Notes:
An accomplished sportscar racer in Canada, Alan Victor Pease, universally known as Al Pease, had a brief career in Formula 1, where he was plagued with uncompetitive cars. He entered three World Championship Grands Prix, making the field two times.
British-born, during the World War II Al Pease served as a pilot for the British Air Force in India, Rhodesia and Egypt. After he was demobilised, he emigrated to North America, and settled in Canada, being a commercial artist in Toronto, Ontario, and moving into the car and racing businesses. In the late 1950s he started his long career, soon becoming a legend within Canadian motorspor. He collected trophies and wins, enjoying success for almost 30 years in regional and national championships in a variety of cars, including an MG A, an MG B and a Lotus 23 - Ford. In 1965 Al Pease was invited by BMC to drive a works MG B 1800 in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Paired with the American Brad Picard, he finished 6th in class, 32nd place overall.
Driving his supercharged MG B in club races he was highly successful, winning just about every regional and major class title in Canada in the 1960s. He had his Formula 1 debut close to his 46th birthday, in what was his home race, the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix. Castrol, that were sponsoring his sportscar national exploits, wanted Al Pease to take part in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, a track that Pease had helped to design. He was forced to make the leap from sportscar racing to Formula 1 without adequate open-wheel preparation and experience. At the wheel of a year-old, yellow painted ex-Dan Gurney's Eagle T1G - Climax that Castrol bought for him, Al Pease qualified 15th out of 17 starters, his time being 7.7 seconds shy of Jim Clark's on pole in the Lotus 49 - Ford. Pease was running at the finish, but not classified as he was 43 laps behind the winning Brabham BT24 - Repco of Jack Brabham, due to recurring battery problems. The only other Canadian in the race was Eppie Wietzes in a Lotus 49 - Ford entered by Comstock Racing Team.
Castrol entered Al Pease into the Canadian Grand Prix again a year later, with the same car and engine, this time at Mont-Tremblant, near St. Jovite, Québec, but he failed to start because of engine problems, after setting a qualifying time way off the back of the pack. His final Formula 1 entry occurred in 1969, once again in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park. Despite his obsolete Eagle, still fitted with a 2.7-litre Coventry Climax inline 4-cylinder engine, was even more uncompetitive, he managed to qualify 17th out of 20 starters, though 5.6 seconds slower than the next car ahead, Pete Lovely's Lotus 49B - Ford, and 11.1 seconds behind the poleman Jacky Ickx in the Brabham BT26 - Ford.
Came race day, Al Pease was black-flagged on 24th lap, after a series of on-track incidents with frontrunning drivers while being lapped. On the first lap he shoved Silvio Moser's oldish Brabham BT24 - Repco, which went off the track. Then he touched wheels with Jean-Pierre Beltoise's Matra MS80 - Ford. Then after another swerve in front of the race leader Jackie Stewart, in the other Matra, which almost forced the Scot into a withdraw, their team boss Ken Tyrrell lodged a protest, which resulted in Pease being disqualified, earning the very dubious distinction of being the only driver ever to be black-flagged, officially "for insufficient speed".
Die-cast model produced by Spark Model of the Eagle T1G - Climax driven by Al Pease in the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix.
Copyright Spark Model.
After his Formula 1 forays, Al Pease did not quit racing and continued to compete, first in Formula A - later called US Formula 5000 - with some success, driving a Lola T140 - Chevrolet for team John Maryon Int'l, before taking part to vintage cars events, even after turning his seventies. He remained a car enthusiast in his later life and was inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Al Pease died on Sunday, 04 May 2014 in his Sevierville home, in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 92. He is remembered fondly as one of the pioneers of Canadian racing. He was survived by his wife of 40 years, Elaine; his daughters Vicky, Helen and Wendy; his granddaughters Brianna, Alexis and Niki; his sister Margaret. |
Sources:
- Book "The Chequered Past - Sports Car Racing & Rallying in Canada 1951-1991", by David A. Charters, University of Toronto Press Incorporated, Toronto, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8020-9093-5.
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Website Autosport, article "Canadian ex-Formula 1 racer Al Pease dies", page http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113800 .
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Website Old Racing Cars, by Allen Brown, page http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Al_Pease .
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Website World Sports Racing Prototypes, by Martin Krejčí, page
http://www.wsrp.cz/wsc1965.html#2 .
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Website The GEL Motorsport Information Page by Darren Galpin, page
http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/archive/f1/1967/67cdn.html .
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Website The GEL Motorsport Information Page by Darren Galpin, page
http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/archive/f1/1969/69cdn.html .
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Website ESPN, page http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/driver/899.html .
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Website AUTOSPORT → Forums → The Nostalgia Forum, thread "Al Pease RIP", page http://forums.autosport.com/topic/193119-al-pease-rip/ .
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Website Racing Sports Cars, page http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/photo/Al-Pease-CDN.html .
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