About Tony Rolt
Major Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt, MC & Bar, (16 October 1918 – 6 February 2008) was a British racing driver, soldier and engineer. A war hero, Rolt maintained a long connection with the sport, albeit behind the scenes. The Ferguson 4WD project he was involved in paid off with spectacular results, and he was involved in other engineering projects. At his death, Rolt was the longest surviving participant of the first ever World Championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950. He was one of the last prewar winners remaining too – he won the 1939 British Empire Trophy, aged just 20 in 1939 – this was after he started his career in 1935, as a 16-year-old, in a 3-wheeler Morgan in speed trials. He won the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans and participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. == Early life and prewar racing == Rolt was born in Bordon, Hampshire, and brought up at St Asaph in Denbighshire, Wales. He was the fourth child of Brigadier-General Stuart Rolt, and educated at Eton, where he got into trouble for keeping a car. Rolt began competing while at Eton, in a Morgan three-wheeler in their trials before, in 1936, making his track début sharing a Triumph Gloria Vitesse with Jack Elliott in the Spa 24 Hours, where the pair finished 11th, fourth in class. He drove there because he had just lost his British driving licence for speeding along Denbigh High Street.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.