Richie
Ginther

Richie Ginther, whose full name was Paul Richard Ginther, was born in Hollywood on 5 August 1930. His family moved to Santa Monica, the same town as the future World Champion Phil Hill. It was through Hill, a friend of Ginther's older brother, that he came into racing. He made his race debut at Pebble Beach in 1951 in an MG. After two years of national service during the Korean War, he took part in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana as Hill's riding mechanic in a Ferrari, and the pair finished second there in 1954. In 1957 he drove for Luigi Chinetti for the first time, at Sebring and Le Mans, and in 1958 he won the Pacific Coast Sports Car Championship.

Ginther made his Formula One debut at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix with Ferrari. He also drove for Scarab that season. At Monza he finished second behind Hill. He stayed with Ferrari in 1961, took second place at Monaco behind Stirling Moss and ended the championship in fifth.

In 1962 he moved to BRM to race alongside Graham Hill, and in 1963 he finished third in the World Championship. Honda's works team signed him for 1965, and at the Mexican Grand Prix he took his only win, the first in Formula One for both Honda and Goodyear. In 1966 he drove for Cooper and Honda. In 1967 he joined the Eagle team, but he failed to qualify at Monaco, his final entry. In total he made 52 starts, with one win and 14 podiums, but no pole position.

Several factors, including an incident while trying to qualify for the 1967 Indianapolis 500, led to the sudden end of his career. In the 1966 film Grand Prix he had an uncredited role and was one of the technical advisers on the production. In 1971 he managed a Porsche 911S at Le Mans. He died on 20 September 1989 in Touzac, France. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inducted him in 2008.

Source: Wikipedia, “Richie Ginther”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.