WERE you a motor racing fan who lived in the borough of Bexley 40 years ago? If so, then you will no doubt remember the tragic death of Stuart Lewis-Evans.

He lost his life, at the age of just 28, following horrific burns sustained while competing in the Moroccan Grand Prix in Casablanca as a member of the then famous Vanwall motor racing team.

He was the team's third driver, but do not assume that was because he was third-rate.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, he was a rising star and racing in the company of none other than the legendary Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks.

Stuart, who lived in Parkwood Road, Bexley with his wife Margaret and two children, had begun his motor racing career at Brands Hatch in 1950, following in the wheel tracks of his father as a successful Formula 3 driver.

Incidentally, his father used to run the service station in Park View Road, Welling, now owned by W.J. King.

In 1956, Stuart made his debut in Formula 1 with the Connaught racing team and drove brilliantly to finish fourth in the Monaco Grand Prix during that season's championship.

He then switched to the Vanwall team and during the next two seasons he achieved top-six positions on four occasions, including two third places, earning 16 championship points.

Stuart was only 5ft 6ins tall and weighed only eight stone, but what he lacked in stature was more than made up for by his driving skills. Experts of the time predicted a glittering future.

On Monday, it was exactly 40 years since that fateful day in Morocco.

Stuart was on lap 41 of the 53-lap race, eventually won by Moss, when he crashed and his car caught fire with such tragic consequences.

He was air-lifted back to the burns unit at East Grinstead Hospital, but died six days later.

What will be remembered by his team-mates, besides his family and friends, was the contribution he made to eventual outcome of that's season's manufacturers' champion-ship.

Stuart's vital points had steered Vanwall to within a tyres-width of ending the dominance of the Ferrari team, which had hogged the road over the other manufacturers since 1950.

Sadly, Stuart did not live to celebrate with the team which clinched the manufacturers' championship in Morocco. But his legacy laid the foundations for the ongoing British dominance in this most demanding of sports.

Stuart's funeral, held at Christ Church in Bexleyheath, on October 31, 1958, may well have been the largest the town has ever seen.

Personalities from the world of motor racing included Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Jo Bonnier, who along with Bernie Ecclestone, the present Formula 1 supremo, joined local dignitaries, businessmen, townsfolk and Stuart's family to mourn his loss.

Since then, British Grand Prix teams and drivers have always been on the front row of the grid.

Let's not forget the local man who helped put them there.

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