(
April 10 ,
1929 -
January 22 ,
1959 ) was a race car driver, born in
Mexborough ,
Yorkshire ,
England .
He was the winner of the
1958 Formula One Championship. With only one win that year against four wins of
Stirling Moss , he benefited from the gentlemanliness of Moss shown at the
Portuguese Grand Prix of
Porto , after being disqualified for pushing his car, against the rules. Moss interceded and so Hawthorn could keep his second place in Porto, that contributed to his win in the championship only one point ahead of Moss. After winning the title, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula One.
A matter of months later, on
January 22 ,
1959 , Hawthorn died in an automobile accident on the
A3 Guildford by-pass.
In 1955, Hawthorn was the winner of the
24 Hours Of Le Mans race, despite being involved in the
Horrible Crash That Killed 80 Spectators .
In
Farnham , the town where he lived up to the time of his death, there is a street named after him, Mike Hawthorn Drive (off Dogflud Way).
