Gerhard
Mitter

Gerhard Mitter was born on 30 August 1935 in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa), then in Czechoslovakia. His family was expelled from there to Leonberg, near Stuttgart. After racing motorbikes he moved into Formula Junior, where he took 40 victories. In 1963 he won the Formula Junior Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring.

He made his Formula One debut in June 1963. At his home race, the 1963 German Grand Prix, he scored three championship points in a Porsche 718 and finished the season 12th in the drivers' standings. He was entered by Lotus from 1964 to 1966 and by Brabham in 1967. In total he made seven entries and five starts, and in 1966 he did not start a race.

He raced for Porsche in sportscar racing and hillclimbing and won many races. In 1966 he won his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 907, he was successful in the European Hillclimb Championship from 1966 to 1968, and in 1969 he won the Targa Florio in a Porsche 908, his last major victory. At the 1969 German Grand Prix he was due to drive a Formula 2 BMW 269, as the long Nürburgring allowed F2 cars to run in a separate classification. Mitter was killed on 1 August 1969 while practising at Schwedenkreuz.

Source: Wikipedia, “Gerhard Mitter”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.