Ron Grable

Ron Grable drove in a Lola T190 in Formula A.

Ronald "Ron" Grable (born June 21, 1933 in Sullivan ; † October 31, 2018 in Prescott ) was an American racing car driver , journalist and mechanical engineer.

education and profession

Ron Grable came in Sullivan County in the US state of Indiana to the world. After his parents William and Ruth Grable moved , he grew up in southern California . In the Korean War he served as a marine on the USS Philippine Sea ; then he studied mechanical engineering at the University of California, San Diego .

For 40 years he worked in California for various companies in the semiconductor industry .

Racing career

Throughout his entire driving career, Ron Grable competed as an amateur racing driver alongside his job. He began his career in a Porsche 356 at local SCCA races and in 1968 won the Formula A championship elimination race in the Specter HR1 . Formula A was the North American equivalent of the European Formula 5000 . He started in Formula A until the mid-1970s and competed in sports car series such as the Canadian-American Challenge Cup at the same time . His best finish at the sports car was the third place overall for the team of John Greenwood at the 12-hour race at Sebring 1973 .

After a nine-year break from racing, he returned to the racetrack in 1982. He started again at Sebring , where he finished seventh in the top ten in 1986 . He also achieved seventh place in the 1982 Daytona 24-hour race .

After the end of his driving career in 1989, he worked part-time as a motorsport journalist and wrote, among other things, for Motor Trend Magazine . In 1993 he had a serious motorcycle accident , the consequences of which were spinal cord injury and the end of all professional activities. With the help of specialists and his wife Sandra, he managed to get by without a wheelchair for the rest of his life .

statistics

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1973	John Greenwood Racing	Chevrolet Corvette	Mike Brockman	John Greenwood	Rank 3
1983	Herman & Miller P&A	Porsche 924 Carrera	Paul Miller	Jim Busby	failure	Engine failure
1986	Morrison Cook Motorsport	Chevrolet Corvette	Bobby Carradine	John Heinricy	Rank 7

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
1973	John Greenwood	Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			DNF

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 : Ron Grable  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Obituary
• Ron Grable at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About Ron Grable's education and profession
2. ^ Formula A-Run-Off 1968