Former F1 racer Chris Amon has died

[John S]

Chris started 96 GPs but won not one, stalwart of grid for many years -  RIP.

He did however win Le Mans with fellow New Zealander Bruce McLaren.   

Chris Amon, the man widely considered to be the best never to have won an F1 race, has died aged 73 in New Zealand after a long battle with cancer.

Amon competed in Formula One between 1963 and 1976, which included a three-year spell at Ferrari. His career began slowly with races for Reg Parnell Racing but his performances improved enough to catch the attention of Enzo Ferrari in 1967, prompting an invitation to join his team that year.

Despite a run of podiums and pole positions in his time at Ferrari, reliability issues and bad luck continued to dog his career and prevented him claiming the win his peers felt he deserved. He quit Ferrari mid-way through the 1969 season after his most frustrating campaign, joining March Engineering the following year.

Spells at Matra and Tyrell followed, before a failed attempt at running his own team, Chris Amon Racing, in 1974. His career finished with further stints at Ensign and Wolff in 1975 and 1976.

Amon called time on his career after witnessing Niki Lauda's horrific crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Having seen the flaming wreck of Lauda's Ferrari, Amon refused to join the race restart and was promptly fired by the Ensign team -- prompting him to retire from F1. He briefly returned with Wolf at the end of the season but failed to qualify for a race.

Amon did enjoy more success outside of Formula One, winning the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours with fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren - founder of the eponymous team which still carries his name. Current McLaren chairman Ron Dennis paid tribute to the late Amon on Wednesday morning.

Courtesy Nate Saunders, ESPN.co.uk, Today.

http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/heritage/driver/chris-amon/ron-dennis-tribute-chris-amon/

[cosworth151]

Sad news. He drove during the golden age of racing, glorious but deadly years. While he never won in F1, his Le Mans victory was one for the ages.

He did have a reputation for bad luck. Mario Andretti once said, "if he became an undertaker, people would stop dying." He also had a reputation for being one of the best test drivers ever.

One more thing: His helmet will look familiar to many F1 fans. It was the model for the one used by Pete Aron, James Garner's character in the film Grand Prix. The only difference was that Amon usually had a silhouette of a kiwi bird on the side.

R.I.P., Mr. Amon.

[lkjohnson1950]

I was a fan of Amon back in the day. He was the only driver with worse luck than Dan Gurney. His Le Mans win is a bit of a sore point with me. Ken Miles and Denny Hulme were leading by a good margin when some Ford PR flak decided they wanted the three leading cars to finish together. The Miles/Hulme car was ordered to slow and did so. The three cars crossed the line in formation, Ford got the famous picture. Miles knew Amon/McLaren, having started farther down the grid, had covered a greater distance and would therefore be the winners, so he allowed McLaren to pass. He was very bitter about losing the victory in that fashion. Miles had already won Daytona and Sebring partnered with American Lloyd Ruby and had the Le Mans win stood up, would have been the only driver to win what was then the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing. Ken Miles was an underrated driver who deserved the honor. He was killed later that year testing the Ford J-car (which later became the Mark IV) at Riverside.