Former F1 driver Peter Gethin has died at the age of 71. The British driver competed in the seventies for McLaren, BRM and Hill. Throughout his 31 races, he greatest moment was winning the 1971 Italian Grand Prix.
Peter's F1 career started in 1970, at the Netherlands' GP. His debut was short lived, after an accident on lap 18 resulted in a retirement. However, the results did not put off his team - Bruce McLaren Motor Racing. Peter returned to race the final 6 races of the season. He got his first race finish at Austria, then he got his first F1 points with a sixth placed finish at the Canadian GP. The results came with a bit of luck, as retirements meant he got his point, even though he finished 2 laps down on the winner - Jacky Ickx.
After a good debut season, Peter Gethin went into his second year with Bruce McLaren Motor Racing on high hopes. However, his season didn't start as he would have wanted. After seven races, his best performance was an eighth at the Spanish GP. These results prompted a move to Yardley Team BRM. A 10th on his debut showed promise, but it is the Italian GP that followed that will be the reason Peter will be remembered in F1.
In qualifying, Peter did not do brilliantly. Starting from 11th place, he could not have had a lot of high hopes, he certainly wouldn't have expected to win. However, during the race, Peter managed to stay in with a rather large leading group. He was fighting with drivers such as Chris Amon, Mike Hailwood, Francous Cevert & Jackie Oliver. At 55 very close laps, 5 drivers crossed just 0.61 seconds apart. An F1 record that will probably always stand. The victor of this legendary race was Peter Gethin.
1971 Italian GP
Pos - Driver - Team - Gap
1 - Peter Gethin - BRM
2 - Ronnie Peterson - March-Ford - +0.01
3 - Francois Cevert - Tyrell-Ford - +0.09
4 - Mike Hailwood - Surtees - Ford - +0.018
5 - Howden Ganley - BRM - +0.61
6 - Chris Amon - Matra - +32.36
Unfortunately, that was the highlight of Peter's F1 career. In the rest of 1971, he could only get a 14th place at Canada, and a 9th place at America. In 1972 things didn't improve. His best finish that year was a sixth place at Italy. This was his final points finish. After 72, Peter only raced in 2 races in 2 years. It was a sad end to a racing career. Peter's race win will be one the races that will always be remembered. Peter did stay in F1 though. He was team manager of Toleman F1 for a short while. He then set up Peter Gethin Racing, racing in the F3000 series. Peter died at the age of 71, on the 5th December 2011 after a long illness.
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