CROWDS GATHER TO REMEMBER TOM PRYCE
Welsh hero remembered at HSCC’S first ever race meeting at Anglesey
Several hundred people, including marshals and fans, gathered on the grid at Anglesey on Sunday afternoon as Welsh racing driver Tom Pryce was celebrated during the inaugural Historic Sports Car Club race meeting at the North Wales track.
Forty-two years after Pryce was killed in a freak grand prix accident in South Africa, a minute’s applause marked what would have been his 70th birthday year.
The focal point of the moment was the Royale RP11 Formula 3 car he raced in 1971 and 1972, brought from Germany by current owner Martin Feldmann. Meanwhile, the road-going MGB
GT that was his road car at the time of his death was there with Dave Jones, who was given the car by Tom’s parents in 1977. Jones knew Tom in his early years in Denbigh. “I think he’d be amazed that people were remembering him all these years later,” said Jones. “This is the only race meeting to be run in his memory and it is such a wonderful occasion. I’d love to think that it can become an annual event and it is right to do it here at Anglesey on Welsh soil. He was a proud Welshman. When he was a young boy, he’d come to Anglesey on holiday to a caravan with his parents.”
Former British Touring Car Championship racer Karl Jones was also on hand to honour his countryman. Jones said: “I can remember vividly seeing Tom on the television in the Shadow and he inspired me to go racing. I was always a fan of Tom. He worked hard and was naturally gifted.”