About Gerry Marshall
Gerald Dallas Royston Marshall (16 November 1941 – 21 April 2005) was a British racing driver. He was commonly referred to by the nickname Big Gerry. According to a 2002 edition of Motor Sport Magazine poll, he was one of the best drivers of all time. According to the 28 August 2019 edition of Motorsport News, he is the United Kingdom's number one British motorsport hero. He was awarded the BARC Gold Medal in 2002, the first saloon car driver to be presented with the honour and was a life member of the prestigious BRDC. He took 625 overall and class wins and countless championship wins throughout his motor racing career. Marshall was also well known in motoring circles for his successful car dealership, Marshall Wingfield, originally located on the Finchley Road, London, before moving to Brook Street in Tring and through his adult life lived in Harrow, Chiswell Green, Bricket Wood, Hemel Hempstead, Northchurch, Aston Clinton and Pitstone. Marshall's ashes are buried at St. Leonards Church in Southoe, where his grandparents are also buried - he was relocated locally during the Second World War. Marshall's first official race was at Brands Hatch in March 1964 and in qualifying he was quickest in his class, but the weather (for once) and lady luck conspired against him and the race was snowed off. You could often find club event reports in Autosport with glowing tributes to a Gerry Marshall and then notice at the end of the report that it was written by a certain GDRM, G.Marshall or G.Maynard (his first wife's maiden name).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.