Tommy Sopwith (racing driver)

Thomas Edward Brodie Sopwith (15 November 1932 – 4 May 2019) was a British businessman and car racing driver.

Biography

Thomas Sopwith was the son of English aviation pioneer and yachtsman Sir Thomas Sopwith – builder of the Sopwith Camel and later chairman of Hawker Aircraft – and Phyllis Brodie. He was educated at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire.

His success as a racing driver saw him win the first-ever round of the British Saloon Car Championship in 1958. That year he narrowly lost out on the driver's title to Jack Sears after a ten lap shoot-out at the end of the season, after the two drivers finished on equal points.[1] In 1961 he switched from car to powerboat racing. In 1965 he won the Cornish "100" Offshore Class 3, powerboat race in a boat called 'Thunderflash', just beating Mike Beard in 'Mongaso'.[2]

He was the owner of Endeavour Holdings Limited, a car dealership in Portslade, Brighton, with a turnover of £17 million.

He died on 4 May 2019 at the age of 86 at Basingstoke Hospital.[3]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) official 1958 BSCC standings
  2. Bulman, Ray (3 September 1965). "Cornish "100"". Yachts and yachting. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  3. Cornish, Susan (7 May 2019). "Sopwith". Telegraph Announcements. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
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