Gerald Hussey Buchanan Birrell (30 July 1944 – 23 June 1973) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who was killed in an accident during practice for a Formula Two race at Rouen-Les-Essarts. Born in Milngavie near Glasgow, Birrell left school when aged 15 to start an apprenticeship with a BMC dealer. He acquired extensive technical experience working as a race mechanic for his elder brother, Graham Birrell. After successfully racing a Singer Chamois 998cc Imp to win Scottish Saloon Car Championships, he started serious racing single seaters at the relatively late age of 24. He began in Formula Vee late in 1967, competing at Ingliston where he led for much of the race before finishing second to Nick Brittan, the leading Formula Vee driver of the time. He moved south and transferred to Formula Ford in 1969, racing against drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt. He progressed to

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

and Formula 2 in 1970, racing private

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

s and a

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

69. Birrell was also successful in

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

, mainly in a

Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...

- taking a Class win in the

1972 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1972. It was the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the ninth race of the 1972 World Championship for Makes. 1972 marked ...

. By 1973 he was being slated to replace his fellow Scot Jackie Stewart at Tyrrell Racing in Formula One. A promising career was ended when he died of unsurvivable injuries in an accident during qualifying for the F2 Trophee D'Europe race at Rouen when a front tyre failed at the notorious ''Six Freres'' corner, Birrell's Chevron B25 being thrown into a poorly secured crash barrier. The rail was lifted by the force of the crash, the Chevron passed beneath it, and Birrell died from internal injuries.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birrell, Gerry 1944 births 1973 deaths Racing drivers who died while racing Scottish racing drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Sportspeople from Glasgow Sport deaths in France People from Milngavie World Sportscar Championship drivers Ecurie Ecosse drivers