James Leslie Cosby has anyone any info

[jo-briggs]

James Leslie Cosby's daughter is looking for info about her late father. He was a Canadian, and at one time a team mate of Gilles Villeneuve; I guess that would be Formula Atlantic in the mid 70s. This info was passed on to me by my brother in Toronto:-



My name is April Oliver. My father (who is now deceased) was a
Canadian Forumla race car driver in the late 60's, early 70's. I
have sketchy details about his history and was hoping you might have
more information about his career so I could research him. There
are some photos, posters, and other such items in a box
somewhere...I believe my sister has them. I will get them together
if you are interested. I'll give you the information I know, please
reply if you know anything else...my details might be slightly
inaccurate as I was a child and am going on memory for some of it.
Thanks in advance.

James Leslie Cosby
Born July 23, 1947

Raced for John Player Special. Was teammates with Gilles Villeneuve
prior to Gilles turning to F1. I believe my dad raced either
Formula 2 or 3 (but that is mostly a guess). I am 100% sure it was
Formula racing as I have the photos. He held the track record at
Saint-Joviet (spelling might be off) in Quebec. He won a major race
in England at Silverstone sometime between 1969 and 1975. He tested
cars for Ferrari and gave up racing after testing a car and hitting
a wall at 200 miles an hour when the steering failed. This was when
he chose to walk away which I believe was in 1975. The highlight of
his career according to him was winning that race in England. He
was sponsored by British Airways and was featured on the cover of a
magazine by them with the advertising slogan..."who follows you Jim
Cosby?". This is about all I know of his career. If you have heard
of him or have any idea where I might learn more, I would really
appreciate your help.

[allenbrown]

I'll cross-post here waht I posted on CMSHG in response to this question:

Hi April

I've checked the Formula Atlantic records we hold on OldRacingCars.com and I have no record of a Jim or James Cosby. I've checked the Canadian series back to 1968 (although our records are partial for several of these seasons) as well as the initial season of the UK series in 1971. There is also no mention of anyone called Cosby in Formula 2 records ( www.formula2.net) or UK Formula 3 records (www.f3history.co.uk).

John Player Special sponsorship appeared on Lotus F3 cars in 1972, the only time I can recall them sponsoring cars below F2. This is in the right timeframe but I can't see any record of a Cosby racing a F3 Lotus.

My best guess would be that he competed in Formula Ford in Canada and England, which is less well reported and no records (as far as I'm aware) exist on the web. My understanding is that Giles raced in FF only in 1973 on his brisk path from Snowmobiles via drag racing to Formula Atlantic. So Canadian FF in 1973 would be the best place to look.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Best regards

Allen Brown
www.oldracingcars.com

[Mosport67]

You might want to contact some one at St. Jovite in Quebec. They may have some records. I believe that Gilles did a Jim Russell course at St. Jovite. That might well be the connection. Jim Russell Racing still run a school at St. Jovite.

I watched many races at Mosport in the 60's & 70's. I have no recollection of a James Cosby at all.