Ken Wharton
Ken Wharton was one of the World’s greatest ever all-round talents. Not only did he dominate British Hillclimbing in the 50s but was also a talented rally driver, circuit racing and triallist.
Wharton made his Championship debut at the June Shelsley Walsh meeting in 1950 at the wheel of a one-litre Cooper-JAP finishing a creditable third behind Mays and Poore. He scored his maiden championship victory at the very next round, Bo’ness, two weeks later. This was followed up by a second at Rest-and-be-Thankful before registering yet another victory at Bouley Bay. He rounded off his debut season with fourth place at Prescott in September which saw his finishing joint second overall.
Wharton then went on to win the Hillclimb Championship title in each of the next four years; a feat never since repeated. Ken had the use not only of the Cooper-JAP but also Peter Bell’s ERA. In 1952 he was so in control that he won every single round of the championship. His plans to defend his championship crown yet again in 1955 were thwarted when he was badly burned when he crashed his Vanwall at Silverstone early in the season. Never-the-less he ended up tied with Tony Marsh on overall points losing out to the young tyro who was judged to have given the most meritorious performance – the RAC had no tie-break rules in place! The 1956 championship saw the closest ever finish with the top three, Marsh, Wharton and Michael Christie covered by just 1 point!
Ken Wharton had again planned to have a crack at the hillclimb championship in 1957 however he lost his life in a sports car race in New Zealand over the winter.