August 1962 at the Nurburgring, a 14.2 mile circuit running through the Eifel mountains- the legendary "Nordschleife". Rain poured down intermittently from leaden skies as the drivers moved their cars to the grid for the start of the German Grand Prix. Porsche had entered a new car, the 804, powered by an "achtzylinder boxer motor", a flat eight-cylinder air-cooled engine. It turned in the fastest time in qualifying and sat in the pole position-- driven by an American, Dan Gurney!
To us, a small group of American GIs who had driven up from Babenhausen to see this race it was exciting to see Gurney there, representing us. The flag fell and the cars screamed away toward the South Curve- all except Jim Clark who, red faced, had forgotten to switch on his electric fuel pump. The rain continued. How those drivers could negotiate a wet track winding through that narrow forest road - or even see through the rain- it boggles the imagination.
At the finish, with clearing skies the three top finishers stood on the podium- 1. Graham Hill, 2. John Surtees, and 3. Dan Gurney! We were elated. After they played the British national anthem on the PA system and then the "Star-spangled Banner" we stood at attention, a small group of GIs in a crowd of 350,000 and saluted our national anthem and our hero, Dan Gurney. RIP
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ