Peter Gregg (racing driver)
Peter Holden Gregg ( born May 4, 1940 in New York City; † December 15, 1980 in Ponte Vedra Beach ) was an American race car driver
Peter Gregg was the son of a naval engineer and studied in the 1950s English at the University of Harvard. Like his father, he went to the United States Navy and was stationed in Jacksonville as an intelligence officer.
Gregg was already gone in addition to his navy activities as an amateur race car and began in 1965, after his retirement from the Navy, with a professional racing career. In the 1960s he built up a bourgeois existence as a car dealer. He represented the brand Porsche, Mercedes -Benz, Fiat and MG. Together with his friend Hurley Haywood, with whom he imports most of its sports car successes, he covered Florida with a profitable dealer network.
Mid -1960s, he reached the first successes in racing. In 1967, he secured the Rating SCCA Southeastern Division, a sports car racing series, into two classes. There were other titles in the Trans-Am Series (1973 and 1974 ) and the IMSA GTO Championship (1971 and 1973). After his first triumph at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1973, together with Haywood in a Porsche 911 Carrera, he appeared surprisingly retired from racing in order to take a job as a bank manager in Jacksonville. However, Peter Gregg was only a year away and returned to motorsport in 1975 back to the racetracks.
The following years have made him one of the most successful pilots of the U.S. sports car racing. He won four more times the Appreciation of the GTO class of the IMSA GTP series. Three more times, 1975, 1976 and 1978, he was victorious in the 24- hour race at Daytona. Only the 24- hour race in Le Mans he was the really big success was denied. Twice - in 1966 he had his debut there - he came third overall podium of the first three. In 1980 he had at Le Mans on the way to the race track in an accident and was doing light head injuries.
On 15 December 1980 a few days after his marriage to Deborah Marrs, Peter Gregg committed suicide. The reason for this act was never fully clarified. One possible cause should have been the impact of road accident at Le Mans.