

(1929-1975)
|
Norman Graham Hill was horn in Hampstead, a suburb of London, on Feb.15, 1929. Remarkably,
he was 24 years old, out of school and with a job, before he ever drove a car. He bought a
Morris 8 in 1953 and didn't pass his official driving test until weeks later. Then, that
same year, he stepped into his first racing car for four hot laps around Brands Hatch
after paying up to join the Universal Motor Racing Club. Hard to believe this unlikely indoctrination into racing world
culminate in two World Championships in 1962 and 1968, and the Indianapolis 500
championship of 1966, his rookie year at The Brickyard.
It wasn1t long after his introduction at
Brands Hatch that Hill determined racing was for him. He wanted to drive, but worked as a
mechanic. He met Colin Chapman and got an opportunity to drive in a Jaguar in 1955.
Then, later that year, Hill tested a new Lotus and
produced die second-fastest speed, which delighted Chapman, who eventually gave Hill his
first crack at Formula One in 1958.
He went to BRM two years later and in 1962, he won
the Dutch Grand Prix for his first Formula One victory. lie won twice more to claim the
World Championship. For the next three seasons, he would finish second in the Formula One
standings, although he would continue to win.
Re-united with Chapman in 1968, Hill won three more
Grands Prix and a second championship.
In 1966 at Indy, Hill's victory led a one-two sweep
for the United Kingdom, as Scotsman Jim Clark was second. The race was marred by an 11-car
crash at the start, which lull avoided. When the race restarted over an hour later, there
were 22 cars remaining. Hill, driving a Lotus-Ford, raced cautiously and expertly, passing
one ill car after another until the 191st lap, when he took the lead and won handily.
In 1969, when lie was 40, Hill was hardly considered
a contender for the World Championship. But he did well until a crash in the United States
Grand Prix threw him out of the cockpit of his car and broke both his legs.
Months of pain and a four and one-half hour
operation in London followed. Hill said he would come back and, to the amazement of many,
he did when he started. The South African Grand Prix on March 7, 1970. He finished
sixth in a courageous performance.
Hill continued to
race through 1972, when he shared a victory in sports cars with Gils van Lennep at LeMans.
Graham Hill, Inducted 1990 |


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