Richard Attwood

Attwood entered the motor industry as a Jaguar apprentice before beginning racing in 1960 at the wheel of a Triumph TR3. He joined the Midlands Racing Partnership (MRP) in 1961 for club-level Formula Junior events, and by 1963 MRP had moved into the international arena. Attwood immediately made headlines by winning the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Junior support race in a Lola Mk5a. That performance earned him the inaugural Grovewood Award, voted on by the Guild of Motoring Writers.

In 1964, MRP stepped up to Formula Two, where Attwood won in Vienna and finished second at Pau, the Eifelrennen, and Albi — results made more impressive by the presence of reigning Formula One World Champion Jim Clark among his rivals at Pau.

Attwood's Formula Two performances persuaded BRM proprietor Alfred Owen to offer him a works drive. His first Formula One outing came at the 1964 British Grand Prix in BRM's experimental four-wheel-drive P67, a project car he had been testing; he qualified last and the team withdrew the car before the race. For 1965, Tim Parnell signed him to drive a Lotus 25 with BRM power for the privateer Reg Parnell Racing team — a chassis that was past its competitive best, yielding only two sixth-place finishes.

After sitting out most of 1966 and 1967, Attwood rejoined BRM following Mike Spence's death during Indianapolis 500 practice in 1968. His return was spectacular: at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix he set fastest lap on the way to second place behind Graham Hill. Form faded later in the year and he was replaced after four races by Bobby Unser. He made one further Formula One start, substituting for the injured Jochen Rindt at Monaco in 1969 in a Lotus 49B, finishing fourth. In total he started 17 World Championship Grands Prix, took one podium, and scored 11 championship points.

Attwood became one of the first drivers to take the Ford GT40 onto a race track when the Ford GT prototype project recruited him in 1964. He shared a GT40 at that year's Le Mans but retired due to a fire. His first major international sports car win came later in 1964 at the Rand 9 Hours in South Africa driving David Piper's Ferrari P2.

Attwood and Piper developed a lengthy professional relationship, with Attwood piloting Piper's green Ferraris — including the 250LM and 330P3/4 — throughout the mid-1960s. Notable results included third at the Spa 1000 km and second at the Zeltweg 500 km in 1967. He also drove the Porsche 906 and Alfa Romeo T33 in this period, showing breadth across machinery of the era.

For the 1969 World Sportscar Championship, Porsche signed Attwood to their works team, regularly pairing him with Vic Elford. The partnership delivered a pair of second places in the Porsche 908 at the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch and the Watkins Glen 6 Hours. Later that season Attwood was involved in the development of the Porsche 917, and the Elford/Attwood 917 led Le Mans for a substantial portion before a gearbox failure with two hours remaining ended their challenge at 327 laps completed.

Attwood and Hans Herrmann shared a Porsche 917K at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans to win the race outright — the first of what would become Porsche's record nineteen Le Mans victories. The following year, sharing a 917 with Herbie Müller for the privateer John Wyer team, Attwood finished second at Le Mans. He also shared second place at the 1970 Nürburgring with Herrmann in a Porsche 908, and won the 1000 km Zeltweg alongside Pedro Rodríguez.

After that 1971 season, Attwood retired from front-line racing. He returned briefly in 1984 as part of the Aston Martin Nimrod Le Mans project, but retired again following a violent accident while his co-driver John Sheldon was at the wheel.

Attwood remained active in historic motorsport after retiring, frequently appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, and Goodwood Members' Meetings. He acquired a Porsche 917 that had been used by Steve McQueen during filming of the movie Le Mans — painted to represent his 1970 winning car — and referred to it as "my pension." He sold the car at auction in 2000 for £1 million. His 1970 Le Mans victory remains the defining achievement of his career, cementing his place in Porsche's early endurance racing history.