Trevor Taylor
Trevor Taylor
| Trevor Taylor |
| 1957 started badly with a DNF in the Earl of March Trophy but improved for a third and a second to Jim Russell at Silverstone on 18th May and, the following day at Snetterton, another third to Jim and Tommy Bridger. The Redex Trophy at Crystal Palace brought a fifth place then a win at Mallory on 22nd June followed by disappointment at Silverstone the following week, after winning his heat Trevor failed to finish in the final. He bounced back at Mallory on 6th July, winning his heat and the final ahead of Boshier-Jones and Russell then took third in the prestigious Commander Yorke Trophy. Jim returned the favour at Snetterton on the 28th and, back at Mallory, a heat win was followed by failure in the final on 6th August then a third on the 17th. Snetterton brought another DNF and Goodwood on the 28th September, fifth ahead of Ivor Bueb with Lewis-Evans taking honours. The Gold Cup on 5th October brought a fourth then Brands, the next day, a sixth. Though still not quite on a par with the stars such as Jim Russell and Stuart Lewis-Evans, Taylor had established himself as a front runner. Trevor took another step forward in 1958, finishing second to Stuart Lewis-Evans in the Earl of March Trophy followed by a DNF at Silverstone on the 4th May then wins at Mallory on the 11th and Brands on the 18th and a DNF at Crystal Palace, in the Beart Cooper, on the 25th. He was back on top at Brands on 8th June and Crystal Palace on 5th July, again in Francis Beart's car. Disappointment followed in the Grand Prix, after scrapping with Lewis-Evans for the lead, he slowed and then retired and a further DNF in his heat at Brands on 4th August but he achieved his first win in the Commander Yorke Trophy at Silverstone on the 9th. He failed in his heat of the Lewis-Evans Trophy then took a second to Don Parker in the Archie Scott-Brown Memorial on 7th September. A DNF at Oulton Park was followed by second at Goodwood on the 27th and his year ended with a second to Tommy Bridger in the World Sports Trophy at Brands on 5th October. Ten victories in all earned Trevor the British F3 Championship for 1958.
After a frustrating year in 1959 spent with his own Formula 2 Cooper, he received an invitation to run his own Lotus 18 as a second works car alongside Jim Clark the following season. Taylor and Clark shared the 1960 British Formula Junior title and Trevor retained it in 1961 before joining Clark in the Lotus Grand Prix team the following year. He managed a second place to Hill's BRM at Zandvoort, but suffered from some major accidents, many of which were definitely not his fault, and a succession of mechanical disasters, he gradually slipped further into Clark's shadow through to the end of 1963 when Chapman replaced him with Peter Arundell.
In 1964 he joined Innes Ireland in the BRP-BRM team run by Alfred Moss and Ken Gregory, but netted only a sixth place finish at Watkins Glen. Financial pressures caused the team to close its doors at the end of the year and that was the end of Taylor's F1 career. Trevor died in September 2010. |
Born in December 1936, the son of a garage owner from Rotherham, Trevor Taylor was the product of later period of 500cc Formula 3 racing, initially using a JAP engined 
