# Peter Ashdown

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{{short description|British racing driver (born 1934)}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2025}}
{{for|the United States Senate candidate|2006 United States Senate election in Utah#Democratic}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox F1 driver

| 
| name          = Peter Ashdown
| nationality   = {{flagicon|GBR}} British
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1934|10|16}}
| birth_place   = [Danbury](/source/Danbury%2C_Essex), Essex, England
| years         = {{F1|1959}}
| teams         = non-works [Cooper](/source/Cooper_Car_Company)
| races         = 1
| championships = 0
| wins          = 0
| podiums       = 0
| points        = 0
| poles         = 0
| fastest_laps  = 0
| first_race    = [1959 British Grand Prix](/source/1959_British_Grand_Prix)
}}
'''Peter Hawthorn Ashdown''' (born 16 October 1934)<ref name=chicane>{{cite web|title= Drivers: Peter Ashdown |url= http://www.chicanef1.com/indiv.pl?name=Peter%20Ashdown&type=d |work= ChicaneF1.com |accessdate= 27 November 2007}}</ref> is a former [motor racing](/source/motor_racing) driver. He drove in a single [Formula One](/source/Formula_One) World Championship Grand Prix, racing a [Cooper](/source/Cooper_Car_Company).

[[Image:1956-08-26 Karlskoga WINNER Lotus IX Ashdown.jpg|thumb|left|Ashdown is celebrated after winning his class and being 3rd overall, at the [Kanonloppet](/source/Kanonloppet) race at [Karlskoga](/source/Karlskoga) racetrack (Gelleråsen) on 26 August 1956 in his [Lotus Mark IX](/source/Lotus_Mark_IX) license "KH9". On his return he drove this tiny car back to the UK, but had an accident from which this car was not to be repaired.<ref name="forgotten">Forgotten F1 Drivers, ''[https://www.f1forgottendrivers.com/drivers/peter-ashdown/ Peter Ashdown]'', last accessed on 26 February 2023.</ref>]] Ashdown had trained as a vehicle mechanic, and had been a few years in the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) when he started racing. First seen in a [Dellow](/source/Dellow) with a [Ford 10 engine](/source/Ford_Sidevalve_engine),<ref name="forgotten"/> he continued around 1955 to race in a [Lotus Mark IX](/source/Lotus_Mark_IX) as a [privateer](/source/privateer), not being part of any particular racing team.<ref name="motorsport magazine">[https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/peter-ashdown/ Peter Ashdown], Motorsport Magazine, last accessed on 26 February 2023.</ref>

Prior to Formula One, Ashtown was one of the leaders of the British [Formula Junior](/source/Formula_Junior) scene, but an accident at [Rouen-Les-Essarts](/source/Rouen-Les-Essarts) in 1958, in which he broke his collarbone, considerably hampered his career.<ref name=autocourse>{{cite web|title= Driver: Ashdown, Peter |url= http://www.chicanef1.com/indiv.pl?name=Peter%20Ashdown&type=d |work= Autocourse Grand Prix Archive |accessdate= 27 November 2007}}</ref>

Ashtown continued racing, and competed in a [Formula Two](/source/Formula_Two) (F2) Cooper-Climax entered by [Alan Brown](/source/Alan_Brown_(racing_driver)) at the [1959 British Grand Prix](/source/1959_British_Grand_Prix) at [Aintree](/source/Aintree_Motor_Racing_Circuit). He finished in 12th position, third of the F2 cars and six laps down.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

From there, Ashtown drove a [Formula Junior](/source/Formula_Junior) [Lola](/source/Lola_Racing_Cars) and many small-engined sports cars, winning his class in the 1960 and [1962 1000km of Nürburgring](/source/1962_1000km_of_N%C3%BCrburgring). On the latter occasion at the [Nordschleife](/source/N%C3%BCrburgring),  he and the co-driver [Bruce Johnstone](/source/Bruce_Johnstone_(racing_driver)) scored the debut win for [Lotus 23](/source/Lotus_23) in the 1L Sportscar class with a 997cc [Cosworth Mk.III](/source/Cosworth) as a semi-works entry ([Ian Walker Racing](/source/Ian_Walker_Racing)), while the other semi-works ([Essex Racing Stable](/source/Essex_Racing_Stable)) Lotus 23 of [Jim Clark](/source/Jim_Clark_(racing_driver)) crashed on lap 12 of the 44 lap race.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nürburgring 1000 Kilometres|author=racingsportscars.com|url=https://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Nurburgring-1962-05-27.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ian Walker Racing, The Man and His Cars|first1=Julian|last1=Balme|year=2012|edition=1st|publisher=Coterie Press|isbn=9781902351476}}</ref>

Ashtown retired in 1962 and focused his efforts on a [Vauxhall](/source/Vauxhall) dealership in Essex.<ref name="motorsport magazine"/>
{{-}}

==Complete Formula One World Championship results==
([key](/source/%3ATemplate%3AF1_driver_results_legend_2))
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! WDC
! Points
|-
| [1959](/source/1959_Formula_One_season)
! [Equipe Alan Brown](/source/Alan_Brown_(racing_driver))
! [Cooper](/source/Cooper_Car_Company) [T45](/source/Cooper_T45) (F2)
! [Climax](/source/Coventry_Climax)<br>[Straight-4](/source/Straight-4)
| [MON](/source/1959_Monaco_Grand_Prix)
| [500](/source/1959_Indianapolis_500)
| [NED](/source/1959_Dutch_Grand_Prix)
| [FRA](/source/1959_French_Grand_Prix)
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| [GBR](/source/1959_British_Grand_Prix)<br />{{small|12}}
| [GER](/source/1959_German_Grand_Prix)
| [POR](/source/1959_Portuguese_Grand_Prix)
| [ITA](/source/1959_Italian_Grand_Prix)
| [USA](/source/1959_United_States_Grand_Prix)
! NC
! 0
|-
!colspan="15"|{{center|{{small|Source:<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|last=Small|first=Steve|title=The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who|date=1994|publisher=Guinness|page=37 |isbn=0851127029}}</ref>}}}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashdown, Peter}}
Category:1934 births
Category:Living people
Category:English racing drivers
Category:English Formula One drivers
Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Category:People from Danbury, Essex
Category:Sportspeople from Essex
Category:World Sportscar Championship drivers
Category:20th-century English sportsmen
Category:12 Hours of Sebring drivers

{{F1-bio-stub}}
{{England-autoracing-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Ashdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ashdown) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ashdown?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.