In memory of a Hero: David Purley

It is in the moment of danger that true men reveal themselves to us. David Purley is one of those drivers who are remembered for just one gesture. A gesture of humanity and generosity so spontaneous that he himself insisted on making those who wanted to define him a hero think again. But he was, he was a Hero.

David Purley is also sometimes remembered as the often arrogant daddy's boy who entered racing after being discharged from the army. Not for passion, not for money, but to find new emotions and new adrenaline rushes. The Briton was also nicknamed the king of Chimay given that in Formula 3 he won 3 consecutive times on that difficult circuit, made up of ups and downs and breathtaking curves, worthy of competing with Spa and Nurburgring.

“The best thing is to scream until your lungs burst. And so… when I race on that track, I often scream into my helmet.”

If we want to be completely honest, his results in Formula 1 were not up to the standards of the great champions, but his courage and tenacity distinguished him from other drivers. The determination with which he faced Niki Lauda on and off the track, at Zolder in 1977, was something brilliant. With his modest car, certainly not up to par with the Ferrari, he had held his own against Niki Lauda for a long time, even forcing him into a spin. Then facing him head on at the end of the race: “If you are truly a champion you should have no problem overtaking someone driving a Lec, without ending up spinning like a newbie” and then end with “Next time you show me your finger I'll stick it in your…”

The accident, at Silverstone, which put an end to his driving career is also remembered as one of the most abrupt decelerations ever recorded in Formula 1: from 170km/h to 0 in 70 centimeters due to the accelerator lock on his car. Needless to say, Purley came out pretty battered. Fractures in his lower limbs and 7 broken ribs forced him to retire.

But what David Purley is remembered with honor for is the courage shown in the 1973 Dutch GP.

The Grand Prix is ​​held on the Zandvoort circuit. Purley races in the GP driving a March 731 with Lec colors (sponsor of his father's refrigerator company) while Roger Williamson races in the sister car.

At a certain point in the race, Williamson's car skids and crashes into the barriers, crawling for a hundred meters, ending its run upside down in flames. The situation immediately seems serious. What's happening? A car stops on the other side of the track about 100 meters from the wreck of the March. It's David Purley! He quickly gets out and starts running desperately towards his companion.

He is the first to arrive and the only one with the right protection to touch the hot metal of the burning car. He immediately tries to turn the March around, probably hearing his friend call for help. He puts all his strength and spirit into it, but the wreckage is too heavy. Meanwhile the fire blazes.

Now he asks for help from the astonished commissioners, now he tries to put out the fire by snatching a fire extinguisher from the hands of a commissioner, but the fire is animated by the movement of air caused by the passage of the other cars which continue their race regardless of the seriousness of the accident . The race is not stopped, and a group of spectators who want to help the driver turn the car over are blocked by the police, with a ban on entering the track. Help, slow and slow in arriving.

It's the end for Roger Williamson. Purley doesn't want to admit it, and is forcibly taken away by the commissioners. As he leaves the track he looks at his colleagues and the commissioners with contempt, witnesses and oblivious to such a situation. Full of melancholy he finds himself walking aimlessly along the side of the track, not wanting to understand the tragedy that has just happened.

Purley never wanted to be considered a hero, however for his courage and promptness in intervening to help a pilot in danger he was awarded the medal for valor, the George Medal, by Queen Elizabeth herself, and the Siffert Trophy. But what he did that day was such a pure gesture that is rarely found in sport.

David Purley died in 1985 aboard a tourist plane while performing breathtaking stunts off the coast of England.

David Purley proved that all men can become pilots, but not all pilots are real men.

Matteo Bramati.