Jeff Allison: Head Shots Part 2

Story and photos by Jeff Allison unless otherwise noted

Read Part 1
Part 2 continues “Head Shots” taken by Jeff Allison at races in the U. S., England and Monaco.

EVI AND DAN GURNEY AND LINDA VAUGHN
It’s hard not to photograph Dan Gurney without capturing his engaging and infectious grin. Wife Evi is on his right and Linda Vaughn, known as “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter” and “The First Lady of Motorsports” is on his left. Vaughn was an ambassador and promoter of various forms of American motor racing for several decades.

Gurney was one of America’s finest and most versatile drivers with experience racing in the Can-Am, Formula 1, Indy cars, Trans-Am, sports racing cars and stock cars. He won four Formula 1 races, one in an Eagle of his construction. In sports racing cars, he won the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours (Ferrari 250 TR59) and the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours (Ford Mk IV). He stayed in motor racing after retirement and continued operating his All American Racers, which built the Eagle racing cars. In International Motor Sports Association races, AAR’s Toyota Celica GTS (GTO class) and Toyota GTP Eagles (GTP class) won a number of drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. Wife Evi was with him every step of the way, including roles at AAR. Gurney died in 2018.

ROGER PENSKE
Ah, now we know “The Captain’s” secret to success – keeping up with things racing in NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS, which billed itself as the nation’s leading motorsports newspaper. Penske was at the Riverside Can-Am to oversee the Roger Penske Enterprises-entered turbocharged L&M-sponsored Porsche 917/10s on behalf of the Porsche factory. Penske was an outstanding sports car driver, winning four consecutive Sports Car Club of America national championships from 1960 to 1963 and the United States Auto Club sports car championship in 1962. He’s active in racing today as an entrant, winning races with teams in Indy car and sports racing car competitions and owning and operating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.

ROGER PENSKE AND JOHN WYER
Boy, I would’ve loved to have been a fly in the air to listen in on this conversation! Penske and Briton Wyer put in opposing bids to manage and race the turbocharged Porsche 917/10s for Porsche in the 1972 Can-Am series. One would have thought Wyer’s J. W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. had the inside track as it was racing (and winning with) the Porsche 917 endurance cars for the Porsche factory at the time of the bid. However, as usual, Penske prevailed!

JAMES HUNT
In the early 1970s, Englishman Hunt was known as “Hunt the Shunt” for his on-track contretemps. However, by 1976 he was the Formula 1 drivers’ champion with McLaren! Here in 1975, the British press said Hunt “…wasn’t your normal, average proper race driver, who ticked all the right boxes and behaved as society may have expected.” He drove Formula 1 for Hesketh, McLaren and Wolf from 1973-1978, winning 14 races. After racing, he was a Formula 1 commentator for the BBC and wrote a column for the INDEPENDENT newspaper. He died a young 45 years of age of a heart attack – no doubt due in part to his former frenetic lifestyle.

GUY EDWARDS AND VIC ELFORD
Briton Guy Edwards winces as retired driver in sheep’s clothing and countryman Vic Elford tells Edwards the price of the Gotti wheels Elford was hawking. Edwards drove Formula 1 in Hill, Hesketh and BRM cars, scoring no championship points. He also drove sports racing cars, Formula 5000 and in the Aurora Formula One Championship. He was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry medal for his bravery as one of the drivers who saved Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari during the 1976 Grand Prix of Germany. As a driver, he was known for his knack for securing sponsors, and, in retirement, helped others get sponsors.

“Quick Vic” Elford had a successful career first rallying and then racing in Can-Am, Formula 1, sports racing cars, Trans-Am and NASCAR. He was instrumental in “taming” the Porsche 917, winning in a 917K at the 1971 Sebring 12 Hours. After racing, he sold Gotti wheels, managed the French Inaltera sports racing car team and was the competition director for Renault in the U.S. Elford passed away in retirement in 2022.

LORD HESKETH
From out of nowhere the racing team of Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh (3rd Baron Hesketh), a British peer, burst onto the Formula 1 scene, making waves with its unorthodox actions and behavior. One media source described the team as having “… a reputation for their playboy style, arriving at races in Rolls-Royce cars, drinking champagne regardless of their results, and checking the entire team into five-star hotels.” They earned their stripes with the off-the-wall James Hunt, winning the non-championship Daily Express International Trophy race at Silverstone, England in 1974 and later the Dutch Grand Prix in 1975 in Hesketh cars. After racing, Hesketh concentrated on running the 9,000-acre family estate and was active in politics in the House of Lords.

RONNIE PETERSON
Called “Superswede,” Peterson competed in Formula 1 with Crabbe, March, Lotus and Tyrrell from 1970 to 1978, winning ten races and finishing second for the Formula 1 drivers’ title twice. He also drove in the world sports car championship for Ferrari, helping them to the championship in 1972. He died of injuries sustained in an accident in a Lotus 78-Ford at the 1978 Grand Prix of Italy.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE AND CARLOS PACE
In 1976, Ecclestone owned the Brabham Formula 1 team. By 1987, he owned the commercial rights for Formula 1 and maintained tight control of the sport until 2017! The 94-year old is back in the news these days selling his collection of sixty-nine pre-war and early 21st century grand prix and Formula 1 cars.

In the center is Brabham Formula 1 driver Carlos Pace. The Brazilian drove for Williams, Surtees and Brabham in Formula 1 in 1972-1977. He also drove for UOP Shadow in the Can-Am and Ferrari in the world sports car championship. He was killed in a light aircraft accident in Brazil on March 18, 1977.

TOM PRYCE
Pryce is the only Formula 1 driver to come from Wales. He began with the small independent Token team but was soon driving for UOP Shadow Racing. He showed early promise, winning the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, England in 1975. However, his career ended abruptly when he was killed at the 1977 Grand Prix of South Africa after hitting a marshal on the track.

JOHN WATSON
Watson, from Northern Ireland, was an accomplished and versatile driver. From 1973-1985, he raced Formula 1 with Surtees, Lotus, Penske, Brabham and McLaren, winning five races, and in Formula 2 and Formula 5000. He also competed in the world sports car championship with Alfa Romeo, Mirage, Porsche and Jaguar. In retirement, he provides “color” commentary at motor racing events.

MOTOR RACING IS DANGEROUS. I was a bit surprised after randomly selecting the “head shots” for Parts 1 and 2 that seven of the drivers selected had died on a race track – Siffert, Rodriguez, Donohue, Hulme, Cevert, Peterson and Pryce. Although the sign is a warning to spectators, it reminds us that motor racing was indeed a dangerous and cruel sport in those times!