F1: Peter Gethin, GP Winner And F5000 Star, Dies

Formula 1

F1: Peter Gethin, GP Winner And F5000 Star, Dies

Peter Gethin was 71 years old...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted December 05, 2011 Balen (BEL)

Peter Gethin (BRM P160), 1st position, on the podium with the trophy at Monza, Italy, September 1971. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Peter Gethin, the man who earned a place in the history books with his win for BRM in the 1971 Italian GP, has died at the age of 71.

The son of top English jockey Ken Gethin, Peter chose not to follow his dad’s career path and instead got his start in motor racing with a humble Lotus Seven in 1962. He began to make his name with a Lotus 23 sportscar, before graduating to F3 with Charles Lucas in 1965, as a team mate to Piers Courage.

He began to attract attention with a Brabham in European F2 in 1968 when he was third behind the two Ferraris at Vallelunga, and second in the non-championship race at Albi. He then had an opportunity to showcase his talents in the F5000 series that was introduced in 1969. He would be closely associated with the ‘big banger’ single seater category in the coming years.

He began a relationship with McLaren when he won the inaugural European title in a semi-works car, finally clinching it after a crash in the finale at Brands Hatch. He would go on to successfully defend the crown in 1970.

At the start of that year McLaren also gave him his first F1 opportunity when he finished sixth (and last) in the Race of Champions with an old M7A. When team boss Bruce was killed testing a CanAm car in June – and with Denny Hulme already injured in a fire at Indianapolis – Gethin was called in to drive in the Dutch GP. He qualified a respectable 11th of 24, but spun off in the race.
He contested the remaining six races of the season, but was somehow unable to repeat his F5000 form. His only score was a distant sixth in Canada, while his best starting position was 10th in the Mexico City finale.

That year he was also filled in for McLaren in CanAm, commencing at the fourth round of the series in Edmonton. He qualified on the front row alongside team mate Hulme, and finished second in the race. He went on to win on his third outing in Elkhart Lake after Hulme – who Gethin had let win – was penalised. He was also second at Donnybrooke, and despite missing the first four races, and some poor reliability, he still finished third in the championship.

McLaren retained Gethin for F1 only in 1971. The season started well in the UK non-championship events when he finished second to Pedro Rodriguez in the Spring Trophy at Oulton Park, and second on aggregate to Graham Hill in the International Trophy at Silverstone. He also qualified an encouraging seventh for the Spanish GP.

However apart from that his World Championship campaign proved frustrating. After a crash in the seventh GP of the year in Germany, and having failed to score a point, he left the team in the summer.

He instead joined BRM, and in only his second race with the P160 at Monza scored the remarkable Italian GP victory that was to earn him a place in the history books. He outfoxed Ronnie Peterson and others at the Parabolica on the last lap to win by the tiniest of margins in the sprint across the line. He also scored an unwanted win the end-of-season victory race at Brands Hatch, which was stopped early after the fatal crash of his team mate Jo Siffert.

He struggled to repeat that pacesetting form and a disappointing 1972 season with BRM brought just a sixth place at Monza. Thereafter he focussed on F5000 again, winning the 1973 Race of Champions in a Chevron against F1 opposition. He contested just one GP with BRM that year and one more with Graham Hill in 1974 before his F1 career fizzled out.

After a return to CanAm he retired at the end of 1977, and for a while pursued a career in team management, mostly in Formula 2. In later years he was involved with driver training and coaching.

Adam Cooper notched up his 26th season as a racing journalist in 2010. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.