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Howden Ganley
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NEW ZEALAND
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A laconic, practical Kiwi whose racing ambitions were fired by a visit to the 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix, Ganley came to Britain in 1961 where he used his considerable talents as a mechanic to bankroll his Formula 3 racing - which became really serious from 1967 onwards when he acquired a Brabham BT21.
He graduated to Formula 1 with BRM in 1971, gaining a strong fifth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, followed by a fourth at Watkins Glen and a similar placing in the following year's German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
He drove for Frank Williams in 1973, leading the Canadian Grand Prix for some distance before fading to sixth. The season was redeemed a little by his inclusion in the Gulf/John Wyer sports car team, for whom Ganley's best result was second in the Spa 1000 Km in the Mirage with Schuppan.
At the beginning of 1974, Ganley was scratching for a drive, and after racing for March in the first two GPs, and taking fifth in the GP Presidente Medici - a Brazilian non-championship race - he unwisely accepted an offer to drive the mysterious F1 Maki, a Japanese dog with no pedigree. The car suffered a suspension failure in practice for the German GP and Ganley was left with serious foot and ankle injuries which ended his Grand Prix career.
Thereafter he concentrated on building up the Tiga racing car business in partnership with Australian Tim Schenken, selling out his stake in 1987 before getting involved in various other business projects outside racing.
He served a spell as secretary of the British Racing Drivers' Club but now lives in the USA with his wife Judy, herself a former racer.
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