Richie Ginther

Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (5 August 1930 – 20 September 1989) was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . He recorded the first Formula One win for both Honda and Goodyear at the in .

Born in Hollywood, Ginther competed in Formula One for Ferrari, Scarab, BRM, Honda, Cooper and Eagle. He finished third in the 1963 World Drivers' Championship with BRM, and scored 14 podiums across eight seasons.

Ginther was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008.

Early career Richie Ginther was born on 5 August 1930 in Hollywood. His family moved to Ohio for his father's work before moving back to California and to Santa Monica, the same Californian town as future Formula One World Champion Phil Hill, and it was through Hill, a friend of Ginther's older brother, George, that he first began to race. After finishing school in 1948, Ginther followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for Douglas Aircraft, initially in the tool and die shop. In his spare time he helped Hill to repair, maintain and race his collection of old cars and hot rods, as Hill's racing career began to gather pace. Ginther made his race debut at Pebble Beach in 1951,

However, Ginther's career was put on hold shortly after, when he was drafted for two years of national service during the Korean War. During this time he received training and experience working in aircraft and engine mechanics, and over the next three years would continue to compete in many sports car racing events in both Aston and Ferrari machinery, with great success. That June, he won a 15-lap GT race at the new Lime Rock Park, and won the opening race of the national championship in his Ferrari. In early-1958, he piloted a two-liter Ferrari to victory at the County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California, averaging , and won in a three-liter GT in a five-lap qualifying preliminary for the SCCA Pacific Coast Championship. By the end of the year, Ginther had captured the Pacific Coast Sports Car Championship outright. and in June 1959, won in a three-liter Ferrari TR in the first Hourglass road races in San Diego, California. Throughout this period, he continued to mix his race driving with a steady job at von Neumann's dealership, and by late 1959, the strain was beginning to show.

Formula One

Ferrari

Ginther made his F1 debut at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix driving for Ferrari, which he stayed with through . In the September 1960 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, he placed second to Hill.

Following the season, the Ferrari team gave up 1000 cc in engine size. The 2500 cc engine, permitted the previous year, was replaced by a 1.5-liter rear-engine model, with 110 less horsepower. However, the newer engine was superior in both "profiling" and handling. The conservative Enzo Ferrari was the last major Formula One race car manufacturer to make the transition to cars with engines in the rear. In 1961, Ginther was the No. 3 Ferrari driver, behind No. 1 Wolfgang Von Trips and No. 2 Hill. Giancarlo Baghetti occasionally piloted a fourth car. The team manager was Romulo Tavoni.

On May 14, 1961, Ginther finished second to Stirling Moss at the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, 3.6 seconds behind, a few hundred feet. He was driving a new rear-engine Ferrari with a 120-degree V-6 which had a lower center of gravity. Ginther had qualified second, just ahead of Hill, with an average speed of , and a qualifying time of 1:39.3. He eclipsed the previous course record of 1:39.6, before Moss took pole position the day after.

In August 1961, Ginther and Baghetti were teammates at the Pescara Grand Prix, a world auto manufacturers' championship event. Their Ferrari was leading on the tenth lap when it stopped on a straight stretch with a flat tire. Ginther averaged more than on the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in September 1961, to lead the first day of qualifying for the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. Von Trips qualified first with Ginther taking the third starting position after Ricardo Rodriguez. Ginther retired in the race. Von Trips died in a spectacular crash on the second lap, which also killed eleven spectators, when his Ferrari climbed a earth embankment. It brushed a wire fence employed to restrain a portion of the crowd and struck the spectators. Some who were injured eventually succumbed and brought the total to 15 deaths. The Ferrari team ceased competition until January 1, 1962, as a mark of respect to Von Trips.

BRM and Honda

In , Ginther switched to the British-based BRM team to race alongside Graham Hill. The highlight of his time at BRM was finishing equal-second (with Hill) in the 1963 World Championship. Ginther scored more points than his British teammate over the whole season, but only a driver's six best scores were counted towards the championship.

Ginther's reputation as a solid "team player" and excellent test and development driver earned him an invitation to join the works Honda F1 team for 1965, for whom he scored his one and only GP win, at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The win was also Honda's first in Formula One. Ginther averaged over the curving track in the 65 lap Mexico City event. His speed eclipsed the previous course record of established by Dan Gurney in 1964. It was the first time Honda had entered the Mexican Grand Prix. Honda reentered international competition in the 1966 Italian Grand Prix. The team was three years old and had encountered difficulty in the preparation of a larger engine. Ginther led in Italy before his car crashed into a retaining wall and he broke his collarbone. He signed with the Eagle F1 team in 1967 and raced in the Race of Champions. His last race entered was the Monaco Grand Prix, but he failed to qualify.

Ginther won one race, achieved 14 podiums, and scored a total of 107 championship points.

Ginther appeared in an uncredited role in the 1966 film Grand Prix as John Hogarth, a driver in the Japanese funded "Yamura" team. He also acted as one of the technical racing advisors for the movie.

While making an attempt to qualify for the 1967 Indianapolis 500, Ginther broke a fuel line in his American Eagle Indy Car. A mix of ethanol and gasoline, was sprayed down his back. This experience, along with the recent fiery death of close friend Lorenzo Bandini, along with other factors, led to his sudden retirement.

Ginther participated in a rally with sixty-five other competitors, including actor James Garner, in June 1969. The California Sports Car Club event was three hours cross country from Los Angeles to Huntington Beach. It benefited students from the Braille Institute. Ginther managed a Porsche 911S with two American drivers during the 39th 24 hours of Le Mans, in June 1971.

Death Ginther died of a heart attack while on vacation with his family in France, in Touzac, near Bordeaux, on September 20, 1989.

Awards Ginther was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008.

Biography In 2020, to mark what would have been Ginther's 90th birthday, a biography was released about Richie's life and career by Richard Jenkins, published by Performance Publishing. "Richie Ginther: Motor Racing's Free Thinker" won the RAC Motoring Book of the Year Award for its depth of research and previously unpublished information

Racing record

Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Non-Championship Formula One 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 21 1960 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 246 Ferrari V6 GLV INT SIL LOM OUL 1961 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari LOM GLV PAU BRX VIE AIN SYR NAP LON SIL SOL KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA 1962 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P578 BRM CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT 1963 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P578 BRM LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL KAN MED AUT OUL RAN 1964 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P261 BRM DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN 1966 Stirling Moss Racing Team BRP BRM V8 RSA SYR Cooper Car Company Cooper T81 Maserati INT OUL 1967 Anglo American Racers Eagle Mk1 Weslake ROC SPC INT SYR OUL ESP

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Class 1963 John Willment Automobiles Ford Cortina GT SNE OUL GOO AIN SILRet CRY8† SIL BRH BRH OUL SIL 29th 6 12th † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Driver(s) Car Class Laps 1957 Equipe Los Amigos François Picard Ferrari 500 TRC S 2.0 129 DNF DNF 1960 Scuderia Ferrari Willy Mairesse Ferrari 250 TRI/60 S 3.0 204 DNF DNF 1961 SEFAC Ferrari Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 246 SP S 2.5 231 DNF DNF 1962 David Brown Racing Dept. Graham Hill Aston Martin DP212 E +3.0 78 DNF DNF 1963 Owen Racing Organisation Graham Hill Rover-BRM Exp. 310 NC NC 1964 Ford Motor Company Masten Gregory Ford GT40 P 5.0 63 DNF DNF 1966 North American Racing Team Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari 330 P3 Spyder P 5.0 151 DNF DNF

Personal life Ginther married his wife, Jacqueline, in 1958. The couple had one child, a son, born in 1962.