In 1970 Walkinshaw entered the British Formula Three championship with Lotus, later moving to the March works team where he broke his ankle in a racing accident. He subsequently drove in Formula 5000 and Formula Two. Ford hired him to drive a Capri in the British Touring Car Championship in 1974, and he won his class that year.
In 1976 Walkinshaw established Tom Walkinshaw Racing, continuing to drive for his own team. He competed in the 1976 World Championship for Makes, sharing a Hermetite-sponsored BMW 3.5 CSL with John Fitzpatrick. The pair achieved a dramatic victory at the Silverstone 6 Hours by just 1.3 seconds.
In 1983 TWR took eleven wins in eleven races in the British Saloon Car Championship running Rover Vitesses, before being stripped of the title for a technical infringement.
In 1984 Walkinshaw won the European Touring Car Championship driving a 5.3-litre V12 Jaguar XJS. That same year, in September, he teamed with Australian driver John Goss to drive an Australian Group C spec XJS at the Bathurst 1000. After qualifying tenth, Walkinshaw never left the starting line after transmission failure and was hit from behind by a Chevrolet Camaro, triggering the race's first-ever restart.
In 1985 Jaguar retired the XJS from Group A racing and TWR was forced to use Rover Vitesse cars in the European Touring Car Championship. Walkinshaw and Win Percy won six of the 14 races but finished third in the championship behind the Eggenberger Volvo 240T drivers Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindström.
At the 1985 Bathurst 1000, Walkinshaw claimed pole position and finished third after leading for over two-thirds distance before a split oil line late in the race. The John Goss/Armin Hahne car won for TWR, having battled for over 100 laps of the 6.172 km Mount Panorama Circuit with a broken driver's seat held in place by cable ties.
In 1986 the Rovers, carrying Bastos/Texaco sponsorship, competed in the renamed FIATCC. Walkinshaw again finished third; co-driver Win Percy was originally announced as 1986 champion before results were amended following protest hearings. Walkinshaw had intended to return to Bathurst with V12 Jaguars but withdrew when Jaguar Rover Australia refused to help with funds following a downturn in the Australian car market.
With sponsorship from the New Zealand-based Strathmore Group, Walkinshaw took the Jaguars to Japan for the 1986 Fuji InterTEC 500 and to New Zealand for the XJS's final race, the 1987 Wellington 500. Engine work lifted the V12's power output to 500 hp. At Fuji, Walkinshaw qualified on pole ahead of the new Nissan Skyline RS DR30s and Holden VK Commodore SS Group As, led for the first six laps from teammate Jeff Allam and Peter Brock, then retired with no oil pressure.
In February 1987 Walkinshaw entered a partnership with Australian manufacturer Holden, intending to compete in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship with a 4.9-litre V8 Holden VL Commodore SS Group A. He withdrew before the first race at Monza in protest at the US$60,000 entrance fee imposed by Bernie Ecclestone. Walkinshaw and Jeff Allam appeared with the car at the Nürburgring round but it was uncompetitive against the Ford Sierra RS Cosworths and BMW M3s, retiring with brake problems.
In 1988 TWR developed the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV. At the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone, Walkinshaw and Allam qualified ninth and finished fifteenth. Walkinshaw's last race as a driver was the 1988 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst. In partnership with Larry Perkins, TWR shipped the Commodore as part of the Holden Special Vehicles team. Walkinshaw and Allam qualified thirteenth and retired after five laps with rear suspension failure. Walkinshaw was also cross-entered in the Perkins/Denny Hulme car and drove later in the race; that car retired with engine failure after 137 laps while running second.
Following the Tooheys 1000, Walkinshaw retired from driving to concentrate on managing TWR's increasing motorsports portfolio.
TWR's World Sportscar Championship programme ran for six years, winning Le Mans twice (1988 and 1990) and the World Championships three times (1987, 1988 and 1991). The same team brought engineer Ross Brawn to prominence.
In 1991 Walkinshaw became engineering director of the Benetton F1 team, which subsequently won the 1995 Formula One World Championship. He was involved in the recruitment of Michael Schumacher to Benetton after the German's Formula One debut with Jordan. His role came under scrutiny during investigations of suspected technical infringements in the 1994 season, including potential use of banned electronic aids and unauthorised modifications to the refuelling apparatus. Although illegal software was found in the cars, the FIA had no evidence it had been used in a race.
In 1995 Walkinshaw bought 50% of the Ligier team from Benetton principal Flavio Briatore but could not acquire 100% and pulled out. He then bought the Arrows team and for the 1997 season recruited reigning world champion Damon Hill. In 1997 Walkinshaw was voted Autocar Man of the Year; by then the TWR Group employed 1,500 people in the UK, Sweden, Australia and the United States.
TWR went into liquidation in 2002 after Arrows ran out of money. The Australian arm was bought by Holden, which then had to divest it; the Holden Racing Team was sold to driver Mark Skaife, and K-Mart Racing to John and Margaret Kelly.
In 2005 Walkinshaw returned to V8 Supercars and helped Holden to its first series win since 2002, through Rick Kelly (2006) and Garth Tander (2007). In late 2006 Walkinshaw Performance bought the small Australian sports car manufacturer Elfin Cars. In 2007 Walkinshaw Performance acquired a 50% stake in the Holden Racing Team, and in 2008 fully re-acquired it from Skaife. In 2009 Walkinshaw Racing debuted as a two-car operation known individually as Bundaberg Red Racing and Team Autobarn.
Walkinshaw was also owner of Gloucester Rugby and chairman of the team owners organisation for the Aviva Premiership.
Walkinshaw died on 12 December 2010, aged 64, from complications arising from cancer. His memorial service was held at Gloucester Cathedral on 4 February 2011. He is survived by his son Fergus from his first marriage and his second wife Martine and their sons Ryan and Sean. Fergus restarted TWR in October 2023. Ryan became a team principal at Walkinshaw Andretti United — co-owned by Andretti Autosport and United Autosports and racing in the Australian Supercars Championship. Sean competes in GT racing, most often in GT3 spec series including GT World Challenge Europe.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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