Racing boss Tom Walkinshaw dead at 64 (Autoweek)

ADAM COOPER

LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
Tom Walkinshaw remains best known as the man behind the famous Jaguars that raced in the World Sportscar Championship and IMSA from 1985 to 1993.

Well-known race-team boss Tom Walkinshaw died the morning of Dec. 12 at the age of 64. The Scot endured a long battle with cancer.

Walkinshaw had stints in Formula One as the boss of the Benetton, Ligier and Arrows teams, but he remains best known as the man behind the famous Jaguars that raced in the World Sportscar Championship and IMSA from 1985 to 1993.

Walkinshaw initially was a successful driver in his own right. Although he competed in Formula Three, Formula Two and Formula 5000, he was much more successful in touring cars. He won the Spa 24 Hours in 1981 with a Mazda and in 1984 with a Jaguar XJ-S. Also in 1984, he won the European Touring Car Championship.

He then retired from driving to focus on Tom Walkinshaw Racing, which he launched in the late 1970s. He built the company into a motorsports and engineering empire, most famously finding success with Jaguar.

After the ETCC triumphs, Walkinshaw took the marque into the sports-car big league in 1985. The following year the team switched to the iconic Silk Cut colors, going on to win Le Mans in 1988 and 1990 and both the teams' and drivers' world championships in 1987, 1988 and 1991. Jaguar also had some success in IMSA GTP competition, where it ran in Castrol and then Bud Light livery.

Benetton asked Walkinshaw to run the its F1 team in 1991, and he brought his sports-car designer, Ross Brawn, with him. He also was instrumental in headhunting Michael Schumacher after the German's sensational debut with Jordan at Spa that year.

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