A BLUE plaque has been unveiled at Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb yesterday to honour former British Formula One racing driver Sir Stirling Moss.

When Sir Stirling passed away on Easter Sunday 2020 amid the global pandemic, plans to celebrate his remarkable motorsport career were put on hold.

The blue plaque was unveiled will serve as a permanent memorial to Sir Stirling at one of the oldest motorsport venues in the world.

The plaque has been created by Worcester Civic Society to commemorate the achievements of eminent people who have had an association with the city and county.

Sir Stirling began his career by entering speed hill climbs and, in particular, those at Shelsley Walsh.

He won his class at Shelsley on September 25, 1948, securing the record for the fastest un-supercharged car on June 11, 1949 and again on September 24, 1949 he took the fastest time of day (FTD).

He regularly returned to Shelsley in more recent years until his health declined.

The Formula One legend won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of competition and has been described as the greatest driver never to win the world title.

Between 1955 and 1961, he finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place the other three times, in a career during which he won 16 Grands Prix.

In a fitting tribute, the plaque has been unveiled on the weekend of the Jaguar E-type 60 Anniversary celebrations, hosted by his friend Philip Porter, co-founder of the E-type Club.

The author and publisher said: “To me, Stirling was simply the greatest.

“Not only was he the finest all-round motorsport competitor who has ever lived, he was probably the world’s first sporting superstar - the James Bond and David Beckham of his era.’

“Admired worldwide but loved by the British, he was the English crusader who went to foreign lands and, against the odds, conquered.

“That he became known as Mr Motor Racing’says it all.

“His victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia is remembered as one of the greatest sporting achievements of all time.”