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Brett Lunger
Robert Brett Lunger (born November 14, 1945) is an American racecar driver.
Lunger was educated at the Holderness School, and Princeton University. He dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in Vietnam. He was a political science major. At the time he was preparing a thesis on U.S. policy on Southeast Asia. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident refuted much of what Lunger contended in his writing. A former US Marine lieutenant who served in the Vietnam war, his racing career was mostly spent in privateer cars, paid for by his family wealth, as Lunger's mother, Jane du Pont Lunger, was an heiress to the Du Pont family fortune and a prominent racehorse breeder.
Lunger participated in 43 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting in 1975, without scoring any championship points during his four seasons in Formula One.
Lunger's Formula One career started alongside James Hunt in the Hesketh team, followed by a season with Surtees in 1976. For 1977, he started the season with a year-old March 761 run by Bob Sparshott and entered under the name of his sponsor, Chesterfield Racing, but switched to a McLaren M23 after three races. In 1978, he stayed with the McLaren M23 and also tried an M26, but now entered by Sparshott's racing outfit, BS Fabrications. After a one-off drive for Ensign at the end of the season, Lunger moved on to sports car racing.
Lunger is also known for helping to rescue Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari in 1976 at the Nürburgring.
Lunger was not raised a car enthusiast. He was brought up to enjoy baseball, hockey, and football. He became interested in auto racing when a friend took him to a race in 1965. By 1966, he was the "rich kid" of the Can-Am series.[citation needed]
Lunger finished eighth in a McLaren Chevrolet in the 1966, 252-mile (406 km) Nassau Trophy race, in Nassau, Bahamas. He was only a few seconds behind Peter Gregg in a Porsche Carrera 6. Lunger fielded a Lola T160 chassis in the 1968 Canadian American Challenge Cup (Can-Am). Others who drove Lola T160 cars were Swede Savage and Chuck Parsons.
Following the stint in the US Marines and the rank of captain in 1970, and competing in two SCCA National events, Lunger was among drivers in the 1971 L&M Grand Prix, at Lime Rock Park, who were competing for second place in the 1971 SCCA L&M 5000 Continental Championship. Lunger started the race with a 103 degree fever having been diagnosed with mononucleosis the previous day. As race progressed he started to lose strength allowing Sam Posey to pass and moving Lunger to third in the championship. He was hospitalized after the race for several days.[citation needed] His first major win was that year at Brainerd International Raceway in the Minnesota Grand Prix. Lunger had 58 points prior to the event. Lunger came in third overall in the overall standing, after David Hobbs had clinched the title with 99 points. His home at the time was Pomona, California.
Brett Lunger
Robert Brett Lunger (born November 14, 1945) is an American racecar driver.
Lunger was educated at the Holderness School, and Princeton University. He dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in Vietnam. He was a political science major. At the time he was preparing a thesis on U.S. policy on Southeast Asia. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident refuted much of what Lunger contended in his writing. A former US Marine lieutenant who served in the Vietnam war, his racing career was mostly spent in privateer cars, paid for by his family wealth, as Lunger's mother, Jane du Pont Lunger, was an heiress to the Du Pont family fortune and a prominent racehorse breeder.
Lunger participated in 43 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting in 1975, without scoring any championship points during his four seasons in Formula One.
Lunger's Formula One career started alongside James Hunt in the Hesketh team, followed by a season with Surtees in 1976. For 1977, he started the season with a year-old March 761 run by Bob Sparshott and entered under the name of his sponsor, Chesterfield Racing, but switched to a McLaren M23 after three races. In 1978, he stayed with the McLaren M23 and also tried an M26, but now entered by Sparshott's racing outfit, BS Fabrications. After a one-off drive for Ensign at the end of the season, Lunger moved on to sports car racing.
Lunger is also known for helping to rescue Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari in 1976 at the Nürburgring.
Lunger was not raised a car enthusiast. He was brought up to enjoy baseball, hockey, and football. He became interested in auto racing when a friend took him to a race in 1965. By 1966, he was the "rich kid" of the Can-Am series.[citation needed]
Lunger finished eighth in a McLaren Chevrolet in the 1966, 252-mile (406 km) Nassau Trophy race, in Nassau, Bahamas. He was only a few seconds behind Peter Gregg in a Porsche Carrera 6. Lunger fielded a Lola T160 chassis in the 1968 Canadian American Challenge Cup (Can-Am). Others who drove Lola T160 cars were Swede Savage and Chuck Parsons.
Following the stint in the US Marines and the rank of captain in 1970, and competing in two SCCA National events, Lunger was among drivers in the 1971 L&M Grand Prix, at Lime Rock Park, who were competing for second place in the 1971 SCCA L&M 5000 Continental Championship. Lunger started the race with a 103 degree fever having been diagnosed with mononucleosis the previous day. As race progressed he started to lose strength allowing Sam Posey to pass and moving Lunger to third in the championship. He was hospitalized after the race for several days.[citation needed] His first major win was that year at Brainerd International Raceway in the Minnesota Grand Prix. Lunger had 58 points prior to the event. Lunger came in third overall in the overall standing, after David Hobbs had clinched the title with 99 points. His home at the time was Pomona, California.