Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969) was a German

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and sportscar driver.

Early life and career

Mitter was born in Schönlinde (

Krásná Lípa Krásná Lípa (; german: Schönlinde) is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,400 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dlouhý Důl, Hely, Kamenná Horka, Krásný Buk, Kyjov, ...

) in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, but his family was expelled from there, to

Leonberg Leonberg (; swg, Leaberg) is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg about to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. About 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third-largest borough in the rural district (''Landkr ...

near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

. After racing motorbikes, he switched to

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level cla ...

, becoming the best German driver with 40 victories. In addition, he sold

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

s for FJ. In 1963, Mitter won the

Eifelrennen at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

Formula One

Mitter also participated in seven Grands Prix, debuting on 23 June 1963. He scored a total of three championship points in his home

1963 German Grand Prix The 1963 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on August 4, 1963. It was race 6 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 15-lap race was ...

with an old

Porsche 718 The Porsche 718 is a series of one- or two-seat sports-racing cars built by Porsche from 1957 to 1962. An open-wheel single-seat model was developed for Formula racing. Details The 718 was a development of the successful Porsche 550A with imp ...

from 1961. Impressed by this,

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

gave him a chance in the following years.

Sportscar driver

Mitter, Gerhard - Porsche 908 (1969-06-01)

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing i ...

and hillclimbing for

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...

, he scored many wins, e.g. the 1966-1968

European Hillclimb Championship The FIA European Hill Climb Championship (FIA EHC) is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on closed public road courses. Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and rea ...

s against

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

, the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ( Porsche 907, in class) and the 1969 Targa Florio ( Porsche 908) as his final major win.

Return to Formula One and death

Due to the long

track, it was possible to take part in the German Grand Prix with Formula 2 cars that were classified in their own contest. Mitter was killed there at ''Schwedenkreuz'' while practising for the

1969 German Grand Prix The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Twelve Formula Two ca ...

with BMW's ''269'' F2 project. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate at Porsche, Hans Herrmann.

Udo Schütz Udo Schütz (born 11 January 1937) is a German entrepreneur, who was competing successfully with racing cars in the 1960s, and with yachts in the 1990s. Career His career began in the early 1960s. With Anton Fischhaber and his #72 Porsche 9 ...

, his driving partner at Porsche in the 1969 World Sportscar Championship season with whom he had won the Targa three months earlier, had survived a bad crash at the

1969 24 Hours of Le Mans This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approac ...

, and retired.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

( key)

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitter, Gerhard People from Krásná Lípa Sudeten German people German racing drivers German Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Germany 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers Ecurie Maarsbergen Formula One drivers Team Lotus Formula One drivers BMW (1950s–60s) Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Naturalized citizens of Germany 1935 births 1969 deaths Porsche Motorsports drivers