Al Pease dies

[dinizintheoven]

Al finally reaches the chequered flag. And, as is fitting (in a strange way) for the driver who was once black flagged for being too slow, it took him a long time to get there - 92 years.

And let's not forget his legendarily unsuccessful F1 foray was in his late 40s; think of that legendary black flag race as similar to Christophe Hurni's drive in GP3, as both drivers were 48 years old at the time. The difference is, Al had already won stacks of races in Canada by that time.

It's unlikely there'll have been anything to add to his profile since the last update back in 2001, but at least give him a mention on the next podcast. Listeners who don't read the forums might at least go back and re-read the profile, and the interview. I have.

Something else occurred to me while I was re-reading the profile. I had no idea Al had been born in Darlington - where I was on Monday, so I could finish filming for the fourth instalment of my Tales Along The Old Corpse Road video project. The third saw me investigating urban legends in the North East - one in Sunderland, one in Darlington, and while the Darlo legend of the barghest of Glassensikes deviated somewhat from its original plan, it ended up revealing something about the local history of the west side of the town - a staunchly Quaker-dominated area for most of its existence, built and financed by the wealthy Pease family, known for their work in railways of the North East, woolen mills and politics, usually sitting for the Liberal Party (as was). My tour of Darlington starts at a tower built by Henry Pease, MP for Durham South (1857-65).

Darlington-born Al Pease must have had some connection to the Georgian and Victorian-era Pease family somewhere. If that was the case, I never expected these two very separate interests of mine to coincide this way...

[dinizintheoven]

...and in a shocking display of rejectfulness, I've put this in the wrong forum. Mods! Help!

[good_Ralf]

RIP Al Pease, one of the greatest rejects there ever was.

[roblo97]

RIP Al Pease, one of the greatest rejects in the history of the sport.

[Alextrax52]

RIP To Al Pease. Had a true reject moment

[W12]

RIP, Al.

[go_Rubens]

RIP Al Pease.

[FantometteBR]

RIP Mr. Pease

[watka]

RIP Al Pease. Fighter.

[eytl]

I am glad to see that Autosport are giving this sad news the attention it deserves:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113800

Needless to say, as those of you who have followed this site for a while will know, Al Pease holds a very dear place in our heart. Some of you might even remember the introduction which he recorded which we used to play in the now-defunct front page of the site.

We will undoubtedly have to do something special to remember Al in our next podcast.

[Cynon]

Very sad news indeed. Al Pease embodied everything that this website celebrates.

Rest in peace.

[Aerospeed]

I am glad to see that Autosport are giving this sad news the attention it deserves:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113800

Needless to say, as those of you who have followed this site for a while will know, Al Pease holds a very dear place in our heart. Some of you might even remember the introduction which he recorded which we used to play in the now-defunct front page of the site.

We will undoubtedly have to do something special to remember Al in our next podcast.

Perhaps you could bring back the recording somewhere on the website?

A living legend of racing. RIP

[Kuwashima]

Perhaps you could bring back the recording somewhere on the website?

A living legend of racing. RIP

We'll play it on the next podcast.

[dr-baker]

Perhaps you could bring back the recording somewhere on the website?

A living legend of racing. RIP

We'll play it on the next podcast.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Rest in peace He is exactly the sort of person who embodies the spirit of this site

[Yannick]

RIP Sir. Thank you for your efforts in motor racing.