Here's an interesting fellow I discovered...

[tommykl]

While searching for potential rejects for the upcoming profiles by Enoch, I took the habit of checking out any unfamiliar name, to see their involvement in Formula One, and since StatsF1 also has a picture of most drivers, I also looked at them.

I found a certain driver from the 1950s whose photo struck me. He didn't really look like a racing driver at all. That man was John Riseley-Prichard, who was ranked fourth in F1 Rejects' very own "Top Ten Posh-sounding British Formula One Drivers".

Indeed, he wasn't really a racing driver. He bought a spare Connaught in 1954, took part in some minor races, winning the Cornwall MRC race in Davidstow, also taking part in the British Grand Prix, his only championship start, where he crashed out. He is, however, the man who kick-started Tony Brooks' racing career by selling him the Connaught.

He also took part in the ill-fated 1955 24 hours of Le Mans, again with Brooks, but they retired after 83 laps. After the race, his family persuaded the 31-year-old to quit racing and return to his boring job as a Lloyd's insurance broker.

That's when the interesting stuff happens. His life after F1 is unlike any other I have stumbled across, and includes being a partner of Ann Summers' sex shops, and fleeing to Thailand to avoid the law and the tabloids after getting involved in a child pornography scandal of all things. He died in a remote Thai village at 69 years old, of AIDS.

If that's not worthy of a profile, I don't know what is.

[FantometteBR]

A boring Lloyd insurance man doing all that? Wow...

And, well, he could be the other F1 driver to die with AIDS (first being Mike Beuttler, right?)

[Londoner]

Some very peculiar erm...interests, this posh old boy had.

[tommykl]

And, well, he could be the other F1 driver to die with AIDS (first being Mike Beuttler, right?)

Indeed, and within about five years of each other too...

[Cynon]

What.

If anyone has seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut (I'm a Kubrick fan...), this reminds me a of that in some ways. Just the bizarre story of his life AFTER F1 is enough to warrant a profile, if nothing else...

[Nessafox]

And, well, he could be the other F1 driver to die with AIDS (first being Mike Beuttler, right?)

Indeed, and within about five years of each other too...

After that, driver aids got banned.

[dinizintheoven]

That's when the interesting stuff happens. His life after F1 is unlike any other I have stumbled across, and includes being a partner of Ann Summers' sex shops, and fleeing to Thailand to avoid the law and the tabloids after getting involved in a child pornography scandal of all things. He died in a remote Thai village at 69 years old, of AIDS.

Ack. It reminds me of another driver who was mentioned here a while back - someone whose post-racing career saw him involved with the notorious Custer's Revenge on the Atari 2800. Who was that?

[Salamander]

That's when the interesting stuff happens. His life after F1 is unlike any other I have stumbled across, and includes being a partner of Ann Summers' sex shops, and fleeing to Thailand to avoid the law and the tabloids after getting involved in a child pornography scandal of all things. He died in a remote Thai village at 69 years old, of AIDS.

Ack. It reminds me of another driver who was mentioned here a while back - someone whose post-racing career saw him involved with the notorious Custer's Revenge on the Atari 2800. Who was that?

Peter Arundell, I believe it was.

[tommykl]

That's when the interesting stuff happens. His life after F1 is unlike any other I have stumbled across, and includes being a partner of Ann Summers' sex shops, and fleeing to Thailand to avoid the law and the tabloids after getting involved in a child pornography scandal of all things. He died in a remote Thai village at 69 years old, of AIDS.

Ack. It reminds me of another driver who was mentioned here a while back - someone whose post-racing career saw him involved with the notorious Custer's Revenge on the Atari 2800. Who was that?

Peter Arundell, I believe it was.

Yeah, he actually founded the company that created Custer's Revenge, amongst other games.

[eytl]

What.

If anyone has seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut (I'm a Kubrick fan...), this reminds me a of that in some ways. Just the bizarre story of his life AFTER F1 is enough to warrant a profile, if nothing else...

Either that, or it's a recipe for a libel / defamation suit ...

[Cynon]

What.

If anyone has seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut (I'm a Kubrick fan...), this reminds me a of that in some ways. Just the bizarre story of his life AFTER F1 is enough to warrant a profile, if nothing else...

Either that, or it's a recipe for a libel / defamation suit ...

Point taken, but as far as I understand libel/defamation (as they apply in the United States, no idea about international cases), as long as it is clear to the reader that what is written is only a rumor or urban legend, it can't actually count as libel or defamation.

[eagleash]

What.

If anyone has seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut (I'm a Kubrick fan...), this reminds me a of that in some ways. Just the bizarre story of his life AFTER F1 is enough to warrant a profile, if nothing else...

Either that, or it's a recipe for a libel / defamation suit ...

Point taken, but as far as I understand libel/defamation (as they apply in the United States, no idea about international cases), as long as it is clear to the reader that what is written is only a rumor or urban legend, it can't actually count as libel or defamation.

The "allegedly" defence is itself an urban myth.

[Pieman]

Under UK law (and yes I do understand that F1 Rejects is based in Australia) a deceased person cannot be libelled, so as long as no still-living person is referred to in the profile, it should be OK.

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

What.

If anyone has seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut (I'm a Kubrick fan...), this reminds me a of that in some ways. Just the bizarre story of his life AFTER F1 is enough to warrant a profile, if nothing else...

I've seen that movie some years ago and I have to say you're right. Me too I'm thinking the same.