John Walton (Formula One)

John Walton (8 April 1957 - 9 July 2004[1]), was an Irish motorsport professional who worked in a number of leading roles across numerous Formula 1 teams in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

Career

Walton was born on 8 April 1957 in Dublin, Ireland and grew up in Ballymun.[2] He began working in motorsport when he was 13 years old, and later went on to work with fellow Irishman Eddie Jordan in the Irish Formula Ford Championship, Formula Atlantic and British Formula 3 championships. The pair claimed the 1978 Irish Formula Atlantic title.[1]

Alongside Jordan, he one of the founding staff of the Eddie Jordan Racing team, before moving to the Toleman Formula 1 team in the mid-1980s, where he worked alongside Ayrton Senna in 1984. Walton became the chief mechanic of the Benetton Formula team after the Italian team took Toleman's slot in 1986.[3]

Following the arrival of Flavio Briatore at Benetton in 1989, and the political turmoil that subsequently occurred at the team due to widespread restructuring, Walton joined the fledgling Jordan Grand Prix team in 1990 ahead of its debut season in Formula 1 in 1991 – and stayed with the team until mid-1996, when he joined the Arrows F1 team. He spent 1999 out of Formula One.[2]

Walton went on to join Prost Grand Prix in January 2000 as the team's Sporting Director,[4] and then moved on to occupy the same position at Minardi in 2002 until his death in 2004.[5]

Personal life

Walton was married to ITV reporter Louise Goodman. He was most commonly known in the motorsport paddock as "John Boy".[6]

He died at the age of 47 on 9 July 2004 at St Thomas’ Hospital in London of a heart attack.[7]

The Minardi team withdrew its cars from Saturday's early practice session ahead of the 2004 British Grand Prix following Walton's death. The team's cars were classified 16th and 21st in the race.[8]

References
  1. "Jordan remembers John Walton". Motorsport.com. 12 July 2004.
  2. Hamilton, Maurice (September 2004). "Here's to ya, John Boy". F1 Racing: 38–39.
  3. "Paddock mourns Minardi's John Boy". The Independent. 11 July 2004.
  4. "John Walton goes to Prost". Grand Prix. 10 January 2010.
  5. "Minardi in mourning, Walton passes away". Crash.net. 10 July 2004.
  6. "F1 reveals human side after Walton death". The Independent. 13 July 2004.
  7. "Minardi mourn Walton". BBC. 10 July 2004.
  8. "Minardi director passes away". Irish Examiner. 10 July 2004.
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