David Charles Purley

David Charles Purley was born on 26 January 1945 in West Sussex, UK. Purley was a former officer in the British Army where he served with the Parachute Regiment. 

In 1974, Purley entered the 21^st Macau Grand Prix with the Chevron B27 and immediately proved to be the quickest amongst the field of 15 drivers, setting the fastest lap in practice. At the start of the 40-lap race, Macdonald was the first driver away and was followed by Vern Schuppan, Purley, Albert Poon and Grant Swartz. However, by the second lap it was Australian driver Vern Schuppan in the lead with Purley piling pressure on John Macdonald to move into second. At the start of lap 37, Purley’s engine seized on the approach to Statue Corner (now Lisboa Bend),, however at this point, Vern Schuppan was already on his final lap and Purley finished second.

This car, a Chevron B27, was built for Formula 2 racing and ran with a Ford and later a 2-litre BMW engine for Formula 2 events. B27 was a sleeker car than its predecessor the B25 and had a two-piece GRP bodywork system, one for the cockpit and one for the nose section, and the stepped nose section was the most visible difference from the B25.