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Desmond Titterington

Desmond Titterington
  • Surname
    Titterington
  • First name
    Desmond
  • Date of birth
    01.05.1928
  • Date of death
    13.04.2002

Born in Cultra near Belfast, this Northern Irishman gained his first motor racing experience from 1950 onwards in an MG J2 in club and hillclimb races as well as in trials for cars. In the years that followed, he competed mainly in national racing and rally events in Great Britain and Ireland. The Alpine Rally 1951 was his first appearance on the international stage, and he finished third in his class, which he achieved in an MG TD.

Titterington worked his way up through successful stints at the wheel of Allard and Frazer Nash sports cars to a start in the Tourist Trophy, which he completed in 1953 in an Aston Martin DB 3 racing sports car. In the following year, his racing activities ranged from national circuit races with cars as diverse as a Triumph TR 2, a Jaguar C-Type and a Ferrari 500 Monza, to the Rally Monte-Carlo, which he finished in sixth place in a Jaguar, and finally to another start in the Tourist Trophy, this time in a Ferrari 750 Monza.

The Northern Irishman's special skills on demanding road courses earned him a place in the Mercedes-Benz works team for the Targa Florio in 1955. He startedtogether with the US American John Fitch in a 300 SLR racing sports car and took fourth place. Titterington thus contributed to Mercedes-Benz's victory in the 1955 World Sports Car Championship, which the Stuttgart brand secured in the final race with a lead of just one point over Ferrari.

The following year, he even took part in his first and only Formula 1 race, but failed to finish the domestic British Grand Prix in his Connaught B-Type. Titterington retired from racing at the end of 1956 for family reasons.

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