Peter Revson

Peter Revson
Revson at the 1973 German Grand Prix
Born(1939-02-27)February 27, 1939
New York, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 22, 1974(1974-03-22) (aged 35)
Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited States American
Active years1964, 19711974
Teamsnon-works Lotus, Tyrrell, McLaren, Shadow
Entries32 (30 starts)
Championships0
Wins2
Podiums8
Career points61
Pole positions1
Fastest laps0
First entry1964 Monaco Grand Prix
First win1973 British Grand Prix
Last win1973 Canadian Grand Prix
Last entry1974 Brazilian Grand Prix
Champ Car career
17 races run over 8 years
Best finish12th (1971)
First race1966 Bobby Ball Memorial (Phoenix)
Last race1973 California 500 (Ontario)
First win1969 Indy 200 Heat 2 (IRP)
Wins Podiums Poles
1 3 3
The McLaren Revson drove in the 1972 Indianapolis 500

Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was the Can-Am Champion for the 1971 season, and finished fifth overall in the World Drivers' Championship for both the 1972 and 1973 Formula One seasons.

Revson and Dan Gurney were the only two drivers to win races in Formula One, Indy Car, Can-Am, and Trans-Am racing. His champagne-spraying celebrations in victory lane and public image earned him the nickname "Champagne Peter".

Background

Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Martin Revson and Julie (née Phelps) Hall. Martin had been a founding partner (along with his brother Charles Revson) of Revlon cosmetics, but had parted ways in 1958 and become chairman of Del Laboratories in 1963. His mother had been a nightclub singer at the time Martin met her.

Revson's full name was Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson, his middle name a nod to his family's business. As a young man, newspaper articles commonly referred to him as Peter Revlon Revson.

A young, handsome bachelor described as a "free spirit", Peter passed up an easy life for one of competition and danger, including driving in both the USAC Championship Car and Formula One circuits, piloting a 32-foot (9.8 m) ChrisCraft boat, and courting some of the most beautiful women in the world. At the time of his death, he was engaged to the recently dethroned 1973 Miss World, Marjorie Wallace.

Early life and racing career

Peter Revson spent his childhood in White Plains, New York, attending prep schools. He had two sisters, Jennifer and Julie Ann, as well as a younger brother Doug, who was killed in a race in Denmark in 1967. Revson never finished his college education after attending Columbia University, Cornell University, and the University of Hawaii. In 1960, while attending the University of Hawaii, he bought a Morgan and entered into sports car racing. In his first race, Revson placed second, then won his next race. His family withdrew their financial aid when he turned his attention to competitive racing full time, relying instead on his savings and education funds. Teaming with Cornell classmate Timmy Mayer and friend Bill Smith, and managed by Teddy Mayer under the Rev-Em Racing banner, Revson competed in Formula Junior in 1962.

In 1963, after limited successes and with Formula One (F1) aspirations, Revson took the remaining money he had, around US$12,000 (equivalent to $114,700 in 2022), and moved to the United Kingdom. There he was able to buy a Formula Junior Cooper T56 and a Ford Thames van. He then began barnstorming around mainland Europe competing and winning against the likes of future F1 stars Denny Hulme and Jochen Rindt. Revson caught the attention of Reg Parnell, from whom Revson rented workshop space, and was offered a spot on Parnell's planned F1 team for the 1964 season. Revson made his F1 debut at a 1963 exhibition race at the Gold Cup in Oulton Park, England, finishing ninth. In 1964, Revson teamed with fellow Reg Parnell Racing drivers Chris Amon and Mike Hailwood, referred to as the Ditton Road Flyers, who received more attention due to their antics and wild parties than their performances on the track. Revson also raced that year, closely associated with Reg Parnell Racing, under his own Revson Racing banner. Both teams were uncompetitive due to a number of factors, including the sudden death of Reg Parnell, financial troubles, and the poor performance of the Lotus 24 car. Revson raced in four of the ten F1 World Championship races that season, completing only two; his best finish was 13th at the 1964 Italian Grand Prix. He also competed in five non-championship races that season, where his best finish was a fourth place at the 1964 Solitude Grand Prix, in West Germany.

Revson accepted an offer to race in the United States in 1965. Focusing mainly on sports car racing, including the Can-Am and Trans-Am Series, he was able to build his reputation as a capable driver. He also competed in American open-wheel car racing, including the top level USAC Championship Car series. In that series, he qualified for the 33rd and final starting position at the 1969 Indianapolis 500; despite completing only 197 of the 200 laps, he finished in 5th place in an underpowered Brabham BT25. He returned to the Indianapolis Raceway Park track later in the 1969 USAC Championship Car season, where he finished third in leg one of the Indianapolis 200, followed by his first Champ Car win in the second leg. His 1969 success at Indianapolis Raceway Park earned him an invitation to race for the McLaren team at the 1970 Indianapolis 500, after his friend Chris Amon was dropped by the team for failing to qualify; Revson qualified 16th, but retired from the race due to mechanical reasons after 87 laps. That same year, while teamed in a Porsche 908/02 with Steve McQueen, the duo finished second overall in the 12 hours of Sebring, and first overall in the 3-liter class, just a few seconds behind the 5-liter Ferrari 512 driven by a trio led by Mario Andretti. McQueen received credit for driving with a broken foot, which also meant that Revson drove the bulk of the race. Revson also the finished the 1970 Can-Am season in 8th, driving a Lola T220 for Carl Haas Racing.

The 1971 racing season was a major breakthrough in Revson's career. Driving at the 1971 Indianapolis 500 for McLaren Racing, he qualified in the pole position in a McLaren M16, and finished the race in second place. As a member of the McLaren Racing team in the 1971 Can-Am season, Revson drove his McLaren M8F to five wins and three other podium finishes in the 10-race season, winning the championship. His success earned him an invitation to race in Formula One, at the season ending 1971 United States Grand Prix, for the Tyrrell Racing team; he started 19th, but retired after one lap due to mechanical issues with his Tyrrell 003-Ford Cosworth DFV.

His success in 1971 earned Revson an offer from the McLaren Formula One team for 1972, headed by his long-time friend Teddy Mayer. Revson entered the 1972 season as a driver for McLaren's Indy Car, Can-Am, and Formula One teams.

Formula One career

During the 1972 F1 season, Revson finished 5th in the Driver's World Championship, helping McLaren finish 3rd in the World Constructors' Champion Championship with its McLaren M19A / M19C. Running 9 out of the 12 races, Revson finished on the podium four times with three third place finishes and a season-best second-place finish at the 1972 Canadian Grand Prix.

As part of his contract with McLaren, Revson was required to drive a McLaren Indy team entry in the Indy Car Triple Crown of 500 mile races for the 1972 USAC Championship Car season. At the 1972 Indianapolis 500, he started from 10th on the grid, but retired due to mechanical issues after 23 laps. He also started retired due to mechanical issues, after 7 laps, at the Pocono 500 and finished 23rd at the California 500.

During the 1973 F1 season, Revson won two races in his McLaren M23, the 1973 British Grand Prix and the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. He added two other podium finishes, with a third place and a second-place finish, helping McClaren finish 3rd in the World Constructors' Champion Championship. Despite Revson's successes, Teddy Mayer was not satisfied and McLaren opted for the 1972 champion and 1973 runner-up Emerson Fittipaldi.

Revson again drove a McLaren Indy team entry in the Indy Car Triple Crown for the 1973 USAC Championship Car season. At the 1973 Indianapolis 500, he qualified to start from second on the grid, but retired after brushing the wall on the third lap. He qualified in the pole position for both the 1973 Pocono 500 and the 1973 California 500, finishing 21st and 23rd, respectively.

For the 1974 F1 season, Revson signed with the one-year-old Shadow Racing Cars F1 team. Driving the team's new Shadow DN3, Revson retired from the first race after an accident in the second lap, and retired from the second race due to overheating of his Ford Cosworth DFV engine after 10 laps.

Death

Revson was killed during a test session on 22 March 1974, before the 1974 South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. His Shadow DN3 suffered a front suspension failure and crashed heavily into the Armco barrier on the outside of "Barbecue Bend". The car stood on its nose, wrapped itself around the barrier and caught fire, and although safety workers and other drivers managed to pull Revson from the wreckage, he was already dead.

Tony Southgate, designer of the DN3, in a 2012 interview with Motor Sport, said:

Revvie was a fabulous easy-going guy, fitted in well, and a very good driver. But tragically he wasn't with us for long. He qualified on row 2 for Argentina and row 3 for Brazil. Then he and I, our chief mechanic Pete Kerr and two other mechanics went down to Kyalami for testing before the South African GP. Revvie was going very well, very happy with the car, and then he didn't come around. We rushed out to the back of the circuit and found the car buried under the Armco on the outside of a quick corner. Peter was already in the ambulance and gone. I phoned the hospital, and they told me I had to go to the morgue and identify him. When the news got out all hell let loose, journalists banging on my hotel door, then the Revson family lawyer arrived and took over. We were using titanium quite a lot on the DN3, which was quite a new material then. Titanium is finicky, it has to be machined smooth and the surface polished, and a ball joint which had some coarse machining on it had failed. There was only one layer of Armco and the car, instead of being deflected or stopped, had gone right under as far as the cockpit. I felt personally responsible. It was a very difficult time. The glamour of Formula 1 had gone, replaced by a sort of loneliness. You just had to work on. Of course I replaced all the titanium components with steel before the next race.

He was the second Revson to lose his life racing; his brother Douglas was killed in a crash in Denmark in 1967. Peter and Douglas Revson are interred together in a crypt in the community mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Revson's autobiography, Speed with Style, co-written with Leon Mandel, was published posthumously by Doubleday & Company in 1974.

Revson was replaced by Tom Pryce, who died three years later at the same Grand Prix.

Awards

Revson was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996 in the sports car category.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Pts
1964 Revson Racing Lotus 24 BRM V8 MON
DNQ
NED GER
14
AUT ITA
13
USA MEX NC 0
Reg Parnell Racing BEL
DSQ
GBR
Ret
Lotus 25 FRA
DNS
1971 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 001 Cosworth V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
Ret
NC 0
1972 Team Yardley McLaren McLaren M19A Cosworth V8 ARG
Ret
RSA
3
ESP
5
MON BEL
7
FRA GBR
3
GER 5th 23
McLaren M19C AUT
3
ITA
4
CAN
2
USA
18
1973 Team Yardley McLaren McLaren M19C Cosworth V8 ARG
8
BRA
Ret
RSA
2
5th 38
McLaren M23 ESP
4
BEL
Ret
MON
5
SWE
7
FRA GBR
1
NED
4
GER
9
AUT
Ret
ITA
3
CAN
1
USA
5
1974 UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN3 Cosworth V8 ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1963 Reg Parnell Lotus 24 BRM V8 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL KAN MED AUT OUL
9
RAN
1964 Revson Racing Lotus 24 BRM V8 DMT
Ret
NWT
8
SYR
Ret
AIN
DNA
INT
9
SOL
4
MED
6
RAN
1971 Milestone Racing Team Surtees TS8 Chevrolet V8 ARG ROC QUE
Ret
SPR INT RIN OUL VIC
1972 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M19A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC
8
BRA
McLaren M19B INT
5
OUL REP VIC
1973 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC INT
4
1974 UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN3 Cosworth V8 PRE ROC
6
INT

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Pos Points
1966 PHX
TRE
INDY
MIL
LAN
ATL
PIP IRP
LAN
SPR
MIL
DUQ
ISF
TRE
SAC
PHX
16
- 0
1967 PHX
13
TRE
DNQ
INDY
DNP
MIL
LAN
PIP MOS
MOS
IRP LAN
MTR
MTR
SPR
MIL
DUQ
ISF
TRE
SAC
HAN
PHX
RIV
- 0
1968 HAN
LVG
PHX
TRE
INDY
MIL
MOS
MOS
LAN
PIP
CDR
NAZ
IRP
IRP
LAN
LAN
MTR
MTR
SPR
MIL
DUQ
ISF
TRE
SAC
MCH
HAN
PHX
RIV
10
- 0
1969 PHX
HAN
INDY
5
MIL
LAN
PIP CDR
NAZ TRE
IRP
3
IRP
1
MIL
SPR
DOV
DUQ
ISF
BRN
BRN TRE
SAC
KEN
KEN
PHX
RIV
DNP
- 0
1970 PHX
SON TRE
INDY
22
MIL
LAN
CDR
MCH
IRP
SPR
MIL
ONT
5
DUQ ISF SED
TRE
SAC
PHX
- 0
1971 RAF
RAF
PHX
TRE
INDY
2
MIL
POC
21
MCH
MIL
ONT
7
TRE
PHX
12th 1,100
1972 PHX
TRE
INDY
31
MIL
MCH
POC
31
MIL
ONT
23
TRE
PHX
- 0
1973 TWS
TRE
TRE
INDY
31
MIL
POC
21
MCH
MIL
ONT
ONT ONT
23
MCH
MCH
TRE
TWS
PHX
- 0

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish
1969 Brabham Repco 33rd 5th
1970 McLaren Offy 16th 22nd
1971 McLaren Offy 1st 2nd
1972 McLaren Offy 2nd 31st
1973 McLaren Offy 10th 31st

Complete Canadian-American Challenge Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points
1966 Drummond Racing McLaren M1B Ford MTR BRI MOS LAG RIV
6
LVG
4
10th 4
1967 Dana Chevrolet Racing Lola T70 Mk.3 Chevrolet ROA
Ret
BRI
Ret
MOS
4
LAG
Ret
RIV
Ret
LVG
DSQ
9th 3
1968 Shelby American Racing McLaren M6B Ford ROA
4
BRI
Ret
EDM
Ret
LAG
12
RIV
Ret
LVG
Ret
12th 3
1969 Agapiou Brothers Racing Ford G7A Ford MOS
DNS
MTR
DNS
WGL EDM 9th 30
Robbins-Jeffries Racing Lola T163 Chevrolet MDO
7
ROA
4
BRI
Ret
MCH
Ret
LAG
Ret
RIV
5
TWS
Ret
1970 Carl Haas Racing Lola T220 Chevrolet MOS
Ret
MTR
Ret
WGL
19
EDM
Ret
MDO
2
ROA
Ret
ATL
Ret
BRA
3
LAG
3
RIV
Ret
8th 39
1971 Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M8F Chevrolet MOS
2
MTR
3
ATL
1
WGL
1
MDO
7
ROA
1
BRA
1
EDM
12
LAG
1
RIV
2
1st 142
1972 Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M20 Chevrolet MOS
3
ATL
Ret
WGL
2
MDO
Ret
ROA
Ret
BRA
Ret
EDM
6
LAG
19
RIV
2
6th 48
Source:

See also


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