Dave Helmick
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David "Dave" Helmick (* 1937 ; † May 2019 ) was an American radiologist , racing car driver and racing team owner.
education
Dave Helmick trained as a general practitioner during his military service and then worked as a doctor in the United States Army . He left the army in the mid-1960s and went to Ford as an occupational physician . In 1966 he was a team doctor at Shelby American and looked after the Ford drivers at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In the early 1970s, he trained as a radiologist.
Racing career
Dave Helmick's driving career began in 1963 on a Porsche 356 in club and local sports car races. Helmick was the classic weekend racing driver who did his job during the week and came to the races with family and car on Sunday. In the 1970s, activities became more professional. He bought a Porsche Carrera RSR , whose trademark was a warning light on the roof, and ran a small racing team under the name Ecurie Escargot .
Helmick was able to win the two most important US endurance races once each. Together with Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood , he won the 1973 Sebring 12-hour race . Two years later , with third place overall, he achieved another podium finish at Sebring . The overall victory at the 1977 Daytona 24-hour race was remarkable . Despite an offer from the Porsche works team, Hurley Haywood decided to participate in a race with Helmick. Starting the race from last place on the grid, in the end they won the Carrera RSR by twelve laps over the more powerful Porsche 935 of Carlo Facetti , Martino Finotto and Romeo Camathias . Third driver alongside Helmick and Haywood was John Graves .
statistics
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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1973 |
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Porsche Carrera RSR |
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Overall victory | |
1975 |
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Porsche Carrera RSR |
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Rank 3 | |
1976 |
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Porsche Carrera RSR |
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failure | Engine failure |
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 |
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1972 | Ecurie Escargot | Porsche 911 |
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8th | |||||||||||||||||||
1973 | Ecurie Escargot |
Porsche 911 Porsche Carrera RSR |
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11 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
1974 | International performance | Porsche Carrera RSR |
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13 | |||||||||||||||||||
1975 | Escar | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR |
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6th | |||||||||||||||||||
1976 | Ecurie Escargot | Porsche Carrera RSR |
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6th | |||||||||||||||||||
1977 | Ecurie Escargot | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR |
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1 |
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
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Helmick, Dave |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Helmick, David |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1937 |
DATE OF DEATH | May 2019 |