventry Climax|Climax]] 1.5 litre [[Straight-4]]. However he did not qualify and returned to sportscars thereafter, apart from a single outing at [[Mallory Park]] in 1962 with a [[Reg Parnell Racing|Bowmaker]] [[Cooper Car Company|Cooper]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|last =Small|first =Steve|title =THe Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who|publisher =Guinness|date =1994|page =278|ISBN =0851127029}}</ref> Following his success with Ferrari sportscars, Parkes joined [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] officially in 1963 as development and reserve driver,<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> and over the following seasons became recognised as a leading sports car driver.<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> When [[John Surtees]] unexpectedly left Ferrari in 1966, Parkes was promoted to the Grand Prix team and with an extended chassis to accommodate his height of six feet four inches,<ref name ="ReferenceA"/> was immediately successful, finishing in second place in the [[1966 French Grand Prix]] at [[Reims-Gueux|Reims]]. [[Jack Brabham]] won the race and his teammate, [[Denny Hulme]], third, in their [[Brabham]]–[[Repco]]s.<ref>"Brabham Wins Formula One Race at Rheims", Los Angeles Times, 4 July 1966, Page B6.</ref> However this was followed by two retirements before another second place at [[1966 Italian Grand Prix|Monza]] where he also took pole position.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Parkes won an international Formula One race at [[Silverstone Circuit|Silverstone]] by one third of a lap over Brabham in April 1967. This event was the last prior to the 1967 European rounds of the Formula One World Championship, which began at the [[1967 Monaco Grand Prix]] on 7 May. The 52 lap race was the first Formula One contest for Parkes in his native country. He completed the 152.36 mile competition in 1:19:39.25 with an average speed of 114.65 m.p.h.<ref>"English Race Driver Wins In Ferrari", Los Angeles Times, 30 April 1967, Page I8.</ref>

In 1967, Parkes competed in two further Grands Prix for [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] finishing fifth at [[1967 Dutch Grand Prix|Zandvoort]] but retiring through accident at [[1967 Belgian Grand Prix|Spa]],<ref name="ReferenceA"/> suffering broken legs that would ultimately end his Grand Prix career.

Ferrari Auto Works chose to enter two cars in the [[1967 Syracuse Grand Prix]]. This was a Formula One race that did not count toward the Formula One World Championship. Parkes and Scarfiotti were assigned 1966 model single seaters.<ref>"Ferrari to Enter Two Cars at Syracuse", Los Angeles Times, 17 May 1967, Page C6.</ref>

After Parkes' Formula One career ended, he raced into the 1970s in [[sports cars]].

Parkes was killed in a road accident near [[Turin]], Italy on 23 August 1977.

{{-}}

==Racing record==

===Complete Formula One World Championship results===

([[:Template:F1 driver results legend 2|key]]) (Races in '''bold''' indicate pole position)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! WDC

! Points

|-

| [[1959 Formula One season|1959]]

! [[Fry (racing team)|David Fry]]

! [[Fry (racing team)|Fry]] (F2)

! [[Coventry Climax|Climax]] [[Straight-4]]

| [[1959 Monaco Grand Prix|MON]]

| [[1959 Indianapolis 500|500]]

| [[1959 Dutch Grand Prix|NED]]

| [[1959 French Grand Prix|FRA]]

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| [[1959 British Grand Prix|GBR]] DNQ

| [[1959 German Grand Prix|GER]]

| [[1959 Portuguese Grand Prix|POR]]

| [[1959 Italian Grand Prix|ITA]]

| [[1959 United States Grand Prix|USA]]

|

|

! NC

! 0

|-

| [[1966 Formula One season|1966]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[Ferrari 312|312/66]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[V12 engine|V12]]

| [[1966 Monaco Grand Prix|MON]]

| [[1966 Belgian Grand Prix|BEL]]

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| [[1966 French Grand Prix|FRA]] 2

| [[1966 British Grand Prix|GBR]]

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[1966 Dutch Grand Prix|NED]] Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[1966 German Grand Prix|GER]] Ret

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| '''[[1966 Italian Grand Prix|ITA]]''' 2

| [[1966 United States Grand Prix|USA]]

| [[1966 Mexican Grand Prix|MEX]]

|

|

! 8th

! 12

|-

| [[1967 Formula One season|1967]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[Ferrari 312|312/66]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[V12 engine|V12]]

| [[1967 South African Grand Prix|RSA]]

| [[1967 Monaco Grand Prix|MON]]

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[1967 Dutch Grand Prix|NED]] 5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| [[1967 Belgian Grand Prix|BEL]] Ret

| [[1967 French Grand Prix|FRA]]

| [[1967 British Grand Prix|GBR]]

| [[1967 German Grand Prix|GER]]

| [[1967 Canadian Grand Prix|CAN]]

| [[1967 Italian Grand Prix|ITA]]

| [[1967 United States Grand Prix|USA]]

| [[1967 Mexican Grand Prix|MEX]]

! 16th

! 2

|}

===Non-Championship Formula One results===

([[:Template:F1 driver results legend 3|key]]) (Races in '''bold''' indicate pole position)

(Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

|-

| 1959

! [[Fry (racing team)|David Fry]]

! [[Fry (racing team)|Fry]]

! [[Coventry Climax|Climax]] [[Straight-4]]

| [[1959 Glover Trophy|GLV]]

| [[1959 BARC Aintree 200|AIN]]

| [[1959 BRDC International Trophy|INT]]

| [[1959 International Gold Cup|OUL]]

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| [[1959 Silver City Trophy|SIL]] 12

|-

| 1962

! [[Cooper Car Company]]

! [[Cooper Car Company|Cooper]] [[Cooper T56|T56]]

! [[Coventry Climax|Climax]] [[V8 engine|V8]]

| [[1962 Cape Grand Prix|CAP]]

| [[1962 Brussels Grand Prix|BRX]]

| [[1962 Lombank Trophy|LOM]]

| [[1962 Lavant Cup|LAV]]

| [[1962 Glover Trophy|GLV]]

| [[1962 Pau Grand Prix|PAU]]

| [[1962 Aintree 200|AIN]]

| [[1962 BRDC International Trophy|INT]]

| [[1962 Naples Grand Prix|NAP]]

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| [[1962 International 2000 Guineas|MAL]] 4

| [[1962 Crystal Palace Trophy|CLP]]

| [[1962 Reims Grand Prix|RMS]]

| [[1962 Solitude Grand Prix|SOL]]

| [[1962 Kanonloppet|KAN]]

| [[1962 Mediterranean Grand Prix|MED]]

| [[1962 Danish Grand Prix|DAN]]

| [[1962 International Gold Cup|OUL]]

| [[1962 Mexican Grand Prix|MEX]]

| [[1962 Rand Grand Prix|RAN]]

| [[1962 Natal Grand Prix|NAT]]

|-

| 1967

! [[Scuderia Ferrari]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[Ferrari 312|312]]

! [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] [[V12 engine|V12]]

| [[1967 Race of Champions|ROC]]

| [[1967 Spring Cup|SPC]]

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| [[1967 BRDC International Trophy|INT]] 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| '''[[1967 Syracuse Grand Prix|SYR]]''' 1

| [[1967 International Gold Cup|OUL]]

| [[1967 Spanish Grand Prix|ESP]]

|-

|}

==Automotive Engineering==

Parkes worked for the [[Rootes Group]] from 1950 to 1962, initially as an apprentice. One of his roles at Rootes was as project engineer in the development of the [[Hillman Imp]].

In 1963 Parkes joined Ferrari as development engineer for their road cars, notably the 330 GTC, and also as a GT sports car driver. Following his absence from work after his serious F1 accident, he returned to Ferrari in 1969 to find the company partly under the control of Fiat and at that point decided to work for Scuderia Filipinetti as engineer as well as driver.

In 1974 Parkes took a job as principal development engineer for the [[Lancia Stratos]].

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

*[http://www.mikeparkes.eu www.mikeparkes.eu] Fuller biography and over 150 photos

*[http://www.imps4ever.info/algemeen/parkes.html Mike Parkes, biography at imps4ever.info]

{{s-start}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box|title=[[BRDC International Trophy|BRDC International Trophy winner]] |before=[[Jack Brabham]]|after=[[Denny Hulme]]|years=1967}}

{{s-end}}

{{12 Hours of Sebring winners}}

{{Persondata

| NAME = Parkes, Mike

| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Parkes, Michael Johnson

| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British racing driver

| DATE OF BIRTH = 24 September 1931

| PLACE OF BIRTH = Richmond, Surrey, England

| DATE OF DEATH = 28 August 1977

| PLACE OF DEATH = Turin, Italy

}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Mike}}

{{Wikipedia}}