John Wyer

A Gulf-liveriedFord GT40

Porsche 917K in the distinctiveGulf Oillivery

1971 Le Mans Porsche 917LH driven byDerek Bell&Jo Siffertparked outside theHotel de France

Replica of aFord GT40Mk I with#9fromRodríguezandBianchiwinners of the1968 24 Hours of Le Mans.

John Wyer(11 December 1909 – 8 April 1989),was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager. He is mainly associated with cars running in the light blue and orange livery of his longtime sponsorGulf Oil.

Biography

Early life

Wyer was born inKidderminster,England in 1909.

Aston Martin

As team manager and team owner, Wyer won the24 Hours of Le Mansseveral times. His first victory came in the1959edition, in his tenth anniversary asAston Martinteam manager, along withRoy SalvadoriandCarroll Shelby,win with theDBR1.The team made their base for Le Mans at theHotel De Francefrom 1953 - 1975.The race cars would be tended within the courtyard and garage adjacent to the hotel before being driven to and from the circuit on the road for practice, qualifying and the race.

The team also won the1000 km Nürburgringover three consecutive years.

Ford Advanced Vehicles

In 1963 he left Aston Martin forFord Advanced Vehicles(FAV) In 1964. After dismal results with the GT40s in their first two years, mainly dealing with reliability due to mechanical failure, theFord GT40programme was handed over to Holman Moody and Carroll Shelby to compete against Ferrari, with the1966 24 Hours of Le Mansvictory being the most famous, as well as1967.

J. W. Automotive Engineering Ltd

Ford closed FAV after the 1966 season, and John Wyer and John Willment formed J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd (JWA) to take over the Slough factory and continued to build production GT40s on Ford's behalf. As Wyer was the well known team manager and present at race tracks, it was assumed that JW stands for John Wyer even though it is for John Willment, as stated by Willment's brother-in-lawHans Herrmann.

With backing fromGulf Oiland their team manager J-O Bockman, Wyer created the Ford-poweredMirage M-1,a prototype that won the 19671000 km Spa.Due to a rule change that came in effect for 1968, the fast big engine prototypes were limited to 3,000 cc like in Formula 1. As only few of them were available, sportscars with up to 5,000 cc were allowed also if at least 50 of them were built. This applied to the two-year-oldFord GT40s,which were modified by Wyer. As a surprise, Wyer won theWorld Sportscar Championshipfor Ford in1968even though the 2,200 ccPorsche 907were considered favourites at the beginning of the season. The superior power of the 302 cubic inch (4,942 cc)V8in the GT40s allowed them to win on fast tracks, and especially at Le Mans two years in a row from1968(Pedro RodríguezandLucien Bianchi) and1969(Jacky IckxandJackie Oliver), even though they were outclassed at twistier tracks.

It became apparent the GT40 would become obsolete after 1968 as the minimum numbers of sportscars was lowered to 25, a loop hole of which Porsche took advantage by building over two dozen 5,000 cc prototypes that were homologated as sports cars in 1969. ThePorsche 917were fast but in 1969 still unreliable and with bad handling. After the 1969 season, Wyer switched also to the 917 (and 908 for slow tracks), and the JWA team became the factory's main partner. They were a major factor in developing the wedge-shapedKurzhecktail of the 1970 917K which made the car much more stable than the original 1969 long version.

Battling with the worksFerrari 512s,and the other Porsche teams, the JWA Gulf-Porsche 917s, raced byJo Siffert,Brian Redman,Leo Kinnunen,Pedro Rodríguez,Richard Attwood,Herbert MuellerandDerek Bell,earned seven out of Porsche's nine victories in the 10 races of the1970season, and five out of Porsche's eight victories in the 11 races of the1971season. During this period, the team's best result at Le Mans was second place in1971.In fiction, a Gulf-Porsche 917K won in the cultSteve McQueenmovieLe Mans,making the Gulf colours even more famous.

The rule that permitted 5-litre sports cars like the 917s had been limited to 1971, and the new weight limit for 3,000 cc prototypes was too high for thePorsche 908,removing the 908's advantage that balanced the lack of power of the air cooled 2-valve engine with low weight and good handling. As a result, Porsche left European style sportscar racing to privateers, and focussed on developing turboengines for the 917/10 Can-Am entry, as well as an already 9 year old car: the 911.

Wyer adopted the new 3.0-litre regulations and started building Gulf-Mirage prototypes again, using aFormula OneCosworth DFVengine. The successful F1-engine was considered unsuited for endurance racing as vibrations took their toll after several hours, so necessitating modifications. After three years of attempts, Jacky Ickx andDerek Bellachieved what would be Wyer's last win at Le Mans in1975.

Retirement and death

The following year, John Wyer retired from automotive competition and sold his team to Harley Cluxton'sGrand Touring Carsoperation. He died inScottsdale, Arizona,United States in 1989.

External links

• 1970 - A Year to remember - John Wyer's Gulf porsche team