John Fitch (racing driver)
John Fitch (* August 4, 1917 in Indianapolis, Indiana; † 31 October 2012 in Lime Rock, Litchfield County, Connecticut ) was an American race car driver.
Life
Fitch was the son of a wealthy American family. In the Second World War, he took part as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force.
1949 Fitch began with motor racing. He had made a name in the SCCA sports car series, when he in 1951 his first race outside the United States drove. On a Cadillac - Allard, he won the Grand Prix Peron in Buenos Aires. This success earned him a contract with the racing driver and team owner Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham, a wealthy entrepreneur, the end of the 1940s had built a racing team, trying to win with some financial outlay, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 1953 reached Fitch in Le Mans with Phil Walters as a partner third overall. The vehicle was a Cunningham C5 -R. In the same year he won, again with Walters as a partner, the 12 Hours of Sebring. 1953 drove Fitch also the first of his two Formula 1 Grand Prix. At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, he piloted a factory - HWM, the race but had to give up early after an engine failure.
Already in 1952, Fitch had tested a Mercedes -Benz 300 SL and 1955 presented him Alfred Neubauer a work contract. Fitch was reserve driver for the Formula 1 driver, but there was never used. At Le Mans he was co-pilot of Pierre Levegh and thus indirectly involved in the greatest catastrophe of motorsport. Prior to the withdrawal of Stuttgart from the international motorsport scene, he won the Stirling Moss sports car race in Dundrod. For the private team of Moss, he played with the Maserati 250F and the Grand Prix of Italy in 1955, and with four laps behind the winner Juan Manuel Fangio ninth.
1956 Fitch returned back to the U.S. and was factory driver at Chevrolet. Since the factory operations of the U.S. car company were limited, it was calm to the Americans, but it was until 1964 every year at the 12 Hours of Sebring at the start. After the end of his active career Fitch worked in the management of racetrack operators and fought for the improvement of safety in the automotive racing.