Bob Gerard

Gerard enjoyed an extremely long and active career in motor racing, from his early days as a trialist with a Riley in 1933 through to the early 1970s as an entrant.

At first he was identified with the family Riley, but it was after the war that he really came into his own, with an ERA, winning the British Empire Trophy in 1947, '48 and '49, in addition to the 1949 Jersey Road Race. Bob also came close to winning that year's British Grand Prix, finishing second to de Graffenried.

As the fifties dawned, the old ERA was placed sixth in a couple of Grands Prix, but it was only really suitable for national races, so Gerard had to wait until 1953, when he acquired a Cooper-Bristol, to prove his worth. He drove it doggedly, frequently putting more powerful cars to shame and regularly scoring respectable placings in minor Formula 2 and Libre events until 1956.

Gerard made his final GP appearance in 1957 at the wheel of the unsuccessful rear-engined Cooper-BG-Bristol, just missing the points. From 1959 to 1961 he happily drove a Turner in club events, before retiring from active service to enter a Cooper for John Taylor, mainly in non-championship races, later running Formula 2 cars for Alan Rollinson, Mike Beckwith and Peter Gethin among others.