Tony Brooks, the quiet man of Grand Prix racing, not only competed against Dan Gurney but raced as his team-mate for the most glamorous of all marques, Ferrari. “Dan and I were happy team-mates along with Phil Hill and Cliff Allison in 1959. Dan was not only charming, and of course a very quick driver, but you could rely on him completely: what he said he’d do, he did, on track or off.”
Still housed in front of the driver, that wailing Dino V6 motor challenged the Coopers through that season, Brooks narrowly missing out on the World Championship, but that doesn’t taint his memories. “It was my happiest year in Formula 1, possibly because we all got on so well. Enzo Ferrari was famous for winding his drivers up, trying to set them against each other, but if he tried it with us we didn’t notice because we were such a close group. Perhaps our Anglo-American entente didn’t react the same way as the excitable home drivers!
“Dan is just such a great guy as a driver and as a person,” Brooks continues. “I did think it was terribly risky when he announced he was setting up his own team. One could foresee so many problems, not least the finances, so I was amazed he wanted to do it. But being Dan he did a very good job, winning at Spa, and then later having all that success in American racing.
“I’ve continued to be impressed by all he’s done since he stopped racing himself; we’re still friends and I’m still in regular contact with him and [Gurney’s wife] Evie. She’s been a real help and support to him, and I’m sure she deserves credit for being an important part of his success too.”
Watch Dan Gurney’s acceptance speech:
Max Verstappen could secure his fourth F1 drivers' crown at this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix. Motor Sport looks back on the key races which could put the Dutchman's name among F1's greatest
The Formula 1 drivers' title might be as good as won, but the race towards the constructors' championship could find new traction in Las Vegas — with a new series and the cold desert air possibly throwing a spanner in the works
An "aggressive" Las Vegas GP schedule last year saw F1 drivers ill and exhausted after a week in the dark, juggling "showbiz" commitments before travelling on the longest flight in the world. It's part of the job, they say
He won GP titles with Benetton, Ferrari and his own Brawn team, then helped steer F1 to unprecedented popularity. As Ross Brawn turns 70, Matt Bishop looks back at a remarkable career — plus the multiple times he antagonised the engineer