Thomas Maldwyn Pryce (11 June 1949 – 5 March 1977) was a
British racing driver from Ruthin, Wales. He was famous for winning
the Brands Hatch Race of Champions (a non-championship Formula One
race) in 1975 and for the circumstances surrounding his death.
Pryce is the only Welsh driver to have won a Formula One race and
is also the only Welshman to lead a Formula One World Championship
Grand Prix: two laps of the 1975 British Grand Prix. Pryce started
his career in Formula One with the small Token team, making his
only start for them at the 1974 Belgian Grand Prix. Shortly after
an impressive performance at the Formula Three support race for the
1974 Monaco Grand Prix, Pryce joined the Shadow team and scored his
first points in Germany in only his fourth race. Pryce later
claimed two podium finishes, his first in Austria in 1975 and the
second in Brazil a year later. Pryce was considered by his team as
a great wet weather driver. During the practice session for the
1977 South African GP, run in wet conditions, Pryce was faster than
everyone, including world champion drivers Niki Lauda and James
Hunt. Pryce's third full season at Shadow was cut short by his
fatal accident at the 1977 South African Grand Prix, where he
collided at high speed with track marshal Frederik Jansen Van
Vuuren. In 2007, it was announced that a statue of Pryce would be
erected in his home town of Ruthin by the local council to mark the
30th anniversary of his death. On 23 January 2008, the Trust Fund
members met in the Rhuthun Castle Hotel, under the chairmanship of
David Richards (Prodrive), to discuss the progress of the intended
memorial to be placed in Upper Clwyd Street in Rhuthun. The
memorial was unveiled on the 11 June 2009. Please take a monent to
read the plague at GZ, and to take a closer look at the bronze
itself. You'll notice Tom's childhood home, the Clocaenog Forest
merging into a group of spectators, and dark rain clouds in
reference to Tom's supreme skill when driving in wet conditions.
The insription beneath the plaque translates roughly as "He beat
the best without forgetting his roots".
Congratulations go to wotsisname who,
after admirably persevering, claimed the FTF on 28th March
2010.