George Abecassis
| George Abecassis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |
 British |
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| Born | George Edgar Abecassis 21 March 1913 Oatlands, Surrey, England, UK |
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| Died | 18 December 1991 (aged 78) Ibstone, Buckinghamshire, England, UK |
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| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1951 – 1952 |
| Teams | HWM |
| Entries | 2 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1951 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1952 Swiss Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Participating years | 1950–1951, 1953 |
| Teams | Aston Martin |
| Best finish | 5th (1950; 1951) |
| Class wins | 1 (1950) |
George Edgar Abecassis DFC (21 March 1913 – 18 December 1991) was a British racing driver, and co-founder of the HWM Formula One team.
Born in Oatlands, Surrey, Abecassis began circuit racing in 1935 in a modified Austin Seven which became known as The Einsitzer. After taking 1937 as a year away from the track, he acquired an Alta and made a name for himself in English national racing during the 1938 and 1939 seasons. In 1939 he won the Imperial Trophy Formula Libre race at Crystal Palace, driving his Alta, defeating Prince Bira, in the E.R.A. known as Romulus, in a wet race, "that being the only time it was beaten by a 1,500 c.c. car in the British Isles."
At one point Abecassis held the Campbell circuit lap record at Brooklands at 72.61 m.p.h. On 3 July 1938 Abecassis broke the Prescott Hill Climb record with a climb of 47.85 seconds in his supercharged 1½ litre Alta.
When World War II broke out he joined the Royal Air Force and became an experienced pilot, ultimately becoming a member of the secret "Moon Squadrons", ferrying secret agents in and out of occupied countries in Europe with specially-modified Halifax and Stirling aircraft. During the course of his wartime service Abecassis was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After World War II Abecassis went back to racing, initially with pre-war machinery. He won a race at Gransden Lodge in a road-going 3.3-litre Bugatti on 15 June 1946. In 1947 Abecassis finished second in the Swedish Grand Prix, held on a frozen lake at Vallentuna, driving an E.R.A. In 1948 he finished second to Bob Gerard in the Jersey International Road Race. He became a partner, with John Heath, in Hersham and Walton Motors Ltd., a motor dealership and garage in Walton-on-Thames. Building on his pre-war association with the Alta marque, Abecassis and HWM assisted in the development of the Alta GP car, designed to comply with the recently introduced Formula One regulations.
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