Brett Lunger Biography, Wiki, Height, Weight, Racing Career

Brett Lunger Biography: Robert Brett Lunger is a racecar driver from the United States. Lunger attended Holderness School and Princeton University.

Brett Lunger Biography

Brett Lunger Biography: Brett Lunger was born in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, on November 14, 1945. He was not raised with a passion for cars. He grew up to appreciate baseball, hockey, and football. In 1965, he became interested in motor racing after a friend took him to a race. By 1966, he had established himself as the “rich kid” of the Can-Am series.

Brett Lunger Wiki

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Brett Lunger Career

In 1975, Lunger joined the Hesketh Racing Formula One team for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. He was the only American driver on the premier circuit, alongside Mario Andretti and Mark Donohue. Lunger needed a car to drive for a prominent team at age 29. His friends purchased him a ride for the remainder of the 1975 Formula One season with the team of Alexander Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh. Late in 1975, Lunger’s brother Dave and a seasoned motor racing public relations professional, Rod Campbell, joined forces to advocate a Formula One ride for Lunger. In his début, Lunger began in the ninth row. He placed thirteenth in his Hesketh-Ford. Lunger crashed his Hesketh during qualifying for the 1975 United States Grand Prix, sustaining only superficial damage. He recovered to become one of the twenty-four qualifiers for the 320.651-kilometer (199.243-mile) race. Lunger finished eighth at Watkins Glen before retiring. In the Italian Grand Prix of 1975, he finished tenth.

Lunger transferred to Team Surtees in 1976. Chesterfield, Rand Time Corporation, Delaware Trust Company, and Champion Spark Plugs Company sponsored the corporation. Lunger averaged only 83.61 miles per hour (134 kilometers per hour) on the opening day of qualifying for the 1976 United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California. Driving a Surtees-Ford, he was in twenty-first place. He described the difficulty of navigating the Long Beach race track, which consisted of 85 circuits from Ocean Boulevard in downtown Long Beach to a parking lot and Shoreline Drive, close to the RMS Queen Mary, & then back to Ocean Boulevard. This course is so confined that it would take more work to maneuver a Sherman tank through a parking garage. Lunger was eliminated on the second day of qualifying. Due to the narrowness of the Long Beach circuit, only 20 cars began. Surtees fractured the clutch during practice, and it was never properly repaired.

Lunger announced in January 1977 that he had contracted with BS Fabrications, an English race team and manufacturer of race car parts. He drove a McLaren M23, the exact vehicle James Hunt used to win the Formula One World Championship in 1976. Lunger finished 14th in the 1977 South African Grand Prix while piloting a March Ford in his first race of the season. He lost the right rear tire a week before the race and collided. It took his staff one week to completely rebuild the automobile. During qualifying, he completed three circuits before his engine blew. This meant that Lunger began the race in last place.

Lunger qualified his March for the 1977 United States Grand Prix West in the eleventh row, twenty-first starting position. He did not finish the race after he was involved in an accident on the fourth lap. While driving a McLaren, he finished nineteenth in the 1977 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. In Zeltweg, Lunger was classified 17th for the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix. His time was 1 minute and 41.40 seconds. He finished ninth in the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. His McLaren was two laps behind the race victor. At the 1977 United States Grand Prix, Lunger was tenth, two circuits down.

In the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix, he finished 19th in Buenos Aires, one lap behind the leader. In March of 1978, Lunger’s McLaren finished 20th at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro and 11th at the South African Grand Prix in Johannesburg. Lunger began the 1978 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in 24th place last. His qualifying time was 1 minute, 39 seconds. He finished eighth, his highest F1 finish, although one lap behind the winner, Carlos Reutemann.In the 1978 Austrian Grand Prix, he placed eighth, two circuits behind the winner. In the 1978 United States Grand Prix, Lunger began his Ensign in 24th position. His time was 1:43.067 seconds. He ranked thirteenth.