Creighton Brown, a leading light in the Project Four Racing group that took over McLaren in 1980, has died of Cancer.

Often described as an "entrepreneur", Brown's motorsport career, following time in the army, a stint as a jazz musician and management at Ranks Hovis McDougall, began with the construction of a sports car in 1972, aged 21.

Brown had also been a pig farmer, his Camborough Pigs business breeding a particular strain which was marketed worldwide, particularly in Brazil where he eventually settled.

It was under the Camborough name that he went Clubmans Racing in the seventies with particular success, eventually leading to his entry of Ray Mallock in Formula Two, and his charm and business acumen resulted in him running the ICI March Formula Two team. This led to his meeting Ron Dennis, with whom he at one time swapped equity in their respective businesses.

At the end of 1978, Brown joined Ron Dennis' Project Four Racing, and along with John Barnard, took over the McLaren F1 Team. During his time as a director of McLaren (1980 - 1992), the British team won 7 constructor's and 8 drivers' World Championship titles.

In 1990, Brown, along with former Brabham (F1) designer, Gordon Murray, set up McLaren Cars, which led to the revolutionary McLaren F1, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest Sports Cars of all time, and which dominated the World Sports Car Championships in 1995 and 1996.

In recent times, Brown became a director of MRS. Management, which specializes in the management of young professional race drivers. He was also a director of Leisurebox PLC, a UK leisure group, in addition to interests in property and farming.

He had also established South American Sports Cars, in Santa Catarina, South Brazil, together with a second, highly confidential, project, which, in association with a "global motor manufacturer" involved the design and development of a "revolutionary" limited production sports car.

Following a long battle with Cancer, Creighton Brown finally succumbed on Sunday.

"Everyone who knew him will be deeply saddened by the news of his death," adds Bob Constanduros, "because he was probably the most charming man ever to grace a Formula One pit lane. He was well-mannered and a true gentleman in the older sense of the word. A good friend sorely missed"

To his wife, Terry, and daughters Melanie, Judy and Allie, Pitpass offers its sincere condolences.