Kenneth Henry Downing (5 December 1917 – 3 May 2004) was a British racing driver, soldier and businessman. He raced for Connaught in the 1952 Formula One season, notably qualifying for the British Grand Prix and Dutch Grand Prix. Downing fought in the British expeditionary force during the Second World War and was sent to France before the Dunkirk evacuation. He began racing at 21, competing in his first event the Eastbourne Rally and in sports car races throughout the late 1940s before entering into Formula One. Downing moved to South Africa in the 1953 where he began a business mining sea diamonds at the mouth of the Orange river. He later lived in Switzerland and Monaco until his death in 2004. Family Downing was born into a wealthy family, whose interests included material manufacturing and transport. He was the son and heir of George Henry Downing, JP, High Sheriff of Staffordshire, of Clayton Lodge in Newcastle-under-Lyme. His sister Eleanor Downing married Frank Skailes and was the mother of Ian 'Mo' Skailes and David Skailes, successful Ferrari racing drivers. In 1942 Downing married Elizabeth Keane. His daughter Anne married Patrick McNally, whose company Allsport Management controlled the corporate hospitality and circuit advertising for Formula One. Racing career He began racing at 21, competing in his first event the Eastbourne Rally in a Healey, and competed in sports car races throughout the late 1940s after the war. Initially racing a Brooke Special, he switched to a Connaught in 1951, winning 17 races throughout the year. Downing switched to single seaters in 1952, racing a Connaught A-Type, and won the Madgwick Cup at Goodwood and second place at the Grand Prix des Frontières at Chimay, Belgium, where he lost the lead at the end of the race several metres before the finish line. He finished ninth in his first World Championship event at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, but had run fourth in the race ahead of Alberto Ascari before spinning while avoiding a backmarker. Racing alongside fellow Connaught drivers, Kenneth McAlpine, Eric Thompson and Dennis Poore, Downing had qualified on the second grid and was the highest placed British driver. He competed in the later that year, but then retired from an oil-pressure problem. Ascari, with whom Downing was acquainted, went on to win the 1952 World Championship of drivers and achieved global fame before dying at the Monza circuit