Just learned that Tony Dron passed away yesterday. Brother of journo Peter Dron, and himself a columnist in Octane, Tony raced numerous cars over the years, including Porsches at Le Mans. Yet another sad loss...
Very sad to hear. I met him when I worked at Autofarm. He raced
Josh Sadler's 930 at Donnington Park, slicks in the wet! Still very
fast.
RIP and condolences to his family.
Andy
Now Porsche less and sad.
3.2 Carrera Speedster (Sold and sorely missed)
3.2 Manual Cayenne (Sold)
73 2.4S (Gone to Singapore)
75 3.0l 914 (Sold)
Tony is, was , local to me so I’ve met him a few times. Always cheerful and charming and always humble. He won his class at Le Mans in a 934 I think, so had no reason at all to be so. A bit of a sports car legend to me so I was always a bit star struck. I’ll do some skids in the 911 tonight in his honour.
In the old days pcgb used to hold their annual bash at a uk circuit. One year they held it at Thruxton. The main racing event was the intermarque series race. Tony was racing a highly modified db4 in this 2 driver endurance race. He streaked away from the pack. I stood just by the chicane before the finish. He clipped the apex and balanced it in a drifting tail slide which he arrested with millimeter precision at the exit to the corner. As someone new (novice level) to the art of performance car driving it was a demonstration of this at the highest level.
Halfway through the race and leading by around a lap he handed over to the amateur owner driver who tried to emulate Tony. 2 laps in he'd reduced the silver db4 to a tangled wreck. A lesser car would have been a complete write off.
A couple of years ago I saw him at one of the h and h auctions at Duxford and spoke to him. What a fast polished driver and plesant modest chap he was. I'd give my xxxxx to be half as good as Tony was on the track.....