Gunnar Nilsson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Nilsson in 1976 | |
| Born | Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson (1948-11-20)20 November 1948 Helsingborg, Sweden |
| Died | 20 October 1978(1978-10-20) (aged 29) Hammersmith, London, England |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Swedish |
| Active years | 1976–1977 |
| Teams | Lotus |
| Entries | 32 (31 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Careerpoints | 31 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1976 South African Grand Prix |
| First win | 1977 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1977 Japanese Grand Prix |
Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson (20 November 1948 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedishracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1976 to1977. Nilsson won the1977 Belgian Grand Prix withLotus.
Born and raised inHelsingborg, Nilsson initially studied engineering atStockholm University and served as a submarine radio officer in theSwedish Navy. Nilsson began his racing career in the late 1960s, progressing intoFormula Super Vee in 1973 withEcurie Bonnier. Hisjunior formulae career culminated in his victory at the1975 British Formula 3 Championship, in only his second season ofFormula Three racing. Nilsson signed forLotus in1976, making his Formula One debut at theSouth African Grand Prix. Qualifying for every race in his rookie season, Nilsson scored podium finishes inSpain andAustria. Retaining his seat for1977, Nilsson scored his maiden win at theBelgian Grand Prix, with a further podium at theBritish Grand Prix.
Having signed toArrows for1978, Nilsson was diagnosed withtesticular cancer in December 1977, experiencing a rapid decline in health prior to his death 10 months later. Outside of Formula One, Nilsson was a race-winner in both theWorld Sportscar andEuropean Touring Car Championships withBMW. TheGunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy was held in 1979, won byAlan Jones.
Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson was born on 20 November 1948 inHelsingborg, the second son of a local building contractor.[1] He attended school in his home town and went into the service as a submarine radio officer in theSwedish Navy. After leaving the navy, he studied engineering for four years atStockholm University and gained a degree. It was hoped he would join the family business, but after eight months working as a supervisor in the construction industry; he left to start his own business.[2]
Although his background and training was in construction, this held no attraction to the young Swede. Together with his associate, Dan Molim, they aimed to establish a transport business. This proved to be very successful and Nilsson continued to be a partner in the company, even when he became a full-time driver. He had seen the exploits of fellow Swedes;Ronnie Peterson andReine Wisell and knew he wanted to be a racing driver.[2]
Nilsson began racing in national events in Sweden, in the late 1960s. It was 1972, when he acquired a RPB Formula Vee car and set forth to learn the trade. This first season in Formula Vee saw him race just ten times, and included one race win atMantorp Park. At the age of 26, he decided to try his hand and raced inFormula Super Vee series in 1973, withEcurie Bonnier. Driving aLola T252 alongside his teammateFreddy Kottulinsky, he would learn many valuable lessons from this seasoned campaigner. In his first race though, Nilsson finished third, and after a string of good performances, he finished fifth in the championship. He was clearly good as he stepped up toFormula Two, and promptly finished fourth in the Norisring-Trophäe, at theNorisring, in a Team Pierre Robert enteredGRD-Ford 273, mainly due to misfortunes of others. One of these lessons learnt was that if he wanted to race at the top and with the best, his next step would be inFormula Three. It was while racing atNürburgring that he was approached by Västkust-Stugan, who offered sponsorship for 1974.[3][2][4][5]
With Västkust-Stugan help, aMarch 743 was acquired along with a Toyota engine. This would enable Nilsson to contest thePolifac Formula Three Championship. The results were as good as expected. He did score some second places, but victories and the season was punctuated by many spins and minor accidents. Nilsson did not go unnoticed and towards the middle of the season, he was given a drive with Team Västkuststugan, in their F2 March-BMW 732. Later in the season, he got another opportunity with Brian Lewis Racing, in their F2 March-BMW 732, where he did scored a fourth place in the second heat of the Preis von Baden-Württemberg und Hessen, atHockenheim. This strong form in the German Formula Three series earned him a worksMarch ride in theBritish series in 1975.[6][7][8][3][9][2][10]
With the advantage of adequate pre-season testing and growing self-confidence, Nilsson scored his first F3 win in the season-opener atThruxton. This was the catalyst for run of success that would see him win theB.A.R.C. BP Super Visco British F3 Championship, and included wins atAintree,Ring Knutstorp,Snetterton andSilverstone. In winning the F3 support race at theBritish Grand Prix meeting, partly from winning the FOCA Trophy, he attracted the attention of Ted Moore of Rapid Movements Ltd., who signed Nilsson to race theirFormula AtlanticChevron. Gunnar had interspersed his success with some spectacular accidents, but with Ted Moore, he made no mistakes. Following a fourth place in his first Atlantic race, he would win the next five, four from pole position.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][3][9][2]
His F3 and Formula Atlantic performances earned him a test in a Formula One car, driving aWilliams FW03 atGoodwood at the end of the 1975 season. He impressed and was offered a contract for1976, but turned it down in favour of anF2 drive withMarch which did not require a budget.[20] However, after just one Grand Prix for Lotus, Nilsson's countryman Peterson decided he wanted to drive for March in Formula One. As part of this deal, March offered Nilsson to Lotus, where he joinedBob Evans, another new signing in the team to help develop their new car,Lotus 77.[9][2][21]
In all his Grands Prix, Nilsson only drove forColin Chapman and hisTeam Lotus. He got his chance with the famous marque whenJacky Ickx andRonnie Peterson abandoned ship when theLotus 76 proved a disastrous replacement for the legendaryLotus 72. The replacement car for 1976,Lotus 77 was promising, meanwhile the team was undergoing big change at the time andMario Andretti soon replaced Evans, the team was soon back on the way up, with Nilsson taking advantage of Andretti's experience.[22][3][9][21]
Following Peterson's departure, Nilsson was thrown in at the deep end – racing theLotus-Cosworth 77 in theSouth African Grand Prix. His debut was not an auspicious one; he qualified last of 25 drivers, in what was attributed to a bad car, which had caught fire during practice. The next was the non-championship,Race of Champions atBrands Hatch. This was more promising: he started from the second row of the grid and stormed into an immediate lead. However, his race only lasted to lap six, when theCosworth DFV shed a plug lead. Before the other English non-championship race, theBRDC International Trophy, there was the small matter of theUS GP West, around the street ofLong Beach, California. He had survived a huge first turn accident, only for his rear suspension to break half a lap later, pitching him into the wall at 160 mph.[2][23][21]
His debut season saw a podium finish at only his third Grand Prix, theGran Premio de España. He also scored another impressive third place in theGrand Prix von Österreich, fifth in Germany and sixth in Japan, but the rest of the season was marred by accidents – in Belgium, Sweden, and Holland – and by car failures – in Monaco, France, England, and atWatkins Glen.[3][2][5]
For 1977, Lotus retained Nilsson alongside Andretti, and the pair worked on developing the new ground-effectLotus 78. After a slow start to the season, as Andretti took over his car for theArgentine Grand Prix, Nilsson really got going atJarama with a 5th place. Two races later, he took a magnificent win at the rain-soaked Zolder. As the race progressed, and the track dried, Nilsson suffered from a vibrating wheel nut, therefore he made a stop to have a tyre change. On these new tyres, he drove around the outside ofNiki Lauda's Ferrari with 20 laps to go, to take the lead and stayed ahead to take victory. With further good results atDijon-Prenois (4th) andSilverstone (3rd) Nilsson climbed the Championship standings. Come Autumn, his performance was blighted by poor qualifying efforts and there was a sudden downturn in his performances, retiring from all the last seven rounds of the Grand Prix season.[22][9][3][2][5][21]
His last appearance in aFormula One car, was atFuji, where he drove an Imperial-liveriedLotus 78. Nilsson's last race was a lacklustre performance. Towards the end of the season, Nilsson's relationship with Chapman deteriorated to some extent, and with Peterson having signed to return to Team Lotus, he was on the way out at Lotus. By now, he was already experiencing symptoms of cancer. He would finish the season in eighth place with a total of twenty points. He might have scored more points but for a whole catalogue of accidents.[22][2]
Nilsson signed to race for Arrows in 1978, in their debut season, but as it happened he did not have the health required to drive the car, and was forced to stand down before the first race.Rolf Stommelen was signed to replace him instead. As Nilsson got weaker, Andretti and Peterson raced to the World Championship.[22][3][9]
Nilsson was versatile; having driven a BMW saloon in both theWorld Championship for Makes andEuropean Touring Car Championship in 1976 and 1977. For 1977, he joinedDieter Quester in a BMW-Alpina to contest a limited-numbered of races, taking theBMW 3.0 CSL to victory atSalzburgring andNürburgring.[24]
Nilsson briefly sampled American style oval racing in theInternational Race of Champions series, scoring a fifth atMichigan in September 1977. A month later, he followed this with two sixth places atRiverside, and expressed plenty of enthusiasm for this form of racing.[25][24]
In December 1977, during a routine check-up with a London doctor, Nilsson was informed he had testicular cancer. From then on, he experienced a rapid decline in health. At theCharing Cross Hospital, London, Nilsson was treated for his cancer by intensive radiotherapy. By July 1978, he was almost unrecognisable, having lost over 30kg in weight and all of his hair, but he still talked of a possible comeback.[5] But the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes.
After resigning from Arrows, he dedicated his remaining months on founding and running the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation, linked to Charing Cross Hospital, declining pain-killing drugs so he could work as long as possible. The proceeds of a charity single released in the UK byGeorge Harrison that included two songs, "Faster" and "Your Love Is Forever", from his 1979 albumGeorge Harrison, contributed to the fund.[26][27] His death came just five weeks after that of fellow Swede, rival and friend,Ronnie Peterson, who died from complications to injuries suffered in a crash atMonza. Peterson's death deeply affected Nilsson, who attended the funeral.[3][9][5] He returned to the Charing Cross hospital where he died five weeks later, on 20 October 1978, due to his cancer.
According to his obituary inThe Times, "His rare talent had taken him swiftly to the top as No. 2 to Mario Andretti" "[and] he was perhaps the most naturally gifted of the new generation of grands prix drivers".[3]
Those who knew Nilsson described him as a warm, energetic character with a love of life. His enthusiasm and confidence made him naturally persuasive, which F3 teammateAlex Ribeiro attributed to helping him progress in his early career.[20] Even in later years as his condition worsened in hospital, he was an entertaining character to medical staff and convinced them to break certain rules for him, such as placing a telephone in his room.
Despite this outwardly friendly persona, Nilsson's true character was complex. He could become quite solitary and would sometimes detach himself from social situations, so that few people became truly close to him. His contemporaries attributed this to the lack of a father figure in his life, Nilsson's father having died when he was young.
Nilsson grew particularly close toDanny Sullivan after racing together in F3, eventually sharing a flat in London. The friendship continued and Sullivan was among those attending to his increasing needs toward the end of his life. He formed a strong student/teacher relationship with Lotus teammateMario Andretti, who regarded Nilsson as his first true friend among racing drivers. He learnt from Andretti during their two years together, but inevitably felt the need to establish himself as a driver in his own right – this played a part in his decision to sign withArrows for1978.[20]
| Season | Series | Team | Position | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Formel Super Vau GTX | Ecurie Bonnier | 6th | [28][29] |
| Formel Super Vau GTX | Ecurie Bonnier | 6th | [30][29] | |
| European Formula Two | Team Pierre Robert | 13th | [31][32] | |
| 1974 | German Formula Three | Reine Wisell Racing Canon | 8th | [33][34] |
| 1975 | British Formula Three | March Engineering Ltd. | 1st | [35][13] |
| British Formula Atlantic | Rapid Movements Ltd.-Ted Moore | 2nd | [19][36] | |
| Swedish Formula Three | March Engineering Ltd. | 5th | [35][37] | |
| British Formula Atlantic | Rapid Movements Ltd.-Ted Moore | 12th | [19][38] | |
| 1976 | Formula One | John Player Team Lotus | 10th | [39][40] |
| European Touring Car | Luigi Racing | 10th | [41][42] | |
| 1977 | Formula One World | John Player Team Lotus | 8th | [43][44] |
| European Touring Car | BMW-Alpina | 11th | [45][46] | |
| 1977–78 | International Race of Champions | — | 10th | [47][25] |
(key) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | John PlayerTeam Lotus | Lotus77 | CosworthV8 | BRA | RSA Ret | USW Ret | ESP 3 | BEL Ret | MON Ret | SWE Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 5 | AUT 3 | NED Ret | ITA 13 | CAN 12 | USA Ret | JPN 6 | 10th | 11 | |
| 1977 | John PlayerTeam Lotus | Lotus78 | CosworthV8 | ARG DNS | BRA 5 | RSA 12 | USW 8 | ESP 5 | MON Ret | BEL 1 | SWE 19 | FRA 4 | GBR 3 | GER Ret | AUT Ret | NED Ret | ITA Ret | USA Ret | CAN Ret | JPN Ret | 8th | 20 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)(Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | John PlayerTeam Lotus | Lotus77 | CosworthV8 | ROC 8 | INT 6 |
Source:[50] | |||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Team Pierre Robert | GRD 273 | Ford | MAL | HOC | THR | NUR | PAU | KIN | NIV | HOC | ROU | MON | MAN | KAR | ENN | SAL | NOR 4 | ALB | VAL | 12th | 6 |
| 1974 | Team Västkuststugan | March 732 | BMW | MON | HOC | PAU | SAL | HOC | MUG | KAR Ret | ENN | VAL | NC | 0 | ||||||||
| Brian Lewis Racing | March 732 | BMW | HOC 15 | |||||||||||||||||||
Source:[51] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
| International Race of Champions results | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pos. | Points | Ref | |
| 1977–78 | Chevy | MCH 5 | MCH 6 | RSD 6 | DAY | 10th | $7,500 | [52] | |
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | British Formula 3 Championship BARC Series Champion 1975 | Succeeded by |
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