Team story
Origins
Johnny Thomson made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1953 in Dr Raymond Sabourin's car, built by Frank Del Roy. The Sprint Car Hall of Fame museum also recalls his passing the rookie test in this car. This was not a new European team: its place in the championship comes from Indianapolis being included between 1950 and 1960.
The Formula 1 journey
Thomson started thirty-third in car number 56. An ignition problem stopped him after six laps, and the car appears thirty-second in the official classification. He later drove as a relief driver in Spider Webb's Lubri-Loy: that nineteenth place belongs to another car, not to the Del Roy.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Del Roy
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Johnny Thomson · Indianapolis 500 1953. The recorded position is P32; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Indianapolis 500
Johnny Thomson · Indianapolis 500 1953. The recorded position is P32; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Indianapolis 500
Johnny Thomson · Indianapolis 500 1953. The recorded position is P32; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The Speedway archive uses the designation Del Roy-Allen/Offy, distinguishing the chassis from the Offenhauser engine and Sabourin's entry. The shortened Del Roy name identifies the constructor here; it does not, by itself, establish an industrial model or series production.
What remains
Its championship involvement remained confined to that race. For Thomson, however, it began an Indianapolis career that would include pole position in 1959. The brief 1953 effort thus has a precise place in the driver's development, without transferring his later cars' results to the Del Roy.