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It is with great regret that I learnt that my hero, and a fantastic bloke, Ralph Broad passed away yesterday, at his home in Portugal.

I kept in touch with Ralph, and he kindly came to see me at my home a couple of years ago. However his health went down hill after that, and he never came back to the UK again.

What a fantastic and very intersting chap he was. And a true Brummie!

I pass on my thoughts to all who came into contact with him.

Regards

Paul Stanworth
Team Broadspeed

As a mark of respect, my Fletcher Ogle race car will be running at Spa next weekend. The car was prepared by Ralph back in the 1960's.

That is sad news.

Very sad news.



Ralph was a giant in Motorsport of the 1960's, 70's & on into the 80's. He will be sadly missed.

Another one of the greats gone. Very sad news.

It is sad news, another big personality of motorsport gone, great engineer and no mean driver himself.

its sad to hear another pioneer is lost

i always liked the stories about ralph broad getting one over on the works teams

streching the bottom arms to get more negative camber etc!

Interesting post from TNF..

"I am one of the directors of the Algarve Resident newspaper, based in the Algarve, Portugal. Ralph Broad was an avid reader and personal friend I met over 12 years ago. He was a kind man with a huge ability and desire for all things engineering, especially cars and reminisced fondly of his days as the Broad of Broadspeed.

Last year during the Algarve Historic Festival, we managed to get Ralph to attend and organised a grid and pit lane walk for Ralph to "smell the Castrol R" again. Fortunately there were a handful of Broadspeed cars there.

Ralph was looking forward to the next Algarve Historic on October 15, 16 and 17 this year, but of course those close to him, were doubtful his health would hold up enough for him to attend.

His death no matter how expected, has still come as a great shock and in his memory, we along with Peninsula Motor Sport have convinced the organisers of the AHF and the racetrack, to dedicate one of the pre-'66 historic masters saloon car races in Ralph's name. It will be known as the Ralph Broad Trophy.

Along with the race in his name, we are hoping to have an original Broadspeed car that will not be entered into the races, to be put on display in the main reception along with photos of his cars, and memorabilia of the man and his achievements. A dinner in his honour will be held after the final race of the weekend and we along with his family would welcome any messages from past friends, colleagues and admirers which will be read out during the evening.

If anyone can help, please contact me. My newspaper has a website as I am not sure if I can post my email address.

RIP Ralph - you will be missed and certainly remembered. Mark "