Bob Tullius

The Group 44 Jaguar E-Type converted into a Spyder , with which Bob Tullius competed in American sports car races in 1975

The Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 of Bill Adam and Bob Tullius at the IMSA GTP race at Sears Point in 1983

Robert C. "Bob" Tullius (born December 7, 1930 in Rochester ) is a former American automobile racing driver and racing team owner.

Career in motorsport

Tullius' first racing activities took place in the early 1960s, when the then almost 30-year-old attended a racing school with his private Triumph TR3 and won the final race. He won the following four amateur races twice and came second just as often. These successes by a hitherto largely unknown driver caught the attention of the then motorsport and Triumph brand managers of the US branch of the Triumph-Standard Motor Company . In 1962 Triumph gave him a TR3 converted into a racing car, with which he competed and won races in the SCCA sports car championship. However, the vehicle was seriously damaged in a racing accident, and since Triumph did not give him another car, he had to completely rebuild the vehicle himself.

The decision to pursue motorsport professionally was made in 1963. The many hours that Tullius spent on racetracks and servicing his racing car had earned him criticism from his employer. He was employed by Kodak in his hometown and at the beginning of the year was given the alternative Kodak or car racing by his superior. Tullius opted for racing, although the decision was made easier by a Triumph work contract and a wealthy family. In the same year he contested his first 12-hour race in Sebring and won six SCCA championship races with the works TR4 .

In order to make himself independent of factory interests and to also earn money with racing, he founded his own racing team with Group 44 Incorporation in 1965 . The number went back to Tullius' first starting number. At the time, Group 44 was an innovative company. In addition to Tullius, technician Brian Fuerstenau and New York advertising expert Dick Gilmartin were part of the company's management team, both of whom were also active as racing drivers. In addition to the company's own racing operations, racing vehicles were built for customers and a marketing and sponsorship department for vehicle manufacturers and racing teams was established as an essential and, above all, profitable part. In addition to the Triumph cars, the vehicles used were almost exclusively models from the British Leyland Motor Corporation , including the MG and Jaguar brands . Whenever possible, local British Leyland dealers were involved in every race, and over the years almost all of the British company's marketing activities in the United States were carried out through Group 44. The lubricant company, which is part of the Royal Dutch Shell, was the sponsor of the racing team for several decades Quaker State a partner in the company.

Tullius was active as a driver until 1988 and retired after his last 24-hour race at Daytona . He contested no fewer than 252 races, of which he won 38. There were also 43 class wins. In 1965 and 1975 he won the overall ratings of the SCCA championships and in 1977 and 1978 the overall ratings of Category I of the Trans-Am series . He finished the IMSA GTP series in 1983 behind Al Holbert in second place in the championship. He competed three times in the Le Mans 24-hour race , where he also won the GTP class in 1985 with 13th place. In 1985 in Sebring he also achieved his best result with fourth place.

Group 44 competed in races until 1990, when activities were discontinued after the sponsorship contracts finally expired. The racing team won 14 national SCCA championships and three Trans-Am titles. Among the more than 300 race victories, there are also eleven successes in IMSA-GTP championship races . With the Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 , the British sports car brand returned to international sports car racing in the mid-1980s.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1964	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Triumph Spitfire	Michael Rothschild		failure	accident
1968	Howmet Corporation	Howmet TX	Hugh Dibley		Disqualified
1984	Jaguar Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Doc Bundy	Brian Redman	failure	Gearbox damage
1985	Jaguar Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Claude Ballot-Léna	Chip Robinson	Rank 13 and class win

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1963	Standard Triumph Motor Co.	Triumph TR4	Bruce waiter	Lew Spencer	Rank 32
1964	Autosport International	Alpine M63	Ray Cuomo		failure	Gearbox damage
1965	Standard Triumph Inc.	Triumph Spitfire	Charlie Gates		Rank 30
1966	Standard Triumph Motor Co.	Triumph TR4A	Charlie Gates		failure	Engine failure
1968	Leyland Motor Company	Triumph TR5K	Jim Dittemore		failure	suspension
1969	Wilton Jowett	Chevrolet Camaro	Wilton Jowett		Rank 45
1970	Bruce Jennings	Porsche 911T	Bruce Jennings		failure	Engine failure
1973	Murray Racing Team	Chevrolet Corvette	Ike Knupp		failure	Engine failure
1980	Group 44	Triumph TR8	Bill Adam		Rank 6 and class win
1981	Group 44	Triumph TR8	Bill Adam		Rank 10
1983	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Bill Adam		failure	Engine failure
1984	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Doc Bundy		failure	Ignition damage
1985	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Chip Robinson		Rank 4
1986	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-7	Chip Robinson	Claude Ballot-Léna	failure	Oil pump

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1963	Standard Motor Company	Triumph TR4	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					32
1964	Autosport International Standard Motor Company	Alpine M63 Triumph Spitfire	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				DNF							DNF
1965	Harley Cunningham Standard Triumph	Ford Cortina Triumph Spitfire	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
			DNF	30th
1966	Standard triumph	Triumph TR4	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
				DNF
1968	Leyland Howmet	Triumph TR5 Howmet TX	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
				DNF						12		DNF
1969	Wilton Jowett	Chevrolet Camaro	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
				45
1970	Toad Hall Racing Bruce Jennings	Porsche 911	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	DNF							13
1971	John McComb	Ford Mustang	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				DNF
1977	Group 44	Jaguar XJS	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
											14th			3
1978	Group 44	Jaguar XJS	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
													7th
1979	NART JRT Group 44	Ferrari 512 BB Triumph TR8	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
			57											7th			6th
1980	Group 44 JRT	Triumph TR8	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
			52		6th			26th							8th	7th
1981	Group 44	Triumph TR8	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
				10
1984	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	BRH	MOS	SPA	IMO	FUJ	KYA	SAN
					DNF
1985	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	MUG	MON	SIL	LEM	HOK	MOS	SPA	BRH	FUJ	SEL
						13

literature

• Ken Breslauer: Sebring. The official History of America's Great Sports Car Race. David Bull, Cambridge MA 1995, ISBN 0-9649722-0-4 .
• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

Commons : Bob Tullius  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bob Tullius and Group 44
• Bob Tullius at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ^ Brian Fuerstenau at Racing Sports Cars
2. ↑ Dick Gilmartin at Racing Sports Cars
3. ↑ IMSA-GTP series 1983