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Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (Granada Hills,〔''Richie Ginther Enters Times Grand Prix'', Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1960, Page C1〕 California, August 5, 1930 – September 20, 1989 in France) was a racecar driver from the United States. During a varied career, the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix saw Ginther take Honda's first Grand Prix victory, a victory which would also prove to be Ginther's only win in Formula One. Ginther competed in 54 World Championship Formula One Grand Prix races, and numerous other non-Championship F1 events. ==Early career== Richie Ginther was raised in the same Californian town as future Formula One World Champion Phil Hill, and it was through Hill, a friend of Ginther's older brother, that Richie Ginther first began to race.〔Roebuck, N. 1998. ''Legends: Richie Ginther''. Motor Sport. LXXV/3 (March 1999), 16–17〕 After finishing school, in 1948 Richie Ginther followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for Douglas Aircraft, initially in the tool and die shop. In his spare time he helped Phill Hill to repair, maintain and race his collection of old cars and hot rods,〔Sloniger, J. 1961. ''Tester to the Prancing Horse''. In: Eves, E. (ed.) ''Autocourse: Review of International Motor Sport. 1960, Part One.'' Trafalgar Press, London. 80pp〕 as Hill's race career began to gather pace. Ginther made his own race debut at Pebble Beach in 1951,〔 driving a Ford-engined MG T-type sports car.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://www.gpracing.net192.com/drivers/careers/238.cfm )〕 However, Ginther's own career was put on hold shortly after when he was drafted for two years national service during the Korean War. During this time he received training and experience working in aircraft and engine mechanics,〔 skills which he would later put to good use during his driving career. On emergence from the military Phil Hill requested that Ginther join him, principally as a riding mechanic, in driving a privately entered 4.1-liter Ferrari in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana. The pair ran high in the rankings until Hill lost control, crashed, and wrote off the car. Both Ginther and Hill were unharmed and returned in 1954 to take second place,〔 beaten only by the works Ferrari of Umberto Maglioli. 1954 was also the year that Richie Ginther returned to race driving himself, mostly in a self-prepared Austin-Healey.〔 His results were impressive enough that the following year VW and Porsche dealer John von Neumann hired him to drive a Porsche in domestic competitions. When von Neumann started dealing in Ferrari cars in 1956 Ginther also got the chance to drive these.〔 In between working in von Neumann's Ferrari dealership — including trips to the Ferrari factory in Italy to sort customer problems〔 — Richie Ginther began to build an impressive racing reputation on the West Coast. This and his choice of Ferrari mounts brought him to the attention of the East Coast Ferrari franchise-holder, three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans-winner Luigi Chinetti. Aside from importing Ferrari road cars, Chinetti also operated a successful race team, soon to metamorphose into Ferrari's official motorsport presence in North America: NART. Ginther first raced for Chinetti in 1957 and with him made his first appearances in international level events, first in the 12 Hours of Sebring and then driving a 2-liter Ferrari 500 TR in the Le Mans race. Also in 1957, Ginther signed to drive the Aston Martin of Joe Lubin〔''Ginther To Drive In Paramount Race'', Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1957, Page C2〕 and over the next three years would continue to compete in many sports car racing events in both Aston and Ferrari machinery, with great success. That June he won a 15 lap GT race at the new Lime Rock Park, and won the opening race of the national championship in his Ferrari.〔''Ginther Wins Race Feature'', Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1957, Page D2.〕 In early 1958 he piloted a 2-liter Ferrari to victory at the County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California, averaging ,〔''Ginther in Car Victory at Pomona'', Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1958, Page C2.〕 and won in a 3-liter GT in a 5 lap qualifying preliminary for the SCCA Pacific Coast Championship.〔''Ginther Bags Sports Car Victory'', Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1958, Page C8.〕 By the end of the year Ginther had captured the Pacific Coast Sports Car Championship outright.〔 He triumphed by a wide margin at Pomona at the opening sports car race of 1959, in a John von Neumann 4.1-liter Ferrari,〔''Ginther and Drake Win At Pomona'', Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1959, Page C2.〕 and in June 1959 won in a 3-liter Ferrari TR in the first Hourglass road races in San Diego, California.〔''Ginther Drives Ferrari TR To San Diego Race Victory, Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1959, Page C6〕 Throughout this period he continued to mix his race driving with a steady job at von Neumann's dealership, and by late 1959 the strain was beginning to show.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://www.formula1archive.com/driver.asp?driver_id=11771 ) 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richie Ginther」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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