Until enforced retirement in 2017 from his role at NBC, Hobbs was a long-time commentator in the US, both with NBC and previously, with US motorsport channel, Speed as a commentator on Formula 1, GP2 and sportscar events. He only retired from driving in the mid 1990's. Now lives in Wisconsin, where he is the owner of a car dealership. His greatest driving triumph was probably the 1971 US Formula 5000 title, in a very long career that started in a Morris Oxford automatic at Silverstone in 1959, and finished in 1993 at Indianapolis in a Jaguar XJ220 sportscar race. David is half-Australian, which is not always mentioned. His father, Howard Hobbs ran the Hobbs Transmissions company in Leamington Spa having emigrated with his wife in 1932. Howard Hobbs was a pioneer of automatic transmission for motor vehicles, inventing a hydraulically operated four-speed Mechamatic gearbox.

Biography last updated 10 Feb 2021