Gerhard Mitter
 | |
| Born |
30 August 1935 Krásná Lípa, Czechoslovakia |
|---|---|
| Died |
1 August 1969 (aged 33) Nürburgring Circuit, Germany |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 German |
| Active years | 1963–1967, 1969 |
| Teams | Lotus (incl. non-works), BMW, non-works Brabham, non-works Porsche |
| Entries | 7 (5 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 3 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1963 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1969 German Grand Prix |
Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969)[1] was a German Formula One and sportscar driver.
Mitter was born in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa) in Czechoslovakia, but his family was expelled from there, to Leonberg near Stuttgart.
After racing motorbikes, he 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.
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 an old Porsche 718 from 1961. Impressed by this, Team Lotus gave him a chance in the following years.
In sportscar racing and hillclimbing for Porsche, he scored many wins, e.g. the 1966-1968 European Hillclimb Championships against Ferrari, the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona (Porsche 907) and the 1969 Targa Florio (Porsche 908) as his final major win.
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.
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Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Ecurie Maarsbergen | Porsche 718 | Porsche Flat-4 | MON | BEL | NED Ret |
FRA | GBR | GER 4 |
ITA | USA | MEX | RSA | 12th | 3 | |
| 1964 | Team Lotus | Lotus 25 | Climax V8 | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER 9 |
AUT | ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | |
| 1965 | Team Lotus | Lotus 25 | Climax V8 | RSA | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER Ret |
ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | |
| 1966 | Ron Harris / Team Lotus |
Lotus 44 F2 | Cosworth Straight-4 |
MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER DNS |
ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | ||
| 1967 | Gerhard Mitter | Brabham BT23 F2 | Cosworth Straight-4 |
RSA | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER Ret |
CAN | ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 |
| 1969 | BMW | BMW 269 F2 | BMW Straight-4 | RSA | ESP | MON | NED | FRA | GBR | GER DNS |
ITA | CAN | USA | MEX | NC | 0 |
Source:[2] | ||||||||||||||||
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerhard Mitter. |
- ↑ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ↑ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 256. ISBN 0851127029.
| Preceded by Jo Schlesser |
Formula One fatal accidents 1 August 1969 |
Succeeded by Piers Courage |