David Trace

David Trace

David Trace from Birkenhead first appeared in the first episode of Series 9 following the conclusion of Championship of Champions II. He beat all opponents placed before him to become an octochamp — the first since Darryl Francis in Series 6 — and the very clear #1 seed for the final rounds (with more than twice as many points as the #2 seed, Geoffrey Taylor). There, he contested close games against Anne Tipp and David White on his way to the grand final, where he faced off against Mick Keeble. 74 – 70 down going into the conundrum, he brilliantly unscrambled CABANARCH into CHARABANC in two seconds to become champion of Series 9 and remain undefeated.

Trace returned for Championship of Champions III, where he defeated Cathy Morgan and Darryl Francis in close encounters to set up a moutherwatering encounter with Series 10 champion Harvey Freeman in the final both contestants played well, and the score going into the crucial conundrum was 107 – 105 in Trace's favour — however, the result would turn against him in this instance, as Freeman unscrambled PURSUEPAT in a second and a half to become the champion of champions and put an end to Trace's winning streak.

Trace returned to Countdown for the Supreme Championship, and seemed to have lost none of his edge as he beat Russell Byers and Richard Campbell in his first two games, but he came unstuck against Allan Saldanha, losing 34 – 45.

Preceded by Clive Spate

Series winner Series 9

Followed by Harvey Freeman

Preceded by Peter Evans

Champion of Champions runner-up Championship of Champions III

Followed by Tony Vick

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
405	9/04/1986	P	Tony Jenner	44 – 61	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	87
406	10/04/1986	P	Susan Crafer	24 – 48	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	73
407	11/04/1986	P	Paul Kaye	25 – 35	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	74
408	14/04/1986	P	Wendy Marks	27 – 58	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	74
409	15/04/1986	P	John Bratley	35 – 56	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	80
410	16/04/1986	P	Gloria Jones	20 – 59	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	94
411	17/04/1986	P	Denis Baines	28 – 55	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	73
412	18/04/1986	P	Lynn Blackburn	17 – 51	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Eve Pollard	Catherine Clarke	72
438	26/05/1986	QF	Anne Tipp	34 – 52	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Della Thompson	74
442	30/05/1986	SF	David White	34 – 49	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	73
444	3/06/1986	GF	Mick Keeble	74 – 80	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth, Bill Tidy	Catherine Clarke	129
597	24/06/1987	CQF	Cathy Morgan	57 – 61	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Sally James	Della Thompson	72
600	29/06/1987	CSF	Darryl Francis	55 – 58	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Sally James	Della Thompson	73
601	30/06/1987	CGF	Harvey Freeman	115 – 107	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Sally James	Della Thompson	127
M17	24/7/89-28/7/89	Masters 1	Dick Green	88 – 112	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					N/A	Catherine Clarke	138
M71	6/8/90-10/8/90	Masters 2	David Trace	82 – 92	Peter Evans	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					N/A	Mark Nyman	129
1881	14/11/1996	eQF	David Trace	68 – 63	Russell Byers	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent	82
1885	20/11/1996	eSF	David Trace	46 – 36	Richard Campbell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tom O'Connor	Catherine Stokes	72
1887	22/11/1996	eF	David Trace	34 – 45	Allan Saldanha	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tom O'Connor	Catherine Stokes	70