TRIBUTES have been paid to a motorsport legend and hero of Goodwood known as Gentleman Jack.

The winner of the inaugural British Touring Car Championship Jack Sears has been remembered fondly following his death at the age of 86.

Staff at Goodwood, where Sears first raced and who named a race in his honour two years ago, were among the first in the world of motorsport to pay their respects.

Goodwood Road and Racing said the 1958 and 1963 British Saloon Car champion was “loved by all who watched him race”.

Sears’ family came from Northampton but moved to Sussex when he was very young, where his father ran a farm.

His father was a motorsport enthusiast and passed on his love to his son at a very young age.

Sears was bought his first car, a Standard Ten engined Morgan 4/4, by his father and as a teen he drive over the Downs in production car trials.

He drove a 1949 MG TC on the 1950 Daily Express Rally before making its circuit debut in a BARC Goodwood handicap spinning at the first corner.

It was the beginning of a successful career in the sport which saw him win the first British Touring Car Championship in a head-to-head race with Tommy Sopwith after the pair finished tied on points.

His reputation grew not only as one of Britain's most talented and versatile racers of the 1950s but also for his charms for which he earned the nickname Gentleman Jack.

In 1960 he made his debut at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race in with an Austin-Healey 3000 and four years later gained notoriety for topping 180mph on the M1 in a factory AC Cobra Coupe in testing prior to Le Mans.

His stellar career came to an abrupt end following an enormous testing accident at Silverstone that September which took him a year to recover from.

In his retirement, he was a regular attendee of motorsport events including Goodwood.

A Goodwood spokeswoman said: “Two years ago, Goodwood paid tribute to Sears by naming a race at the first of the revived Members’ Meetings in his honour.

“The Sears Trophy for production saloons from 1959 to 1963 was a popular addition to the 72nd Members’ Meeting bill in 2014, with Minis scrapping with Lotus Cortinas in a typical, wheel-wagging contest the like of which Sears himself would have relished.”