Richie Ginther

Interesting facts

He grew up in Santa Monica, where Phil Hill, a friend of his older brother George, introduced him to racing; after finishing school he worked at Douglas Aircraft while spending his spare time helping Hill maintain and race old cars and hot rods. His path into racing was interrupted by national service during the Korean War, where he picked up aircraft and engine mechanics training that he later put to use as a driver. In 1953 he rode as Phil Hill's mechanic in a Ferrari at the Carrera Panamericana, where Hill lost control and wrote the car off, though both walked away unhurt; they returned in 1954 and finished second, beaten only by the works Ferrari of Umberto Maglioli. At the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix he finished just 3.6 seconds behind Stirling Moss in Ferrari's new, lower-centre-of-gravity 120-degree V6, having set a course qualifying record before Moss claimed pole. At the 1961 Italian Grand Prix he dropped out of the lead with a flat tyre; later in that same race his teammate Wolfgang von Trips was killed in a crash that also killed 15 spectators, prompting Ferrari to suspend racing until January 1962 out of respect. His win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix was also Honda's first Formula One victory, and his average speed beat Dan Gurney's course record from the previous year. In 1967, while attempting to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, a broken fuel line sprayed a mix of ethanol and gasoline down his back; that incident, combined with the recent death of his close friend Lorenzo Bandini, led to his sudden retirement from racing. Richie Ginther made his Formula 1 debut in 1960 and raced until 1966, 7 seasons in total as an American driver. He scored a total of 102 championship points over his career. His best season was 1963, when he finished 3rd in the championship with 29 points.