David Wishart Hobbs (born 9 June 1939)H. H. Pitt and M. N. Wicks, The Pitt Family of Payneham (Adelaide, 1977) is a British former racing driver. He worked as a commentator from the mid 1970s for CBS until 1996, Speed from 1996 to 2012 and NBC from 2013 to 2017. In 1969, Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, a group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.F.I.A. Year Book of Automobile Sport, P.S.L. Publications Limited., London, 1969. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.David Hobbs at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Driving career Hobbs was born in Royal Leamington Spa, England, just months before the outbreak of World War II. His career as an international racing driver spanned 30 years at all levels including in sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.
Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.
In 1971, Hobbs won the L&M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America, Edmonton and Lime Rock.Trenton Evening Times, 7 September 1971, Page 37. Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500 and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.
Television commentator Hobbs provided commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett) until 2013, the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996, working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013. He also worked for ESPN, serving as an analyst for their Formula 1 coverage from 1988 until 1992 working with Chris Economaki, John Bisignano and Bob Varsha.
Other appearances Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.
Personal life
Hobbs's father, Howard Frederick Hobbs (21/9/1902 – 15/12/1982), was an Australian engineer born and raised in Adelaide. He was an inventor who developed an early version of the automatic transmission, known as the Mecha-Matic. Colin Chapman had this transmission fitted to his Lotus Elite racecars.
Howard Hobbs married Phyllis Dorothy Reid (25/3/1904 – 1989) on 12 May 1925 and the couple had three children. Barbara, born in Adelaide on 5 May, 1927, and sons John (b. 1 July 1933) and David (b. 9 June 1939), both boys being born in Lemington Spa after the young Hobbs family had sailed for England in 1931 with the intent on Howard showing his transmission to automotive engineers in Coventry, settling in Royal Lemington Spa where they would remain for approximately the next 35 years.Howard Frederick Hobbs (1902–1982)Hobbs Gearless Drive
Hobbs lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a car dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which was sold to the Van Horn Automotive Group in March 2023. His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs.
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts 1967 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P60 2.1 V8 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0 Lola Cars Lola T100 BMW M10 2.0 L4 GER 1968 Honda Racing F1 Honda RA301 Honda RA301E 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0 1971 Penske-White Racing McLaren M19A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0 1974 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M23B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0 Notes – Formula 2 entry.
Non-championship Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1964 Merlyn Racing Merlyn Mk7 (F2) Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN 1966 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 33 BRM P60 2.0 V8 RSA SYR INT OUL 1968 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P101 3.0 V12 ROC INT OUL 1970 Team Surtees Surtees TS5 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT OUL 1971 Hogan Racing McLaren M10B (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE SPR INT RIN OUL VIC 1973 Hogan Racing Lola T330 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT 1974 Hogan Racing Lola T332 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 PRE ROC INT
Complete British Saloon Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Class 1962 Peter Berry Racing Ltd Jaguar Mk II 3.8 SNEovr:?cls:6 GOOovr:4cls:4 AINovr:3cls:3 SILovr:4cls:4 CRY AIN BRHovr:5cls:5 OUL 18th 8 6th 1968 Malcolm Gartlan Racing Ford Falcon Sprint BRHovr:4cls:2 THRovr:2cls:2 SILRet CRYRet† MAL BRH SILovr:1cls:1 CROovr:2cls:2 OULovr:3cls:3 BRH BRHovr:2cls:1 9th 32 3rd 1970 Pierre de Plessis Chevrolet Camaro Z28 BRH SNE THR SILRet CRY SIL SIL CRO BRH OUL BRH BRH NC 0 NC † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1962 Team Lotus Engineering Frank Gardner Lotus Elite Mk14-Climax GT1.3 286 8th 1st 1963 Lola Cars Ltd. Richard Attwood Lola Mk6 GT-Ford P+3.0 151 DNF DNF 1964 Standard Triumph Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire P+3.0 272 21st 3rd 1965 Standard Triumph Ltd. Rob Slotemaker Triumph Spitfire GT1.3 71 DNF DNF 1966 Maranello Concessionaires Mike Salmon Ferrari Dino 206S P2.0 14 DNF DNF 1967 Lola Cars Ltd. Team Surtees John Surtees Lola T70 Mk.III-Aston Martin P+5.0 3 DNF DNF 1968 J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Paul Hawkins Ford GT40 Mk. I S5.0 107 DNF DNF 1969 J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Mike Hailwood Ford GT40 Mk. I S5.0 368 3rd 2nd 1970 J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. Mike Hailwood Porsche 917K S5.0 49 DNF DNF 1971 Roger Penske Kirk F. White Mark Donohue Ferrari 512M/P S5.0 DNF DNF 1972 Equipe Matra-Simca Shell Jean-Pierre Jabouille Matra-Simca MS660C S3.0 278 DNF DNF 1979 Grand Touring Cars Ltd. Ford Concessionaires France Vern Schuppan Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Mirage M10-Ford Cosworth S+2.0 121 NC NC 1981 EMKA Productions Limited Eddie Jordan Steve O'Rourke BMW M1 Gr.5 Gr.5 236 DNF DNF 1982 John Fitzpatrick Racing John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick IMSAGTX 329 4th 1st 1983 John Fitzpatrick Racing John Fitzpatrick Dieter Quester Porsche 956 C 135 DNF DNF 1984 Skoal Bandit Porsche Team Philippe Streiff Sarel van der Merwe Porsche 956B C1 351 3rd 3rd 1985 John Fitzpatrick Racing Jo Gartner Guy Edwards Porsche 956B C1 366 4th 4th 1987 Joest Racing Sarel van der Merwe Chip Robinson Porsche 962C C1 4 DNF DNF 1988 Blaupunkt Joest Racing Didier Theys Franz Konrad Porsche 962C C1 380 5th 5th 1989 Richard Lloyd Racing Steven Andskär Damon Hill Porsche 962C GTi C1 228 DNF DNF
Indianapolis 500 results
YearCarStartQualRankFinishLapsLedRetired19716816169.57130201070Crash FS19737322189.45430111070Flagged1974739184.8331051960Flagged19763331183.5801429100Water LeakTotals4200
Starts4Poles0Front row0Wins0Top 51Top 101Retired2
NASCAR (key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Pts Ref 1976 DeWitt Racing 73 Chevy RSD DAY CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL NA 0 Donlavey Racing 9 Ford MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1976 DeWitt Racing Chevrolet 16 34
Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1981 JPS Team BMW Allan Grice BMW 635 CSi 6 Cylinder & Rotary 113 7th 2nd 1982 JPS Team BMW Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi A 157 5th 5th
References
External links
SpeedTV bio David Hobbs Honda
David Hobbs – Test Driver Jaguar XJ13 – Building the Legend