Preece, Dave

[John Turner]

Anyone remember Dave Preece? Born 27 November 1941, he became a dentist by trade but was also very fine cyclist, and later an Autocross/Rallycross competitor of note. He is possibly best known for his racing exploits in the Oldham & Crowther Jaguar XK120, although I remember him more for being a quick driver of an Aston DB4 in the late 70s(?). Also the inspiration behind the ill fated Aston V8 engined Gipfast special built to the then GTP regs for the 1980 Le Mans. Preece did start the car in the Silverstone 6 hours that year only for a rear suspension (ball joint) failure to occur very early in the race. Unfortunately, it never made Le Mans because the various problems with it could not be overcome in time, and was later broken up.

Anyone know more about Preece or have any anecdotes that they wish to share?