203:, who had left the British steel industry upon its nationalisation. He turned to motorsport and set out to build a 'state-of-the-art' Formula Three car, the Kieft CK1. Moss was the designated driver but could not compete in every event due to commitments elsewhere. Kieft, therefore, turned to Parker and as a director of Norton was able to arrange engine supply. Parker adapted the parts supplied by Kieft to suit him better, his car could be considered a
140:, UK and did not see a motor race until he was 40 years of age. In the late 1940s, Parker was running a small engineering firm in South London and inherited a 500 cc (31 cu in) racing car from an adjacent company. He adapted this to better suit his own slight build and it made a winning debut at
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Parker began 1956 with the Kieft chassis and took a win at Brough in March. However, by mid-season he'd made the change to a Cooper-Norton but without any greater success, only two further wins followed and the title was won by
Russell. There was little improvement in 1957 when Russell again took the
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1959 would be Parker's last full season as a racing driver. A number of his rivals from previous series had moved to other categories but his experience enabled him to compete effectively against a new set of younger drivers. He won again at
Snetterton, took two wins at Brands Hatch and further wins
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which was followed by several podium finishes and late-season wins at
Snetterton again and Brands Hatch. It was an improvement over the previous seasons but not the dominance of the title-winning years. Parker, however, was nearing the end of his career and was almost 50 years of age. The
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At the beginning of 1955, Parker took over the maintenance and development of all the Kieft
Formula Three cars. However, although Moss had by then moved on to other categories, Cooper, with their new Mk IX design, had a strong driver line-up including
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Parker met his second wife Dora (some sources say Dory) at
Goodwood in 1951, when she was still in her teens. Despite the age difference, they married when she became 21 and remained together until Parker's death. They had one daughter.
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Parker's childhood was unconventional in that his education was often interrupted by calls to assist in his father's horse-trading business and he left home at the age of 12, eventually finding his way into the engineering industry.
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1953 was also a successful season for Parker. Continuing to develop the Kieft chassis to his own specification, he achieved 30 wins and a further 12 podium finishes out of 44 races and took the title for a second consecutive season.
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1951 was the inaugural season for the
British Formula Three Championship and Parker acquired a James Bottoms Special (JBS) chassis and was provided with works JAP engines. However, James Bottoms' son Alf was killed at the 1951
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and the factory lost its impetus thereafter. Despite this, Parker achieved 12 wins in the season and was classified fourth in the championship standings. In May he tested the works
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In 1959, whilst still an active driver, Parker began to manufacture trailers which were used by multiple teams in subsequent seasons.
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due to the changes, and the cars built by him and team mechanic Ray Martin (for Moss) were said to be superior to customer chassis.
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using the cars he used to tow his
Formula Three racers. Despite them being road cars and un-modified, he still achieved race wins.
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In 1954, Parker acquired one of the last Kieft chassis and continued to develop it to his own specification. His closest rival was
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to race in other categories but declined them as he lacked confidence in his own abilities. He also occasionally competed in the
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in a Cooper Mk VIII (a much newer design) and the title was only decided after the addition of a Boxing Day race at
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in April 1949. He took three other podium finishes that year and set fastest time in his class at the
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Formula Three championship, together with the Light Car
Challenge and Veterans Trophy. At the
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support race he was denied victory over Moss only by a last lap primary-chain breakage.
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The season proved a successful one for Parker with a total of 22 wins and the
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In 1952, Parker began an important long-term racing partnership with
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Don Parker profile at 500cc.org with images of him and cars he drove
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on three occasions (1952, 1953 and 1959). He also competed in the
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title. Parker achieved several podium finishes but only one win.
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Don Parker died on 20 May 1997, aged 88, after a short illness.
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The next season (1950), 500cc racing became recognised by the
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597:"Don Parker | Racing career profile | Driver Database"
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331:Complete British Saloon Car Championship results
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173:Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race
844:British Formula Three Championship drivers
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571:Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.
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301:British Saloon Car Championship
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167:-equipped works and privateer
113:British Formula Three Champion
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744:Lawrence, Mike (June 2003).
291:Parker received offers from
102:1st; in 1952, 1953 and 1959
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644:. July 1997. p. 7
181:Luxembourg Grand Prix
146:Brighton Speed Trials
839:People from Ramsgate
159:. Parker drove his
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253:Stuart Lewis-Evans
218:British Grand Prix
195:Championship years
746:"Mid Life Prizes"
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755:. p. 66
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701:"Don Parker"
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635:"Don Parker"
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492:Jaguar XK150
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89:Years active
62:(1997-05-20)
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824:1997 deaths
819:1908 births
751:Motor Sport
705:500race.org
640:Motor Sport
488:Don Parker
400:Don Parker
282:Oulton Park
241:Jim Russell
201:Cyril Kieft
98:Best finish
60:20 May 1997
29:Nationality
813:Categories
785:5 November
576:References
497:GT +1600cc
404:Jensen 541
269:Snetterton
229:Les Leston
109:Don Parker
67:Portsmouth
43:1908-11-11
24:Don Parker
245:Ivor Bueb
213:Autosport
155:(FIA) as
92:1951–1960
134:Ramsgate
50:Ramsgate
759:29 June
710:27 June
648:18 June
606:18 June
559:Source:
169:Coopers
74:Retired
32:British
390:Class
354:Class
297:Lister
165:Norton
142:Brough
348:Team
345:Year
293:Lotus
185:Kieft
787:2022
761:2016
712:2016
650:2016
608:2016
547:NC*
484:1960
396:1958
387:Pts
351:Car
295:and
284:and
251:and
138:Kent
77:1960
69:, UK
57:Died
52:, UK
37:Born
550:0*
541:BRH
536:BRH
531:BRH
526:SNE
517:OUL
512:MAL
507:SNE
502:BRH
464:BRH
455:BRH
450:BRH
445:CRY
440:BRH
435:BRH
430:MAL
425:BRH
416:BRH
384:DC
337:key
280:at
161:JAP
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521:1*
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.