Successful everywhere - Dan Gurney (1931-2018)
Like McLaren, the Eagle racing car manufacturer had the potential to remain in motorsport to this day.
In the sixties, the Eagle was probably the most beautiful car of its time by far. But it was not only beautiful, it could also win, at least in a Grand Prix.
Dan Gurney, the team owner, won the Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps in 1967 with his own design just eight days after his triumphant Le Mans victory and a few more days after his second place in the Indy 500 behind Mario Andretti.
Gurney pulverized all existing records in this race. With an overall average of 234.945 km/h for the 395 km long track, he set a new distance record, and a new lap record of 3'31''9 (239.547 km/h) also went to the likeable American. It is probably ironic that Gurney achieved his first victory with the Eagle on the Ardennes circuit, where he had suffered his worst misfortune three years earlier when he ran out of fuel shortly before the end after taking a commanding lead in the Brabham Climax.
In his exuberant joy at his two major victories, he sprayed the champagne on the Belgian podium for the second time after Le Mans in such a way that it set a precedent for the future of motor racing. Champagne is still being sprayed on the podium today.
The US American also left behind a significant aerodynamic refinement in racing with the so-called "Gurney flaps", also known as the "Gurney lip". Thanks to these flaps named after him, a small upward sloping trailing edge at the end of a wing, downforce is improved without significantly increasing drag.
With the first use of a full-face helmet in 1968, Dan Gurney was also a pioneer of a safety aspect in motorsport that is indispensable today.
Dan Gurney spent the last few years with his wife Evi Gurney-Butz in Newport Beach, California. The well-known motorsport journalist of the sixties and secretary to the then Porsche racing manager Huschke von Hanstein got to know and love Gurney during his time as a Porsche works driver. Dan Gurney was born on April 13, 1931, the son of opera singer John Gurney and his wife Roma Sexton.
His racing career began in 1955 with a Triumph TR2. He went from amateur to professional in 1957 when team boss Frank Arciero invited him to tame the barely drivable Arciero Special. Gurney chased the beast to second place in the Riverside Grand Prix.
His ambitions quickly led him to Europe, where he became a works driver for Ferrari in 1959. Unfortunately, he moved from Italy to England after just one year and started for BRM. Success was limited and so he joined Porsche in 1961, where hopes were high in connection with the Type 787. Together with Joakim Bonnier and Hans Herrmann, however, he was merely a laggard. Only the new 804 brought improvements and Gurney won the 1962 French GP in Rouen with it. This remains the only victory for a Porsche in the F1 World Championship to this day. After Porsche withdrew at the end of 1962, he switched to the new team of Australian Jack Brabham and won the French GP again in Rouen in 1963.
Together with Carroll Shelby, he founded the "All-American Racers" team in 1962 and from 1965 developed his own monoposto for the Indy 500 race and the F1 World Championship under the name AAR Eagle. For the F1, the beautiful dark blue cigar was powered by a Weslake V12. The engine was finally used in 1967, after a long delay, and Gurney first won a non-championship race with it at Brands Hatch and later, as already mentioned, the Belgian GP.
At the German GP at the Nürburgring, he set the fastest lap while leading the race, but unfortunately had to bury his hopes of another victory at the side of the track due to the defect-prone construction.
After Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney is certainly the most successful American racing driver. He contested 303 races in 25 different cars, winning seven F1 races (three did not count towards the World Championship at the time), seven Indy Car races and five NASCAR Winston Cup races. There were also victories in the CanAm and Trans-Am series.
Dan Gurney died on January 14, 2018 at the age of 86 as a result of pneumonia.
All pictures in high resolution can be found in this " Dan Gurney" collection.
