{{Short description|British rally driver, alpine skier and ornithologist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox person | image = Jaguar XK120 'NUB120' - Flickr - exfordy.jpg | caption = Appleyard's ''Coupe d'Or''-winning "NUB 120" Jaguar XK120 driven at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|10|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Linton, West Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|06|02|1923|10|10|df=yes}} | death_place = Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England }}
'''Ernest Ian Appleyard''' (10 October 1923 – 2 June 1998) was a British rally driver, alpine skier and ornithologist. Driving a Jaguar XK120, he won the RAC Rally in 1951 and 1953, the Tulip Rally in 1951 and a ''Coupe d'Or'' at the Alpine Rally in 1952. In alpine skiing, he competed for Great Britain in the 1948 Winter Olympic Games. After retiring from sports, he became a leading author on the ring ouzel.
==Biography== Appleyard was born in Linton, West Yorkshire, in 1923.<ref name="Sports Reference">{{cite web|title=Ian Appleyard |work=Sports Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ap/ian-appleyard-1.html |accessdate=4 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813121221/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ap/ian-appleyard-1.html |archivedate=13 August 2011 }}</ref> As a child, he shared an interest in birds and alpine skiing with his brother Geoffrey, who died on an SAS mission during World War II.<ref name="The Independent">{{cite web | first=Mary | last=Lean | title=Obituary: Ian Appleyard | work=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituaryian-appleyard-1165285.html | date=16 June 1998 | accessdate=4 March 2012}}</ref> Ian received his degree in mechanical engineering in 1943 and went on to become a Major at the Royal Military College of Science.<ref name="The Independent"/> In 1946, he accepted a job as a director of the family car dealership Appleyard of Leeds.<ref name="The Independent"/>
The following year, Appleyard finished third in his class at the Alpine Rally in a Jaguar SS100.<ref name="The Independent"/> In 1948, he received factory support from Jaguar Cars.<ref name="Jaguar">{{cite book | last=Hicks | first=Roger | year=1989 | title=Jaguar: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Elegant Sports Car | publisher=Crescent Books | page=13}}</ref> Despite stopping to help an injured rival, he met all the target times and was awarded his first ''Coupe des Alpes'' (Alpine Cup).<ref name="The Independent"/> That same year, he competed in the Winter Olympics and finished 55th in men's slalom and 91st in men's downhill.<ref name="Sports Reference"/> At the wheel of an XK120 and with his wife Patricia "Pat" Lyons, the daughter of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons, as his co-driver,<ref>{{cite book | last=Bouzanquet | first=Jean-François | year=2009 | title=Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970 | publisher=Veloce Publishing Ltd | page=98}}</ref> Appleyard finished the Alpine Rally unpenalized three times in a row from 1950 to 1952, becoming the first driver to win the coveted ''Coupe d'Or'' (Gold Cup).<ref name="Pfundner pp. 88-91">{{cite book | last=Pfundner | first=Martin | year=2005 | title=Alpine Trials & Rallies: 1910 to 1973 | publisher=Veloce Publishing Ltd | pages=88–91}}</ref> Only two drivers would match this feat; Stirling Moss in 1954 and Jean Vinatier in 1971.<ref name="Pfundner pp. 88-91"/>
Appleyard went on to take his fifth ''Coupe des Alpes'' in 1953,<ref name="Pfundner pp. 88-91"/> but achieved success in other rallies as well. In the Netherlands, he drove to victory in the Tulip Rally in 1951,<ref name="The Herald">{{cite news | first=Neil | last=Dryburgh | title=Car complex facelift dovetails company's operations in West | newspaper=The Herald | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xQI-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=WEkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3573,367823&dq=appleyard&hl=en | page=6 | date=2 May 1984 | accessdate=4 March 2012}}</ref> after having finished second two years earlier.<ref name="Jaguar"/> In his home country, he won the RAC Rally in 1951 and 1953.<ref name="The Herald"/> In 1953, Appleyard also finished runner-up in the Monte Carlo Rally and the inaugural European Rally Championship.<ref name="The Independent"/><ref name="The Herald"/> He later continued in motorsport more sporadically, taking second place in the 1956 RAC in an XK140.<ref>{{cite journal | journal=The Motor | title=6th R.A.C. International Rally | volume=109 | year=1956 | publisher=Temple Press Ltd. | page=106}}</ref>
After retiring from rallying, Appleyard chaired the Appleyard Group until 1988.<ref name="The Independent"/> He also rekindled his interest in birds and started studying the ring ouzel in 1978, eventually becoming a leading author on the subject.<ref name="The Independent"/> In 1994, he released a book titled ''Ring Ouzels of the Yorkshire Dales''.<ref name="The Independent"/> Appleyard died in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in 1998.<ref name="Sports Reference"/> An obituary in ''The Independent'' wrote that "in his gleaming white Jaguar XK120, he became a sporting icon for his generation."<ref name="The Independent"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Appleyard, Ian}} Category:1923 births Category:1998 deaths Category:English male alpine skiers Category:English naturalists Category:English rally drivers Category:English ornithologists Category:Sportspeople from West Yorkshire Category:Racing drivers from Yorkshire Category:20th-century British zoologists Category:Olympic alpine skiers for Great Britain Category:Alpine skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Category:20th-century British naturalists Category:People from the West Riding of Yorkshire (before 1974) Category:20th-century English sportsmen