Tony Brise was born in Erith, Kent, the son of John Brise, a pig farmer and racing driver, who won the World Stock Car Championship on three occasions. Both Tony and his brother Tim showed an interest in go-karting at a young age, and John Brise gave up his hobby to support them fully. Tony Brise made his Grand Prix debut on 27 April 1975 for Williams at the Spanish Grand Prix in Montjuic Park near Barcelona, a controversial race marred by strikes over safety issues, a high number of crashes, and the deaths of four spectators. Brise finished seventh in this race, two laps behind the leaders, his race affected by a collision with Tom Pryce. Laffite returned for the subsequent Monaco Grand Prix, relegating Brise once again to Formula Atlantic, though former world champion Graham Hill’s retirement at that race, due to a failure to qualify, brought Brise straight back into the top division driving for Embassy Hill, intended to be for the rest of the season. Over the next few races Brise showed a lot of promise, recording some very fast qualifying times and frequently outperforming his team-mate, Alan Jones. However, a combination of technical difficulties and bad luck prevented him from ever finishing in high leader-board positions, and he took just one championship point. Nonetheless, by consensus he was considered a bright hope and one to watch for the future, with a successful season anticipated in 1976. On 19 November 1975, Hill and Brise, along with Andy Smallman, the team’s designer, and three team mechanics, were returning to London from southern France, where they were testing a new race car, the GH2. The Embassy Hill plane, a twin-engine six-seat Piper Aztec piloted by Hill, was attempting to land at Elstree Airfield at night in thick fog when it crashed and burned at Arkley golf course, killing all six aboard. Brise was 23 years old, and was survived by his wife Janet, daughter of triallist Reg Allen.