Dave McFaste
Dave McFaste (born 4th April 1982 in Dundee, Scotland, died 13th October 2013 in Shanghai, China) was a British racing driver known for his career in the F1RWRS. He did not experience much success in the series, but sadly became the first driver to die while competing in the series, at the age of 31.
F1RWRS
Dave McFaste first entered the series for the 2013 season as team owner and driver for FAT Turbo Racing. Prior to this, he had attempted to enter the 2012 non-championship Suzuka Charity Race, but his entry was turned down. The season started very badly for Dave, who had signed Saudi Arabian Saeed Al-Faisal as team mate. The season started with six double retirements from Tasmania to France. In Great Britain, the team failed to pre-qualify for the first time. The German Grand Prix was undoubtedly the high point of the season for McFaste, as he and Al-Faisal pre-qualified, easily qualified, and while the Arabian retired from the race, Dave finished the race in sixth position, scoring his and his team's first point. However, it was not enough for the team to escape from pre-qualifying.
This proved to be his only point, as he retired from the race while leading in the Netherlands. After his retirement, McFaste announced that he was suffering from leukaemia, and that he would not live much longer. He stated that he would finish the season, and put the team up for a merger, as would be unfit to lead the team appropriately. He subsequently failed to pre-qualify for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Dave again retired from the Portuguese round. Before the Mediterranean Grand Prix in Cyprus, McFaste and fellow driver/team owner Barii Mori announced that they had struck a deal to merge FAT Turbo with Mori's Kamaha Motorsports outfit. The merger will not come into effect until the 2014 season, but Saeed Al-Faisal was immediately swapped with Sunshine's Hagane Shizuka, who scored fifth position in his first race for the British team, adding two more points to their tally, while McFaste only managed to finish tenth. McFaste and Shizuka both retired in Macau.
Death
At Chinese GP, McFaste's final race, the team arrived in Shanghai ready for the race, confident that neither pre-qualifying nor qualifying would be a problem. McFaste took the fifth fastest time in pre-qualifying, with Shizuka fourth. The team made it through into qualifying proper, where they had no trouble, McFaste qualifying in 11th and Shizuka 13th.
After lap 1, Dave was already in sixth position, but was quickly passed by Thomas De Bock in the Gillet. McFaste stayed in seventh place until his pit stop on lap 29, as many others did. The FAT crew were very quick, and Dave rejoined in seventh place.
On lap 33, disaster struck for Dave. At the first corner, he attempted to pass Daniel Martins for sixth, but was going too fast to avoid Dave Simpson, who was rejoining the race after pitting. Martins avoided the crash, while Simpson was able to continue. However, McFaste struck the wall at high speed, his head colliding with an unknown object. He was able to get out of the car, obviously stricken by the impact. He left the medical center without any apparent injuries apart from a severe headache.
The headache worsened and turned out to be a cerebral haemorrhage, no doubt assisted by the cancer he was fighting. McFaste was found dead later that night in his hotel room. He was 31 years old. McFaste was buried in a unknown cemetery, after a private funeral attended by family and close friends.
Complete F1RWRS Results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | FAT Turbo Racing | TAS Ret |
AUS Ret |
MEX Ret |
USA Ret |
MON Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR DNPQ |
GER 6 |
NED Ret |
BEL DNPQ |
POR Ret |
MED 10 |
MAC Ret |
CHN Ret |
JPN |
BRA |
=27th | 1 |
