Ken Wharton

For the English writer and former British soldier, see Ken Wharton (writer).

Ken Wharton

Ken Wharton in 1953.
Born	(1916-03-21)21 March 1916
Died
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1952 – 1955
Teams	privateer Frazer-Nash & Cooper, BRM, Vanwall
Entries	16 (15 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	3
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1952 Swiss Grand Prix
Last entry	1955 Italian Grand Prix

Ken Wharton (21 March 1916, Smethwick – 12 January 1957, Ardmore, Auckland, New Zealand) was a British racing driver from England. He competed in off-road trials, hillclimbs, and rallying, and also raced sports cars and single-seaters. He began racing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, and later acquired a Cooper. His World Championship Grand Prix debut was at the 1952 Swiss event, run to Formula 2 regulations, where he started from 13th position on the grid and finished 4th. He participated in a total of 15 World Championship Grands Prix, from which he scored 3 championship points.

In 1951 he "travelled abroad, with Peter Bell's 2-litre E.R.A., to finish 3rd overall in the Susa/Mont Cenis hill-climb and 4th overall in the Aosta/Grand Saint Bernard hill-climb. With a Cooper 500 he also competed in the German Freiburg hill-climb where he was runner-up in the 500 cc class to Stirling Moss." Wharton won the Freiburg event outright in the E.R.A. on 5 August, climbing the 7.4 miles of the Schauinsland Pass, in 8 minutes 5.33 seconds. On 19 August he was fastest at the Vue des Alpes hill-climb, with a time of 3 minutes 57.8 seconds. He won the British Hill Climb Championship every year from 1951 to 1954, and remains the only driver to have won four successive BHCC titles. Other successes with ERA R4D included winning the Brighton Speed Trials in 1954, 1955 and 1956.

Success in rallies included winning the Tulip Rally in 1949, 1950 and 1952, driving Fords. He also became British Trials Champion.

On 4 July 1954, he and Peter Whitehead won the Reims 12-hour race in a Jaguar D-Type.

In 1957 Wharton was fatally injured when his Ferrari Monza crashed in a sports car race at the Ardmore Circuit in New Zealand.

Complete World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Points
1952	Scuderia Franera	Frazer-Nash FN48	Bristol Straight-6	SUI 4	500	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR	GER				13th	3
		Frazer-Nash 421								NED Ret
		Cooper T20									ITA 9
1953	Ken Wharton	Cooper T23	Bristol Straight-6	ARG	500	NED Ret	BEL	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER	SUI 7	ITA NC	NC	0
1954	Owen Racing Organisation	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6	ARG	500	BEL	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER DNS	SUI 6	ITA	ESP 8	NC	0
1955	Vandervell Products Ltd	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON	500	BEL	NED	GBR 9	ITA Ret			NC	0

External links

• Ken Wharton profile at The 500 Owners Association

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dennis Poore	British Hill Climb Champion 1951–1954	Succeeded by Tony Marsh