Gerhard Mitter

Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969) was a German Formula One and sportscar driver.

Early life and career Mitter was born in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa) in Czechoslovakia, but his family was expelled from there, to Leonberg near Stuttgart.

After racing motorbikes, Mitter switched to Formula Junior, becoming the best German driver with 40 victories. In addition, he sold two-stroke engines for FJ. In 1963, Mitter won the Formula Junior Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring.

Formula One

Mitter also participated in seven Grands Prix, debuting on 23 June 1963. He scored a total of three championship points in his home 1963 German Grand Prix with a Porsche 718 from 1961. Impressed by this, Team Lotus gave him a chance in the following years.

Sportscar driver Gerhard Mitter driving a Porsche 908 during the 1969 1000 km race at the Nürburgring. In sportscar racing and hillclimbing for Porsche, he scored many wins, e.g. the 1966-1968 European Hillclimb Championships against Ferrari, the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona (Porsche 907, in class) and the 1969 Targa Florio (Porsche 908) as his final major win.

Return to Formula One and death

Due to the long Nürburgring track, it was possible to take part in the German Grand Prix with Formula 2 cars that were classified in their own contest. Mitter was killed there at Schwedenkreuz while practising for the 1969 German Grand Prix with BMW's 269 F2 project. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate at Porsche, Hans Herrmann. Udo Schütz, his driving partner at Porsche in the 1969 World Sportscar Championship season with whom he had won the Targa three months earlier, had survived a bad crash at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, and retired.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts 1963 Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA 12th= 3 1964 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX NC 0 1965 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 1966 Ron Harris Team Lotus Lotus 44 F2 Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 1967 Gerhard Mitter Brabham BT23 F2 Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0 1969 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMW 269 F2 BMW M12/1 1.6 L4 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1962 Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus 21 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT 1963 Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL KAN MED AUT OUL RAN 1964 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN

Complete European Formula Two Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Gerhard Mitter Brabham BT23 Ford SNE SIL NÜR HOC TUL JAR ZAN PER BRH VAL 15th 2 Roy Winkelmann Racing Brabham BT23C Ford HOC THR JAR PAL TUL ZAN PER HOC VAL NC 0 BMW BMW 269 BMW THR HOC NÜR JAR TUL PER VAL NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1965 Porsche Automobile Co. Herbert Linge Porsche 904/8 P2.0 184 9th 1st 1966 Porsche System Engineering Hans Herrmann Joe Buzzetta Porsche 906 P2.0 209 4th 1st Porsche System Engineering Günther Klass Porsche 906 P2.0 120 DNF DNF 1967 Porsche Auto Scooter Patrick Porsche 910 P2.0 226 3rd 1st 1968 Porsche Automobile Co. Rolf Stommelen Porsche 907 2.2 P3.0 46 DNF DNF 1969 Porsche System Engineering Ltd. Udo Schütz Porsche 908/02 P3.0 232 5th 4th