1967 Lemans winner Dan Gurney
Dan Gurney to receive Peter Bryant Award
Friday, 05 August 2016
Doug Stokes
ABOVE: Peter Bryant (left) and Dan Gurney at the Legends of Riverside reunion in 2009.
On Saturday night, Aug. 20, Dan Gurney's name will be added to the honor roll of names already inscribed on the Peter Bryant Challenger Award. This unique award is named for the late racecar designer Peter Bryant, who designed and engineered many well-known racing machines, among them the cutting-edge Ti22 and UOP Shadow Can-Am cars as well as the Shelby Series 1 road cars. Beginning as a young racing mechanic in his native England, Bryant went on to become a brilliant and innovative engineer/designer (and an every bit as brilliant storyteller and celebrity impressionist.)
The man's classic biography, "Can-Am Challenger" is a fascinating recounting of a life well-lived in the sport. At a Riverside Raceway reunion event in 2010 (on the first anniversary of Bryant's passing) the "Peter Bryant Challenger Award" was unveiled and presented to former McLaren mechanic/Formula 1 Driver/racecar constructor Howden Ganley by Bryant's widow Lois.
The ceremony honoring Gurney will take place at a special dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel held as part of the historic races and concours and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Can-Am racing series.
"We've got the plaque ready," said Can-Am event producer Dave Wolin. "In truth, Dan Gurney's name should have been on this perpetual trophy long ago. Dan Gurney has always been celebrated as championship driver ... and now we're very pleased to be able to recognize him for his many contributions to racecar engineering with this prestigious award."
Whether it was his overseeing the design and construction the Formula 1 Weslake Eagle and then driving it to become the first American (and still the only one) to win a Grand Prix in a car with his own name on it; or talking Ford into working with Colin Chapman to install a modified Ford Fairlane engine in a upgraded Lotus 33 chassis for the Indianapolis 500; or taking Toyota to victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona; or building the Eagle Indy car that Jerry Grant broke the 200 mile-per-hour barrier with at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972. ... Dan Gurney was never satisfied with the status quo and always sought a technical edge to go along with his great talent behind the wheel.
"The general public really never thought of Dan Gurney as any of an engineer when he was driving," Wolin remarked, "but, in many ways he was." Perhaps one his best "engineering" feats took place at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some years after his famous champagne-spraying victory there, Gurney let on that he really never went as fast as he could in practice, figuring very rightly that his congenitally competitive co-driver (one Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr.) would try to match (or beat) his times and possibly end up screwing up their chance at the win. Dan Gurney set a strong but solid pace... their Ford GT won.
The award celebrates excellence in motor racing engineering and the sort of spirit that Bryant brought to the craft. Phil Remington, Bruce Burness, Trevor Harris, Tyler Alexander, Alwin Springer, and Ike Smith are the names that precede Gurney's on the clear Lexan award that features a likeness of his sleek Ti22 car and pieces of titanium sheet sourced from the Timet Company, the company that originally produced that exotic super-strong/super-light metal for Bryant's incredible "Ti22" car.
Due to prior commitments Gurney will not be able to attend the Can-Am dinner. Accepting for him will be Vintage Racecar Associate Editor, historian, and the author of "Dan Gurney's Racing Eagles", John Zimmermann.