James Howden Ganley (born 24 December 1941 in Hamilton) is a former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. 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 The 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 8 January 1955. It was the third iteration of the New Zealand Grand Prix and was won by Thailand's Prince Bira. Bira won in relatively dominant fashion, lapping all b ...

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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

concreting Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

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 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 ...

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 Rall ...

. At the end of 1971, having scored two points finishes during the year, Ganley was awarded the '' Wolfgang von Trips 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 Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

. For the season Ganley signed up to drive an Iso–Marlboro car for Frank Williams Racing. At the

1973 Canadian Grand Prix The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 23 September 1973. It was race 14 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap r ...

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 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 wea ...

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 bo ...

MS670 to second place 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 ...

Tiga Race Cars

In 1976 Ganley and former

driver Australian Tim Schenken founded Tiga Race Cars 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) (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