Lex Davison
Alexander Nicholas "Lex" Davison (born 12 February 1923 in Melbourne, died 20 February 1965 in Sandown) was an Australian racing driver. One of the most successful Australian drivers of all time, Davison won the national hillclimb championship three times, the Australian Grand Prix four times and the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1957. Beginning his career in 1947, his first experience outside Australia came at the 1950 Indianapolis 500 as one of two Australian drivers competing for Ecurie Australie. Davison qualified 34th, when only 33 drivers could start.
After a guest drive for Motorsport Bleu at the 1952 Australian Grand Prix, Davison decided to spend a season racing in Europe, competing for Balkan Eagle and EMW, but without any success. He was then hired as the driver for the aborted Scuderia Australasia team in 1955. In both cases, he failed to start a race. In 1956, he attended the Scottish and British Grands Prix as a spectator, and following the injuries of Maurice Trintignant and Colin Chapman, he was asked to fill in at Team Lotus for the remainder of the season.
In 1965, he was killed during a accident in practice at Sandown Raceway when he suffered a heart attack at the wheel, left the track and crashed through a barrier. He was only 42 years old.
Complete Alternate Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | WDC | Pts. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Ecurie Australie | Kurtis Kraft 3000 | Cummins 3.0 L6C | GBR | MON | 500 DNQ |
SUI | BEL | FRA | ITA | NC | 0 | ||||
1952 | Motorsport Bleu | Talbot-Lago T26C | Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 | MON | ENG | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | ITA | USA | AUS Ret |
NC | 0 | |
1953 | Balkan Eagle | Alfa Romeo AR160 | Maserati 200F 2.0 L6 | MON DNPQ |
NED | GBR DNPQ |
NC | 0 | ||||||||
Rennkollektiv EMW | EMW 01 | Mercedes-Benz UM153 4.5 V10 | BEL DNPQ |
FRA DNPQ |
GER DNQ |
SUI DNQ |
ITA DNPQ |
USA | ||||||||
1955 | Scuderia Australasia | Cooper T41 | Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12 | MON DNPQ |
BEL DNPQ |
GBR DNA |
SCO DNA |
SOV | ITA | NC | 0 | |||||
Aston Martin AM-04 | FRA DNPQ |
|||||||||||||||
1956 | Team Lotus | Lotus 10 | BCMA A/AS Griffin 3.0 L6 | MON | FRA | BEL | GER | GDR | IRL | SCO | GBR 12 |
ITA Ret |
THA Ret |
NC | 0 | |
1958 | L. Davison | Lotus 10 | Ferrari DS50 2.5 L4 | AUS 5 |
MON | FRA | NED | BEL | GER | GBR | POR | ITA | MAR | USA | 13th* | 2* |
* denotes season still in progress