Victor Henry Elford (born 10 June 1935, in London) is a former sportscar racing, rallying and Formula One driver from England. He participated in 13 World Championship F1 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 July 1968. He scored a total of 8 championship points. Nicknamed "Quick Vic" by his peers Elford was mainly a famous sports car competitor as well as a successful rally driver, associated often with Porsche.

Career

Elford started as a co-driver, partnering David Seigle-Morris in a Triumph TR3A. By 1961 he had acquired the confidence to see himself as a potential driver in his own right: the confidence was not shared by team manager Marcus Chambers, and Elford purchased a race-tuned Mini which he rallied as a privateer with limited success before selling it at the end of the season. 1962 found him achieving success in several UK rallies driving a factory sponsored DKW Junior. The next year saw a return to Triumph and Elford achieved impressively fast times with the Triumph TR4s, although reliability of the cars in Elford's hands was disappointing, and the following year Elford switched to Ford: this was the beginning of a successful three-year rallying stint with the Ford Cortinas.In 1967 Elford was European rally champion in a works Porsche 911. Among other victories he won the 1968 Rally Monte Carlo in a Porsche 911 and only a week later the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 907, Porsche's first ever overall win in a 24-hour race. Later that year, he also won the Targa Florio teamed with veteran Umberto Maglioli in a famous come-from-behind race after he lost 18 minutes in the first lap due to a tyre failure. Elford then entered the French Grand Prix and finished fourth in his first F1 race – a wet one, too.