Wikipedia

Gerhard Mitter

Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969)[1] was a German Formula One and sportscar driver.

Gerhard Mitter
Mitter in 1968
Born(1935-08-30)30 August 1935
Krásná Lípa, Czechoslovakia
Died1 August 1969(1969-08-01) (aged 33)
Nürburgring Circuit, Germany
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityGermany German
Active years1963–1967, 1969
TeamsLotus (incl. non-works), BMW, non-works Brabham, non-works Porsche
Entries7 (5 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points3
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1963 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry1969 German Grand Prix

Early life and career

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Mitter was born in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa) in Czechoslovakia, but his family was expelled from there, to Leonberg near Stuttgart.

After racing motorbikes, he switched to Formula Junior, becoming the best German driver with 40 victories. In addition, he sold two-stroke engines for FJ. In 1963, Mitter won the Formula Junior Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring.

Formula One

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Gerhard Mitter driving a Lotus 25 in 1965 at the Nürburgring

Mitter also participated in seven Grands Prix, debuting on 23 June 1963. He scored a total of three championship points in his home 1963 German Grand Prix with an old Porsche 718 from 1961. Impressed by this, Team Lotus gave him a chance in the following years.

Sportscar driver

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Gerhard Mitter driving a Porsche 908 during the 1969 1000 km race at the Nürburgring.

In sportscar racing and hillclimbing for Porsche, he scored many wins, e.g. the 1966-1968 European Hillclimb Championships against Ferrari, the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona (Porsche 907, in class) and the 1969 Targa Florio (Porsche 908) as his final major win.

Return to Formula One and death

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Gerhard Mitter driving the BMW F269 at the Nürburgring shortly before he was killed, August 1, 1969

Due to the long Nürburgring track, it was possible to take part in the German Grand Prix with Formula 2 cars that were classified in their own contest. Mitter was killed there at Schwedenkreuz while practising for the 1969 German Grand Prix with BMW's 269 F2 project. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate at Porsche, Hans Herrmann. Udo Schütz, his driving partner at Porsche in the 1969 World Sportscar Championship season with whom he had won the Targa three months earlier, had survived a bad crash at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, and retired.

Racing record

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Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Pts
1963 Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 MON BEL NED
Ret 		FRA GBR GER
4 		ITA USA MEX RSA 12th= 3
1964 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER
9 		AUT ITA USA MEX NC 0
1965 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER
Ret 		ITA USA MEX NC 0
1966 Ron Harris Team Lotus Lotus 44 F2 Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER
DNS 		ITA USA MEX NC 0
1967 Gerhard Mitter Brabham BT23 F2 Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER
Ret 		CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0
1969 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMW 269 F2 BMW M12/1 1.6 L4 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER
DNS 		ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
Source:[2]

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1962 Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus 21 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL
6 		KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT
1963 Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL
5 		KAN MED AUT OUL RAN
1964 Team Lotus Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL
Ret 		MED RAN
Source:[3]

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Pts
1967 Gerhard Mitter Brabham BT23 Ford SNE SIL NÜR
8 		HOC TUL JAR ZAN PER BRH VAL 15th 2
1968 Roy Winkelmann Racing Brabham BT23C Ford HOC THR JAR PAL TUL ZAN PER HOC
Ret 		VAL NC 0
1969 Bayerische Motoren Werke BMW 269 BMW THR HOC NÜR
Ret 		JAR TUL PER VAL NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1964   Porsche System Engineering   Colin Davis Porsche 904/8 P
3.0 		244 DNF DNF
1965   Porsche System Engineering   Colin Davis Porsche 904/8 P
2.0 		20 DNF DNF
1967   Porsche System Engineering   Jochen Rindt Porsche 907/6L P
2.0 		103 DNF DNF
1968   Porsche System Engineering   Vic Elford Porsche 908 P
3.0 		111 DNF DNF
1969   Porsche System Engineering   Udo Schütz Porsche 908L P
3.0 		199 DNF DNF
Source:[4]

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1965   Porsche Automobile Co.   Herbert Linge Porsche 904/8 P
2.0 		184 9th 1st
1966   Porsche System Engineering   Hans Herrmann
  Joe Buzzetta 		Porsche 906 P
2.0 		209 4th 1st
  Porsche System Engineering   Günther Klass Porsche 906 P
2.0 		120 DNF DNF
1967   Porsche Auto   Scooter Patrick Porsche 910 P
2.0 		226 3rd 1st
1968   Porsche Automobile Co.   Rolf Stommelen Porsche 907 2.2 P
3.0 		46 DNF DNF
1969   Porsche System Engineering Ltd.   Udo Schütz Porsche 908/02 P
3.0 		232 5th 4th
Source:[4]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerhard Mitter.
  1. ^ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
  2. ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 256. ISBN 0851127029.
  3. ^ "Gerhard Mitter - Involvement Non World Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b "All Results of Gerhard Mitter". RacingSportCars. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
Preceded by Formula One fatal accidents
1 August 1969 		Succeeded by
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