Athletes - Dan Gurney

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	Athletes - Dan Gurney

Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is one of the most important figures in the history of American auto racing. He was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager. He has been a driver, a car manufacturer and a team owner at racing's highest levels since 1958. He is one of only five American drivers to win a Formula One Grand Prix, and the only one to win in a car of his own manufacture.

Gurney also won races in the Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am and Trans-Am Series. In 1967, after winning the 24 hours of Le Mans together with A.J. Foyt, he spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium. Apart from starting this tradition, he also was the first to put a simple extension on the upper end of the rear wing. This device, called Gurney flap(or wickerbill), increases downforce with minimal airflow disturbance.

Formula One Career

Driver

After driving a Ferrari at Le Mans in 1958, Gurney was invited to take a test run in a works Ferrari, and his Formula One career began with the team in 1959. In just four races that first year, he earned two podium finishes, but the team's strict management style did not suit him. In 1960 he had six non-finishes in seven races behind the wheel of a privately-entered BRM.

After rules changes came in effect in 1961, he teamed with Jo Bonnier for the first full season of the factory Porsche team, scoring three second places. After Porsche introduced a better car in 1962 with an 8 cylinder engine, Gurney broke through at the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts with his first World Championship victory - the only GP win for Porsche as an F1 constructor. One week later, he repeated the success in a non-Championship F1 race in front of Porsche's home crowd at Stuttgart's Solitude race track. Due to the high costs of racing in F1, Porsche did not continue after the 1962 season, though. In turn, Gurney married a Porsche management employee named Evi Butz.

Gurney was the first driver hired by Jack Brabham to drive with him for the Brabham Racing Organisation. While Brabham himself scored the maiden victory for his car at the 1963 Solitude race, it was Gurney again who took the team's first win in a championship race, in 1964, again at Rouen. In all, he earned two wins (in 1964) and ten podiums (including five consecutive in 1965) for Brabham before leaving to start his own team.

Manufacturer

In 1962, Gurney and Carroll Shelby began dreaming of building an American racing car to compete with the best European makes. Shelby convinced Goodyear, who wanted to challenge Firestone's domination of American racing at the time, to sponsor the team, and Goodyear's president Victor Holt suggested the name, "All American Racers", and the team was formed in 1965.

Their initial focus was Indianapolis and Goodyear's battle with Firestone, but Gurney's first love was road racing, especially in Europe, and he wanted to win the Formula One World Championship while driving an American Grand Prix Eagle. Partnered with British engine maker Weslake, the Formula One effort was called "Anglo-American Racers." The Weslake V12 engine was not ready for the 1966 Grand Prix season, so the team used outdated four-cylinder 2.7-liter Coventry-Climax engines and made their first appearance in the second race of the year in Belgium. Gurney scored the team's first Championship points by finishing fifth in the French Grand Prix at Reims.

The next season, the team failed to finish any of the first three races, but on June 18, 1967, Gurney took a historic victory in the Belgian Grand Prix. Starting in the middle of the first row, Gurney initially followed Jim Clark's Lotus and the BRM of Jackie Stewart. Clark encountered problems on Lap 12 that dropped him down to ninth position. Having moved up to second spot, Gurney set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 19. Two laps later, he and his Eagle took the lead and came home over a minute ahead of Stewart.

This win came just a week after his surprise victory with A.J. Foyt at 24 hours of Le Mans, where Gurney spontaneously began the now-familiar winner's tradition of spraying champagne from the podium to celebrate the unexpected win against the other Ford GT40 teams.

Unfortunately, the victory in Belgium was the high point for AAR as engine problems continued to plague the Eagle. He led the 1967 German GP at the Nürburgring before the V12 failed again. After a third place finish in Canada that year, the car would finish only one more race. By the end of the 1968 season, Gurney was driving a McLaren-Ford. His last Formula One race was the 1970 British Grand Prix.

Grand Prix Victories

Year	Country (Track)	Car	Date

1962	French Grand Prix (Rouen-Les-Essarts)	Porsche	July 8
1964	French Grand Prix (Rouen-Les-Essarts)	Brabham-Climax	June 28
1964	Mexican Grand Prix (Hermanos Rodriguez)	Brabham-Climax	October 25
1967	Belgian Grand Prix (Spa-Francorchamps)	Eagle-Weslake	June 18

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Athletes - Dan Gurney

Formula One Career

Driver

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Grand Prix Victories

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