Dan Gurney, 1967

Dan Gurney dies at age 86

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Dan Gurney has died at the age of 86 in California. The winner of the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours and four world championship F1 races suffered complications relating to pneumonia.

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Comment of the day

There’s still no streaming option for the official Formula One season review.

As someone who now buys and streams all TV and Film online (iTunes, Netflix, Youtube, etc) instead of DVD, I haven’t bought the DVD review for a good few years now. They’re missing a huge marketplace by being DVD (and Blu-ray) only. Couple with that the high price and the fact that official (albeit short) race highlights and much more great content are available for free on Youtube, giving me no reason to buy this these days!
@Swh1386

Last weekend’s Caption Competition winner will appear in tomorrow’s round-up.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Ed!

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On this day in F1

  • Mario Andretti dominated the season-opening race at Buenos Aires on this day in 1978 for Lotus using the 78 chassis the team had race the previous season

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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42 comments on “Dan Gurney dies at age 86”

  1. Rest in peace American Eagle.

    1. Indeed. Rest in Piece Dan Gurney

  2. I think DiResta is a little out of touch with reality. He was never in the frame.

    A little bit overhyped due to nationalism and will be remembered as a perennial whinger during his driving days. I cannot remember anyone being up in arms when Force India cut him.

    The reality is for a lot of his F1 career his attitude absolutely stunk. Take note Pascal Wehrlein.

    1. I can’t remember a single thing Wehrlein has said that wasn’t justified.

      1. Look deeper:

        – Why didn’t Force India take him?
        – What do Sauber team members think of him?

        Attitude.

    2. Of course ‘age’ had nothing to do with it.
      The guy who is/was in the picture, confirmed by Williams, is two years older!

  3. So, di Resta is more or less confirming that he definitely won’t be a Williams driver?
    I feel unspeakable relief. I mean, the situation at Williams is still pretty depressing, but at least they didn’t make that mistake.

    1. Yet if you accused the British media of being blinded by nationalism there would be outrage and denial.

      Welcome to F1.

      1. To be fair to the ‘British media’, this is one of the first times I’ve heard his name mentioned recently. He did drive the car for a race last season of course. Anyway he’s nowhere near that drive.

    2. I mean if williams tested kubica, di resta and sirotkin and di resta was the fastest of the three then I hope they would have chosen di resta. I hope kubica was the fastest but at the same time I hope (and seriously doubt) williams really chose the fastest driver available.

      1. @socksolid

        I hope (and seriously doubt) williams really chose the fastest driver available.

        In the abu dhabi test Sirotkin was the faster of those they tested.

        You could say that that is just Williams PR but it’s not just them saying that, It was pretty widely reported during/after that test that Sirotkin’s pace had been not only very consistent but also better than the others’ that drove that car in that test.

        In terms of Di Resta. He didn’t do the Abu Dhabi test but his pace was marginally faster with what Kubica managed in the test they both did as a head to head. The only reason Di Resta fell out of the running was because he wasn’t bringing any backing with him while both Kubica & Sirotkin were.

        The only area where Kubica was (Significantly) better than Sirotkin was in offering feedback due to his level of experience. That is why Pirelli are pushing Williams to sign Robert, They don’t care so much about his pace but they loved the feedback he gave them not just because of how detailed it was but also because of the fact he’s come in with an open mindset while everyone else is either inexperienced or have several years of feeling how the Pirelli tyres have evolved.

  4. In case anyone missed…..

    Liberty pushed through the introduction of the new logo before conducting all the necessary checks & it’s come to light that 3M use an a near identical ‘F’ design on some of it’s products.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DThHDZWX4AEdlpc.jpg

    They have now found themselves in the midst of a legal dispute which looks set to force them to put the re-branding on hold & which may see them have to go back to using the old logo.

    Whatever ends up happening it could cost Liberty…. Well more precisely FOM/F1 Group a significant sum of money either in legal fee’s, Some sort of settlement or in having to forget about the new logo, Throw all the stuff they have done that uses it out (Merchandise, Promotional things etc.) & go through another re-branding exercise first back to the old logo & then to find a new one.

    I was told earlier that this is a completely avoidable mess if all of the proper research into existing branding trademarks etc.. had been done. They rushed it through because they were desperate to re-brand in Abu Dhabi, They were apparently advised to hold off but opted to ignore that advice & go ahead anyway.

    3M applied for there trademark early in 2017 & it has been accepted since then by the various authorities. Despite Liberty already having the new logo everywhere it still hasn’t been formally accepted by the required authorities (I believe the EU trademark office) so technically they shouldn’t have rolled it out as hard as they have.

    They have basically got themselves & F1 into a potentially really big mess.

    1. @gt-racer I doubt it will cause a huge problem for F1 as a whole but that is certainly embarrassing and possibly costly. It was obvious at the time they had rushed it, and so far little has convinced me about liberty’s handling of F1. I’d like to look into this more, do you have any sources for this?

      I hope this doesn’t mean they end up choosing one of the other two options

      Funnily enough in the back of my mind I knew the logo reminded me of something else and I couldn’t think what, maybe this was it

      1. @strontium fwiw I found it pretty reminiscent to Forza Motorsport’s logo

    2. @gt-racer nice spot. Someone’s going to get spanked at Liberty Media. I am now curious who might have designed the Futuro brand mark for 3M, it better not be the same group who were engaged by Liberty, else that’ll be embarrassing in its own way.

      1. It’s the responsibility of the design company and/or their IP lawyers to check this.
        Very poor.

        But on a positive note, if the people at FOM/Liberty are this flexible on using logo’s then they surely don’t mind a website have ‘F1’ in its name ;)

    3. What a rush of silly blunders this all is.
      Bad logo design, lack of trademark research, extreme rush to announce with no real need for it.
      Logo-Gate! What did they not know and when did they not know it?

    4. US Patent Office reg. NR 87342875
      Yeah, that took about 2 minutes to find on uspto.gov

      1. I got tired, achy legs watching Abu Dhabi. Perhaps I should wear a pair of these tights?

    5. I think what people have not picked up on here is this is the work of Christian “Lapdog” Sylt.

      He has a very very close relationship with Bernie, and no one else within the F1 circus, with his presence within the sport disappearing since the Liberty buyout. Have a look through his twitter page (Formula Money) and you will find his work for the last year has been very anti F1, anti Liberty and all round just trying to stir the pot to the detriment of the sport, the FIA and Liberty. This “news” is one of the many which he has deemed to be “breaking” and “scandalous”, and if it is anything like the others this one will simply blow over.

      Not trying to put anyone down here, but the above reactions tells me that a few have been taken his bait. “We have not had any discussions about the logo with the other party. We are looking into this matter further” is a bit different to there will be an inevitable court battle with regard to this. At this point in time nothing has occurred, with 3M only providing a comment with regard to Sylts questioning, not as a reaction to the new logo.

      If you learn about the history and context of Mr Sylt in the recent year it paints the story in completely different light. He was Bernies journalistic voicebox from a financial perspective when Bernie was in charge, and for all we know that may still be the case.

      Either way, whether it be Sylt, Ecclestone or both of them together, the story has a degree of venom in it, in the pursuit of achieving a hidden agenda.

    6. @gt-racer I didn’t see something like this coming, LOL.

  5. Oh, poor Dan. So sad to see you go. Rest in peace. Hope there’s an Eagle waiting for you in heaven.

  6. About an hour ago I got an email from Eagle Racing Cars USA that Dan Gurney has passed away.

    “With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018. In deepest sorrow, with gratitude in our hearts for the love and joy you have given us during your time on this earth, we say ‘Godspeed.’

    Evi Gurney, the Gurney family, and AAR teammates

    “…Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic…”

    “Dan passed away due to complications from pneumonia. According to his wishes, the funeral will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Hoag Hospital Foundation in Newport Beach, CA. For those that want to express their sentiments, please write a note to eagleracingcarsusa@aarinc.com

    ——————————————————————–

    I first met this great American Racer in my optometry practice believe it or not! About 12 yrs ago, I was handed a chart by my staff to see my next patient. The staff had already seated him in the exam room. Door closed.

    I saw the name and though to myself…”No way, this can’t be THE Dan Gurney…”

    I opened the door and there he was…his tall lanky frame sprawled out sort of on my exam chair. The guy was 6’4″ (193cm) and because of some back issues he couldn’t really sit upright.

    I was floored. Anyway, it took a long time to finish the exam of course….90% of the time was talking…he told me about how proud he was to be an American F1 driver, in an American car, in an American team. He told me about his current pet project called the Alligator motorcycle…a 1 cylinder low slung bike..and alluded to the DeltaWing racing car sometime in the future. He didn’t name it…just said something really cool is gonna be coming down the road.

    When we got out of the exam room, I was getting the stink eye from my staff about why I was taking so long…they didn’t know who he was.

    He then introduced me to his wife, Evi. My god…they were both such friendly, polite humble people.

    I remember as we walked out, he called over to his wife…”Evi, this is Dr. Crandon! He’s a racer also!! (Geez…I wasn’t a racer, but just a track day guy). But, he said it’s all the same, it’s just some guys do it professionally, and some guys do it just for fun.

    Anyway….

    R.I.P Dan Gurney

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Gurney

    http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/1 … ys-bubbly/

    1. Thanks for sharing this story @davidc

    2. Nice story @davidc . He was one of those guys it seems nobody had a bad word to say about, not to mention one of the standout drivers of his era.

  7. I see Lewis has copped a bit of a bashing in the papers today! Sounds like a bit of an angry man.

  8. Many may be called a legend. Dan Gurney really is a legend. What an amazing racer, designer, builder, he did it all. Thank you for the memories Mr. Gurney.

    As a kid in the 1960s Jim Clark and Dan Gurney were the two main reasons for me getting interested in F1. Not just racers, two exceptional human beings.

    1. Dan Gurney,
      blindingly quick in damn near anything; innovative, intelligent, inquisitive, yet humble.
      He would always take the time to sign autographs or just shoot the breeze.

      Racing has lost one of its true greats and a true gentleman.

  9. So sad to learn of the death of a true legend of the sport. Daniel Sexton Gurney may you be re-united with your peers on the other side and get back to some proper racing.

  10. The ugly new logo, when it first appeared, looked familiar. I was unaware of the tights but I thought that it was very similar to the Casio Edifice logo. The lawyer must be ordering their new Gulfstream V’s now.

    1. Umm, not very similar to the casio logo. Doubt if the case will hold up in court.

      The comparison to 3M’s futuro logo on the other hand is uncanny.

      1. Considering they seem to have just picked one out of their idea book rather than develop a concept and refining it, the designer probably copied the idea from another logo, likely the Futuro one, to fill their quota, not expecting it to either be chosen outright, or if it were, not refined and worked on further.

  11. Sad to see Gurney pass away. I remember reading a forum post (probably way back when at RaceSimCentral) about someone meeting him randomly, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy – and one of the few big names who survived the 60s.

  12. R.I.P. Dan Gurney- without you, motor racing wouldn’t be what it is today.

  13. “(Williams’) decision will be taken very soon. It will be announced very soon.” – Finally. About fricking time.

  14. It is truly sad that in this day and age something like the f1 season review is only available on dvd and bluray. It should be available online and maybe as dvd/bluray for those who really want it as a collectible. Maybe next year. Great observation keith, still lots of things to fix for liberty.

  15. Did no-one see DiResta at the Formula E race this weekend. He was with the Jaguar team in their team colours, so I’d say he already knows he is definitely not associated with Williams for the 2018 season.
    He was talking up FE big time and going on about the new manufactures coming. I can’t see him being allowed to make and appearance like that say the things he did, I’d he was under any type of contract to an F1 team.

  16. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    15th January 2018, 13:48

    Just to add to CoTD. Why on earth isn’t it possible to buy older season reviews on a sensible format? It’s hard enough trying to get hold of the DVDs of seasons gone by, anything pre-early noughties is a VHS from eBay. You’d think it was a niche specialist sport.

  17. A sad way to begin the year. One of the all time greats and a real gentleman.

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