James "Hap" Sharp was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 race car driver who drove in six Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 grands prix. But he was best known as co-owner and driver of the revolutionary Chaparral sports racing cars built by Jim Hall

Jim Hall (race car driver)

Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....

 and Sharp in Midland, Texas. In 1962 Jim Hall and Hap Sharp formed Chaparral Cars, Inc. and immediately began the design and construction of Chaparral 2, a mid-engined car with an aerospace inspired semi-monocoque fiberglass chassis.

Sharp's record while driving for Chaparral:

1962
Road America 500, Hall and Sharp 1st - Chaparral 1

1964
USRRC Kent, Sharp 2nd - Chaparral 2
USRRC Greenwood, Sharp fastest lap - Chaparral 2
USRRC Mid-Ohio, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2
Nassau Speed Week, Sharp/Penske 1st - Chaparral 2

1965
Sebring, Hall/Sharp fastest lap and 1st - Chaparral 2
USRRC Riverside, Sharp fastest lap and 2nd - Chaparral 2
Bridgehampton, Sharp 2nd - Chaparral 2
USRRC Watkins Glen, Sharp 2nd - Chaparral 2
FIA Mr. Tremblant, Canada, Sharp 3rd - Chaparral 2
USRRC Kent, Sharp fastest lap and 2nd - Chaparral 2
USRRC Continental Divide, CO, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2
USRRC Mid-Ohio, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2
Road America 500 Hall/Sharp/Hissom 1st, Hall/Sharp/Jennigs 2nd - Chaparral 2
Bridgehampton, Sharp fastest lap and 1st - Chaparral 2
Kent WA, Sharp 2nd - Chaparral 2C
Laguna Seca, Sharp fastest lap and 2nd - Chaparral 2
Riverside, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2
Las Vegas, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2
Nassau, Sharp 1st - Chaparral 2C

Sharp retired from driving after the 1965 season.

His nickname "Hap" came from "Happy New Year", in connection with his date of birth. He committed suicide in 1993 after
being diagnosed with cancer.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	WDC	Points
1961 1961 Formula One season The 1961 Formula One season was the 12th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently from May 14 to October 8 over an eight race series...	'Hap' Sharp	Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T53	Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...  Straight-4 Straight-4 The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....	MON 1961 Monaco Grand Prix The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 14, 1961 on the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the first round of the 1961 World Championship of Drivers, and the first World Championship race under the new 1.5 litre engine regulations.- Qualifying :The erratic...	NED 1961 Dutch Grand Prix The 1961 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 22 May 1961 at Zandvoort.Taking place one week after the Monaco GP there was not time for Innes Ireland to heal from his injury in the previous race so he was replaced by Trevor Taylor. The front row was taken up by three Ferraris. Von Trips...	BEL 1961 Belgian Grand Prix The 1961 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 18 June 1961 at Spa-Francorchamps.The organizers of the race invited 25 entries, but were only going to pay starting money to 19: sixteen pre-selected cars plus the 3 fastest of the remaining 9. Three of the cars without starting money...	FRA 1961 French Grand Prix The 1961 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 2 July 1961 at Reims-Gueux.By winning the race, Giancarlo Baghetti became only the third driver to win his first World Championship race, the other two being Nino Farina, who won the first World Championship race and Johnnie Parsons, who...	GBR 1961 British Grand Prix The 1961 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 15 July 1961 at the Aintree Circuit, near Liverpool. It was the fifth race of eight in the 1961 World Championship season...	GER 1961 German Grand Prix The 1961 German Grand Prix was the 23rd time the German Grand Prix motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 21st European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as the sixth round of the 1961 World Drivers' Championship on 6 August 1961...	ITA 1961 Italian Grand Prix The 1961 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 10 September 1961 at Monza.The race was marked by one of the most terrible accidents in the history of Formula One, when on the end of lap 2 at the approach to the Parabolica the German driver Wolfgang von Trips lost control of his Ferrari...	USA 1961 United States Grand Prix The 1961 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 8, 1961 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.... 10			NC	0
1962 1962 Formula One season The 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29...	'Hap' Sharp	Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T53	Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...  Straight-4 Straight-4 The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....	NED 1962 Dutch Grand Prix The 1962 Dutch Grand Prix was the eleventh time the Dutch Grand Prix motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 22nd European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as the opening round of the 1962 World Drivers' Championship on 20 May 1962...	MON 1962 Monaco Grand Prix The 1962 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on June 3, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:35.4*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:35.5...	BEL 1962 Belgian Grand Prix The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 17, 1962.- Classification :* Dan Gurney practiced in a Lotus-BRM owned by Wolfgang Seidel, but after a few laps he deemed the car unraceworthy...	FRA 1962 French Grand Prix The 1962 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Rouen-Les-Essarts on July 8, 1962.- Classification :* Scuderia Ferrari withdrew from the event, and their allocated numbers of 2, 4 and 6 were not used...	GBR 1962 British Grand Prix The 1962 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on July 21, 1962.- Classification :* Scuderia Ferrari withdrew their other two entries, cars #4 and #6, to which drivers had not been allocated.-Standings after the race:...	GER 1962 German Grand Prix The 1962 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 5, 1962.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	ITA 1962 Italian Grand Prix The 1962 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 16, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:40.35*Fastest Lap: Graham Hill - 1:42.3*Final Formula One entry for Gerry Ashmore...	USA 1962 United States Grand Prix The 1962 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 7, 1962 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...	RSA 1962 South African Grand Prix The 1962 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at East London on December 29, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:29.3*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:31.0... 11		NC	0
1963 1963 Formula One season The 1963 Formula One season was the 14th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 14th FIA World Championship of Drivers, the sixth International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...	Reg Parnell Racing Reg Parnell Reginald Harold Haslam Parnell was a racing driver and team manager from England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of 9 championship points.-Driving career:Before World War II Parnell was a very successful racing...	Lotus Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...  24 Lotus 24 The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Having devised the monocoque Lotus 25 for use by the works team, Colin Chapman decided to build a 'conventional' back-up spaceframe design which he would also sell to privateers...	BRM V8	MON 1963 Monaco Grand Prix The 1963 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 26, 1963. It was won by British driver Graham Hill driving a BRM P57.- Classification :* After de Beaufort withdrew, his entry was taken over by Bernard Collomb...	BEL 1963 Belgian Grand Prix The 1963 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 9, 1963. Jim Clark won the race in extremely wet and rainy conditions. After starting eighth on the grid Clark passed all of the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill...	NED 1963 Dutch Grand Prix The 1963 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on June 23, 1963.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:31.6*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:33.7-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	FRA 1963 French Grand Prix The 1963 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on June 30, 1963. It was the fourth round of the 1963 Formula One season.- Race report :Jim Clark roared into a familiar lead from the start from Richie Ginther in the BRM...	GBR 1963 British Grand Prix The 1963 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on July 20, 1963.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	GER 1963 German Grand Prix The 1963 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on August 4, 1963.- Race report :Jim Clark led away from pole in his customary fashion. Behind him Lorenzo Bandini spun in front of Innes Ireland who collected him, Willy Mairesse had an accident, and Chris Amon sustained a...	ITA 1963 Italian Grand Prix The 1963 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 8, 1963.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: John Surtees - 1:37.3*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:38.9...	USA 1963 United States Grand Prix The 1963 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 6, 1963 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:... Ret	MEX 1963 Mexican Grand Prix The 1963 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on October 27, 1963.- Classification :* Surtees was disqualified for a push-start.- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:58.8*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:58.1... 7	RSA 1963 South African Grand Prix The 1963 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at East London on December 28, 1963.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	NC	0
1964 1964 Formula One season The 1964 Formula One season was the 15th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a series which commenced on May 10 and ended on October 25 after ten races...	Rob Walker Racing Team Rob Walker Racing Team Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded by Johnnie Walker heir Rob Walker in 1953, the team became F1's most successful privateer in history, being the first and last entrant to win a Formula One Grand Prix, without ever building their own...	Brabham BT11	BRM V8	MON 1964 Monaco Grand Prix The 1964 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 10, 1964. Peter Arundell scored his first podium finish, and Mike Hailwood his first point.-Classification:-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	NED 1964 Dutch Grand Prix The 1964 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on May 24, 1964.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	BEL 1964 Belgian Grand Prix The 1964 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 14, 1964.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	FRA 1964 French Grand Prix The 1964 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 28, 1964 at the Rouen-Les-Essarts circuit, Rouen, France. It was the 4th race of the 1964 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Dan Gurney for the Brabham team after starting from second...	GBR 1964 British Grand Prix The 1964 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 11, 1964. The event was also designated as the European Grand Prix...	GER 1964 German Grand Prix The 1964 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Nürburgring on 2 August 1964.- Classification :- Notes :*Fatal accident of Carel Godin de Beaufort in practice. He went off at the sweeping Bergwerk corner at the northernmost part of the track, went into the trees and suffered severe...	AUT 1964 Austrian Grand Prix The 1964 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One World Championship race held at Zeltweg Airfield on August 23, 1964.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Graham Hill - 1:09.84*Fastest Lap: Dan Gurney 1:10.56...	ITA 1964 Italian Grand Prix The 1964 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 6, 1964.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: John Surtees - 1:37.4*Fastest Lap: John Surtees - 1:38.8*Last race of F1 Pilot Maurice Trintignant...	USA 1964 United States Grand Prix The 1964 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 4, 1964 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:... NC	MEX 1964 Mexican Grand Prix The 1964 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on October 25, 1964.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:57.24*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark 1:58.37... 13	NC	0

External links

• Chaparral Cars website