Gerhard Mitter

Former F1 driver
Name = Gerhard Mitter

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Nationality = flagicon|Germany
Years = F1|1963 - F1|1967, F1|1969
Team(s) = Ecurie Maarsbergen, Team Lotus, BMW, non-works Brabham
Races = 7 (5 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 3
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 1963 Dutch Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 1969 German Grand Prix |

Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969 cite web |url=http://www.oldracingcars.com/bydriver/watn.asp?letter=M |title= The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? |accessdate=2007-07-29 |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |publisher=OldRacingCars.com] ) was a German Formula One and sportscar driver.

Mitter was born in Schönlinde (now ) in the Sudetenland, 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, Gerhard Mitter won the Formula Junior Eifelrennen 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.

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

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.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position)

External links

References