Walt Hansgen

Walter Edwin Hansgen (28 October 1919 – 7 April 1966) was an American racecar driver. His motorsport career began as a road racing driver, he made his Grand Prix debut at 41, and he died aged 46, several days after crashing during testing for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Racing career

A four-time SCCA Road Racing Champ, Hansgen participated in two Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 8 October 1961, at Watkins Glen, New York. He scored a total of two championship points. In 1964 he raced the MG Liquid Suspension Special, an Offenhauser-powered car, for Kjell Qvale, at the Indianapolis 500. He finished 13th in that race. He raced there again in 1965, in the MG-Huffaker-Offenhauser, when he finished 14th.

In addition to Formula One, Hansgen was a dominant road racer from the early 1950s and 1960s, winning numerous races at VIR, the famed course at Bridgehampton, and Watkins Glen through to his death at Le Mans in France in 1966.

Hangsen drove for Briggs Cunningham and John Mecom. Hansgen won the Formula Junior race at the inaugural United States Grand Prix meeting at Sebring, Florida, on 12 December 1959, driving a Stanguellini. Hansgen won the Monterey Grand Prix, at Laguna Seca Raceway, on 17 October 1965, driving John Mecom's Lola T70-Ford. He participated in several races of the 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance races. He also was notable for introducing Mark Donohue to professional road racing.

Hansgen was killed when he crashed a 7-liter Holman & Moody Ford GT 40 Mk2 sports car while driving in the rain during the Le Mans tests on 3 April 1966. "A Ford spokesman said Hansgen's car appeared to have been aquaplaning on the wet track leaving no way for the driver to control it." Ford crew members later said that Hansgen had continued to push hard in the damp weather, although he had been warned by team manager Carroll Smith to take it easy. In Mark Donohue's book, The Unfair Advantage, it is said that Hansgen tried to drive onto an escape road, only to find out too late that a barrier had been built across it for spectator safety.

Racing record

SCCA National Championships

Year Class Car Position 1956 C Modified Jaguar D-Type 1st 1957 C Modified Jaguar D-Type 1st 1958 C Modified Jaguar D-Type 1st 1959 C Modified Lister Jaguar 1st

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1959 Brian Lister Engineering Peter Blond Lister Sport S3.0 52 DNF DNF 1960 B.S. Cunningham Dan Gurney Jaguar E2A S3.0 89 DNF DNF 1961 B.S. Cunningham Bruce McLaren Maserati Tipo 63 S3.0 31 DNF DNF 1962 Briggs Cunningham Bruce McLaren Maserati Tipo 151 Coupé E +3.0 177 DNF DNF 1963 Briggs Cunningham Augie Pabst Jaguar E-Type Lightweight GT +3.0 8 DNF DNF

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 WDC Points 1961 Momo Corporation Cooper T53 Climax L4 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA NC 0 1964 Team Lotus Lotus 33 Climax V8 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX 16th 2

Indianapolis 500 Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 1964 Huffaker Offy 10 13 Kjell Qvale 1965 Huffaker Offy 21 14 Kjell Qvale

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Pts Ref 1964 LOH Ford 46 Ford CON AUG JSP SVH RSD DAY DAY DAY RCH BRI GPS BGS ATL AWS HBO PIF CLB NWS MAR SVH DAR LGY HCY SBO CLT GPS ASH ATL CON NSV CHT BIR VAL PIF DAY ODS OBS BRR3 ISP GLN3 LIN BRI NSV MBS AWS DTS ONA CLB BGS STR DAR HCY RCH ODS HBO MAR SVH NWS CLT HAR AUG JAC NA - 1965 RSD DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS RCH HBO ATL GPS NWS MAR CLB BRI DAR LGY BGS HCY CLT CCF ASH HAR NSV BIR ATL GPS MBS VAL DAY ODS OBS ISP GLN6 BRI NSV CCF AWS SMR PIF AUG CLB DTS BLV BGS DAR HCY LIN ODS RCH MAR NWS CLT HBO CAR DTS NA -

Books Michael Argetsinger, Walt Hansgen, His Life and the History of Post-War American Road Racing, David Bull Publishing, 2006,