Richie Ginther

Richie Ginther

Nation:	United States
Automobile world championship
First start:	1960 Monaco Grand Prix
Last start:	1966 Mexican Grand Prix
Constructors
1960–1961  Ferrari  • 1962–1964  BRM  • 1965–1966  Honda  • 1966  Cooper
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup third ( 1963 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 52 1 - 3
World Cup points :	107
Podiums :	14th
Leadership laps :	112 over 689 km

Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (born August 5, 1930 in Los Angeles , California , † September 20, 1989 in Touzac-Le Roucou near Bordeaux ) was an American automobile racing driver .

Career

After completing an apprenticeship as a mechanic and attending engineering school, Ginther started working for the Douglas aircraft factory in Santa Monica ( California ) in 1948 . In 1950 he met Phil Hill and became enthusiastic about motorsport. In 1951 he drove his first hill climb in an MG TC with a Ford engine. He then spent two years in the Korean War .

First years in motorsport

He drove in numerous racing series, such as the co-driver of Phil Hill in 1953 and 1954 in the Carrera Panamericana and in 1957 with a Ferrari 500 TRC together with the Frenchman Francois Picard in the 24-hour race of Le Mans , where he was canceled. In his private life he drove a Porsche Spyder race. He also worked as a customer service engineer for the Ferrari importer John von Neumann, who occasionally gave him one of his sports cars.

On January 31, 1960, he and Wolfgang von Trips finished second in the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires in a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and drove the fastest race lap. Also with von Trips, he came second again at the Targa Florio on May 8, 1960 in a Ferrari Dino 246SP .

Formula 1 and sports cars

Three weeks later, Richie Ginther made his Formula 1 debut at the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo in a 2.4-liter Ferrari Dino 246F1 with sixth place. In the next race in Zandvoort he was again sixth. In his third Grand Prix outing on September 4, 1960 in Monza at the Italian Grand Prix, he finished second behind Phil Hill . Ginther achieved championship points in each of his first three GP races. In the 1960 World Championship rankings, he finished eighth with Jim Clark , and that with a Formula 2 car that was still approved for Grand Prix races at the time.

In 1961 Richie Ginther was practically the third works driver for Ferrari , but fell a little behind the top drivers Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips . Although he finished fifth in the World Championship with 16 points, he couldn't improve his driving skills.

So he went to BRM Ginther in 1962 had teething problems in the first year, but helped Graham Hill to the world title through his teamwork. 1963 was his best year in Formula 1 to date. Three second places (Monte Carlo, Monza, Watkins Glen) and two third places (Nürburgring, Mexico) brought him third place in the world championship.

His third year at BRM brought him fifth place in the world championship. Ginther again took second place twice in Monte Carlo and Zeltweg. This is the third time in four years that he has secured the place of honor in the Principality.

Ginthers Honda RA273 of the 1966 season

His first Grand Prix victory was in the last race in 1965 at the Mexican Grand Prix . He was already driving for the Honda team, together with Ronnie Bucknum , who was driving for the Japanese back in 1964. At BRM he was replaced by Jackie Stewart , who became world champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973 and began his Formula 1 career in 1965. The victory of Richie Ginther in Mexico City was only the conciliatory end to an otherwise unsuccessful 1965 season. The 1.5-liter formula, which was valid from 1961 to 1965, also ended with this race.

In 1966 the new 3-liter formula began with piston engines of up to 3000 cc and a minimum weight of 500 kg. Richie Ginther was a works driver at Cooper together with the aspiring Jochen Rindt . With a Cooper T81- Maserati V12 he retired in Monte Carlo before coming in fifth at Spa-Francorchamps . Before the French Grand Prix , world champion John Surtees switched from Ferrari to the Cooper team due to personal differences with Ferrari racing director Eugenio Dragoni and took over from Richie Ginther.

Ginther himself was already on the way to Japan to experience the final phase of the development of the three-liter V12 Honda car and to do test drives. In Monza at the Italian Grand Prix , the Honda RA273-V12 was the heaviest of all Formula 1 cars (at least 730 kg). Ginther was happy with the performance of his Honda, but not with the chassis. In the race, he fought his way up to second place, before he went off the track at 250 km / h on the 17th lap in the Curva Grande for an unknown reason and the car crashed against the guardrails. Ginther was almost unharmed.

At the US Grand Prix , Ginthers engine did not run perfectly right from the start, but its later failure caused gearbox damage and gearshift difficulties. In Mexico City, he had the best start from the second row. But his lead only lasted until the second lap. Then he was overtaken by Brabham. Due to engine problems, he initially dropped to seventh place. A few laps later the Honda engine revved up again and Ginther finished fourth at the end of the race.

With a total of 5 points, Richie Ginther only finished eleventh in the 1966 World Cup. For 1967 there was no more place for him on the Honda team. As with Cooper a year earlier, he was ousted by John Surtees . Ginther joined Dan Gurney on the Anglo American Racers team. When he could not qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix , he ended his Formula 1 career.

In total, Ginther achieved 107 world championship points in 52 Formula 1 races and set the fastest race lap three times.

In addition to his involvement in Formula 1, he was active in sports cars, including in Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring . At the Nürburgring in 1961 he finished third in a Ferrari Dino 246 SP together with Olivier Gendebien , in 1964 fifth with Joakim Bonnier in a Porsche 904/8 and in 1966 third with Pedro Rodríguez in a Ferrari Dino 206 S.

Private

After his racing career, he was active in the management of various racing teams outside of Formula 1. He returned to the racetrack in 1977 when he presented the winner Niki Lauda with a Goodyear trophy after the German Grand Prix . In 1989 he could be found in Donington at the "40 Years of BRM" celebrations. A short time later, Richie Ginther died of a heart attack on September 20, 1989 while on vacation in France. He had three children; he had been divorced from his wife since 1966.

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

• 1965 Mexican Grand Prix ( Mexico City ) 

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1960	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 246F1	Ferrari 2.4 V6	1	-	-	-	-	-	8th	9.
		Ferrari Dino 246P		2	-	1	-	-	-
1961	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 1.5 V6	7th	-	1	2	-	2	16	5.
1962	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P48 / 57	BRM 1.5 V8	2	-	1	1	-	-	10	8th.
		BRM P57		7th	-	-	-	-	-
1963	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P57	BRM 1.5 V8	10	-	3	2	-	-	29 (34)	3.
1964	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P261	BRM 1.5 V8	10	-	2	-	-	-	23	5.
1965	Honda R&D Co.	Honda RA272	Honda 1.5 V12	8th	1	-	-	-	-	11	7th
1966	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	2	-	-	-	-	-	5	11.
	Honda R&D Co.	Honda RA273	Honda 3.0 V12	3	-	-	-	-	1
total				52	1	8th	5	-	3	107

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11
1960
		6th		6th		DNS			2
1961
	2	5	3	DNF	3	8th	DNF	DNA
1962
	DNF	DNF	13	3	13	8th	2	DNF	7th
1963
	2	4th	5	DNF	4th	3	2	2	3	DNF
1964
	2	11	4th	5	8th	7th	2	4th	4th	8th
1965
		DNF	6th	DNF	DNF	6th		DNF	7th	1
1966
	DNF	5					DNF	NC	4th
1967
		DNQ	DNA

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1957	Los Amigos team	Ferrari 500TRC	François Picard	failure	water pump
1960	Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari 250TRI	Willy Mairesse	failure	Gearbox damage
1961	Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari Dino 246SP	Wolfgang von Trips	failure	no petrol
1962	David Brown Racing Dept.	Aston Martin DP212	Graham Hill	failure	Oil pump
1963	Owen Racing Organization	Rover BRM	Graham Hill	Unrated
1964	Ford Motor Company	Ford GT40	Masts Gregory	failure	Gearbox damage
1966	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 330P3	Pedro Rodríguez	failure	Gearbox damage

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1957	Temple Buell	Ferrari 500TRC	Howard Hively			Rank 10 and class win
1958	John von Neumann	Ferrari 250TR	John von Neumann			failure	Gearbox damage
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder	Howard Hively			9th place and class win
1960	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250TR59 / 60	Chuck Daigh			failure	Water and oil leak
1961	Sefac Automobile Ferrari	Ferrari 250TRI	Giancarlo Baghetti	Willy Mairesse	Wolfgang von Trips	Rank 2
1963	Rosebud Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GTO	Innes Ireland			Rank 6
1964	Precision Motor Cars	Porsche 904 GTS	Ronnie Bucknam			Rank 31st
1965	Ken Miles	Ford GT40	Phil Hill			failure	suspension

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
1953	Allen Guiberson	Ferrari 340 Mexico	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
									DNF
1954	Allen Guiberson	Ferrari 375MM	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
								2
1957	Temple Buell Equipe Los Amigos	Ferrari 500TRC	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
				10			DNF
1958	John von Neumann	Ferrari 250TR	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				DNF
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			9
1960	Scuderia Ferrari North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250TR Ferrari 250TRI Ferrari Dino 246S	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
			2	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1961	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250TRI Ferrari Dino 246SP	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			2	DNF	3	DNF	DNF
1962	Aston Martin	Aston Martin DP212	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
										DNF
1963	Rosebud Racing Team British Racing Motors	Ferrari 250 GTO Rover turbine	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					6th							DNF
1964	Precision Motor Cars Porsche Ford Eric Portman	Porsche 904 Ford GT40 Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				31					5		DNF	DNF			9
1965	Carroll Shelby International Ken Miles	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
			3	DNF
1966	Holman & Moody Scuderia Ferrari North American Racing Team	Ford GT40 Ferrari Dino 206S Ferrari 330P3	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL				| |
			DNF					3	DNF
1967	Holman & Moody	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
			DNF

Web links

Commons : Richie Ginther  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Richie Ginther at Racing Sports Cars