RichieGinther

Origins

Paul Richard 'Richie' Ginther was born on 5 August 1930 in Granada Hills, California. He fell in love with cars working as a mechanic at Hollywood's high-end import garages after the war, befriending Phil Hill at Roger Barlow's International Motors. Ginther served in Korea as a US Air Force engineer, then on his return became Hill's reserve driver and ride-along passenger in Ferrari sportscars from 1953. The two Californians — Ginther the wiry, freckled, red-headed mechanic, Hill the introspective philosopher — formed a close friendship that took them together into the heart of European Grand Prix racing.

Rise

Ferrari signed Ginther as a test driver in 1960 on Hill's recommendation. He proved an exceptional development engineer, with a feel for chassis behaviour that Enzo Ferrari grew to value above pure pace. He raced occasionally for the works team in 1960 and 1961, finishing second at Monaco in 1961 in the new sharknose 156, and was instrumental in developing that car. He moved to BRM for 1962 to partner Graham Hill, taking a string of podiums but no wins, and earning a reputation as the perfect number-two: fast, intelligent, mechanically sympathetic, completely loyal.

Championship Years

The defining moment of Ginther's career came when Honda chose him to lead their fledgling Formula One programme in 1965, the Japanese manufacturer's audacious attempt to take on Europe with a 1.5-litre V12. The first season was a disappointment of overheating and reliability failures. At the final race, the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix at the Magdalena Mixhuca circuit at altitude in Mexico City, Ginther led from the start in the Honda RA272 and never relinquished the lead. He won by 2.89 seconds — Honda's first Formula One victory, the first by a Japanese manufacturer in Grand Prix racing, and the last race of the 1.5-litre formula. It was Ginther's first and only Formula One win in 52 starts.

Style and Legend

Ginther was the consummate development driver. He could feel the difference of a quarter-degree of caster, a millimetre of ride height, a single spring rate change. Drivers like Phil Hill, Jim Clark and Graham Hill rated him among the most technically articulate of their generation. He drove with a quiet, calculating style, never spectacular, never spectacular crashes either — a craftsman in an era of cavaliers. He retired suddenly in 1967 at age 36, feeling the sport was becoming too dangerous for what it offered him.

Beyond Racing

After retirement Ginther divorced his wife Jackie, suffered through alcohol problems, and rebuilt his life in the late 1970s as a craftsman building furniture and a quiet recluse in Mexico, where he lived in a Volkswagen camper van travelling between beach campsites with his second wife Cleo. On 20 September 1989, on a camping trip near Bagnères-de-Luchon in the French Pyrenees, he died of a heart attack at age 59. The Honda Mexico City win remains a milestone in Japanese motorsport history; Honda's headquarters in Tokyo display the RA272 as a centerpiece exhibit. The Magdalena Mixhuca circuit, rebuilt and renamed for the Hermanos Rodríguez, still hosts the Mexican Grand Prix — the same track where Richie Ginther, the Californian mechanic, gave Japan its first taste of Formula One victory.