Jack Lewis

Note: According to Pete Stowe's research, although Lewis did buy a Cooper from Ivor Bueb, when Lewis advertised it for sale at the end of 1958, it was a Mk.8 (Autosport classified, 31 October 1958) which would imply it was Bueb’s 1954 car, later used by John Denley, and not his 1955 Mk.9, which is understood to have gone from Bueb to Jack Welton & Pauline Brock. Therefore in the RESULTS section, those results identifying Lewis in a Mk.9 would therefore also appear to be incorrect and should state Mk.8.

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Jack Lewis

Jack Rex Lewis was born on 1st November 1936 in Stroud, Gloucestershire to Welsh family. His father, Jack senior had raced motor cycles prior to the war and junior grew up around bikes. Jack attended the Cooper Racing School at Brands Hatch and they bought Ivor Bueb's Cooper Mk IX (see note below) for the 1958 season with Jack quickly showed promise, winning at Full Sutton in May, Oulton Park in June and again in July. He was well placed in the Commander Yorke Trophy at Silverstone in August until a problem with the additional fuel tank, required for this long distance race, intervened.

Jack in his Cooper Mk IX at Brands

Buoyed with this initial success, he moved into Formula 2 with a Cooper T51 for 1959 and was soon on the pace, winning at Montlhéry and finishing fourth at Pau. More good results followed in 1960 resulting in the British Formula 2 title.

Jack moved up to Formula 1 as a private entrant, under the family H and L Motors banner and later Ecurie Galloise, with a BRM which proved disastrous and was quickly returned. He competed in a total of ten Formula 1 races with some creditable performances but quit racing at the end of 1962 to take up farming.

There is an interesting 2006 interview with Jack Lewis here: http://www.gpfactsandnumbers.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Jack-Lewis-2006.pdf in which he explains his “Welshness”, or lack of it.