Gary Hocking

This is Gary Hocking’s career record on four wheels:

26/8/62, Roskildering, Danish GP, Lotus-Climax, 4th
1/9/62, Oulton Park Gold Cup, Lotus-Climax, retired
10/10/62, Kyalami Rand Spring Cup, Lotus-Climax, 1st
24/11/62, Swartkops, Total Cup, Lotus-Climax, 1st
2/12/62, Kumalo, Rhodesian GP, Lotus-Climax ,1st
15/12/62, Kyalami, Rand GP, Lotus-Climax, 4th
22/12/62, Westmead, Natal GP, Lotus-Climax, killed in practice

And this is from the Motor Sport report of only his second race at Oulton Park:

“There was a select bunch of V8-engine cars out in front, but on their tail and not losing any ground at all came a lone 4 cylinder Climax car driven by Gary Hocking. This showed that his practice times were not luck, and he was holding 9th place behind eight V8-engined cars and going extremely well, his speed out of corners being quite exceptional, not by reason of lots of power, by reason of high cornering speeds, his Lotus continually showing three inches of daylight under the inside front, wheel, a thing not seen on a modern G.P. car for some time.”

The eight drivers ahead of Hocking’s Tim Parnell entered car were: Clark, G Hill, Ginther, McLaren, Surtees, Ireland, Brabham and Salvadori. Not a bad bunch!

Tom Pryce is recognized by many as a racer who would surely have gone on to win the World Championship but for his tragic accident at Kyalami in 1977. If Gary Hocking had lived Tom might have been the second Welsh Formula One World Champion.