Dan Gurney

Interesting facts

Dan Gurney made his F1 debut at the 1959 French Grand Prix for Ferrari, and immediately scored two podium finishes within his first four races. After Ferrari he raced for BRM, Porsche and then Brabham, before co-founding his own team, All American Racers, with Carroll Shelby in 1966, entering cars under the Eagle name. With his win at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, Gurney became the only driver in Formula One history to score a maiden victory for three different manufacturers - Porsche, Brabham and his own Eagle. That same year, just a week after winning the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside A. J. Foyt, he spontaneously sprayed champagne on the Spa podium, starting a victory ritual that has defined motorsport ever since. At the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix, brake failure on his BRM caused a crash that broke Gurney's arm and killed a spectator - the accident left a deep mark on him and instilled a lasting distrust of engineers. Dan Gurney raced in Formula 1 from 1959 to 1970, across 11 seasons as an American driver. He scored a total of 133 championship points over his career.