James Howden Ganley (born 24 December 1941 in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

) is a former racing driver from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. From 1971 to 1974 he participated in 41 World Championship

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, ...

Grands Prix. He placed 4th twice and scored points 5 times for a total of 10 championship points (only the top 6 places scored points). He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.

Personal and early life

When he was thirteen years old, he attended the 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore which inspired him and provided him with an impetus to follow a career in racing. Immediately after leaving school, Ganley became a reporter for the ''

Waikato Times The ''Waikato Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Hamilton, New Zealand and owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It has a circulation to the greater Waikato region and became a tabloid paper in 2018. The newspaper has won the title of Ne ...

'' and wrote a column for '' Sports Car Illustrated''. He moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1961 and pursued a career as a mechanic.

Career

Early career

Between 1960 and 1962, Ganley competed in many events throughout New Zealand driving a

Lotus Eleven The Lotus Eleven is a sports racing car built in various versions by Lotus from 1956 until 1958. The later versions built in 1958 are sometimes referred to as Lotus 13, although this was not an official designation. In total, about 270 Elevens ...

. Throughout this period, he was earning a living by working as a

foreman __NOTOC__ A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry. Foreman may specifically refer to: *Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew * Jury foreman, a head j ...

for a concreting company. In 1970, Ganley finished second to

Peter Gethin Peter Kenneth Gethin (21 February 1940 – 5 December 2011) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 June 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest ...

in the European

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

championship. This caught the attention of the

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

Formula One team, who signed him to a contract for 1971.

Formula 5000

In 1970, Ganley finished the

European Formula 5000 Championship The European Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars held annually from 1969 to 1975.Wolfgang Klopfer, Formula 5000 in Europe: Race By Race It was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Ca ...

in 2nd place with help from his friend and mechanic Barry Ultahan.

Formula One

In , Ganley started off the season promisingly with fifth place at the non-championship

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...

. At the end of 1971, having scored two points finishes during the year, Ganley was awarded the ''

Wolfgang von Trips Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known simply as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and nicknamed 'Taffy' by friends and fellow racers, was a German racing driver. He ...

Memorial Trophy'' for the best performance by a newcomer to Grand Prix racing. In Ganley raced for the Marlboro BRM team and finished 13th in the Championship with 4 points. His highest finish for the season was 4th at the

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

. For the season Ganley signed up to drive an

Iso–Marlboro Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor. Early years Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams's shrewd i ...

car for

Frank Williams Racing Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor. Early years Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams's shrewd i ...

. At the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix he was almost declared the winner because of a timing mix up with the pace car; when the results were corrected, Ganley was classified sixth. A suspension failure in practice for the 1974 German Grand Prix while driving for the

Maki Maki may refer to: People *Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name) *Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) Places *Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran *Maki, Rigan, Ke ...

team left Ganley with serious foot and ankle injuries that ended his Grand Prix career.

Ganley F1 Car

In 1975 a Ganley F1 project was initiated. The Ganley-Cosworth 001 car was hand-built by Howden Ganley on his premises at Windsor. It was almost readied, and Ganley had two DFV engines at hand, but it never ran in anger. Ganley eventually used the equipment to start Tiga Race Cars with fellow driver Tim Schenken the following year.

Sportscars

Ganley and

François Cevert Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (25 February 1944 – 6 October 1973) was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship. He competed in 48 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 8 ...

drove a

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

MS670 to second place in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tiga Race Cars

In 1976 Ganley and former

driver Australian

Tim Schenken Timothy Theodore Schenken (born 26 September 1943) is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved one career podium at the 1971 Austri ...

founded

Tiga Race Cars Tiga Race Cars Ltd. was a British auto racing constructor and team. The company was founded in 1974 by two former Formula 1 drivers, Australian Tim Schenken and New Zealander Howden Ganley. The company's name was formed by the first two letters o ...

as a British-based race car constructor and race team. The team had plans to compete in Formula One in 1978, but the project did not proceed due to sponsorship withdrawal.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganley, Howden New Zealand Formula One drivers New Zealand racing drivers 1941 births Living people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand BRM Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Maki Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers