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63 Facts About Brett Lunger

1.

Robert Brett Lunger was born on November 14,1945 and is an American racecar driver.

2.

Brett Lunger dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in Vietnam.

3.

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident refuted much of what Brett Lunger contended in his writing.

4.

Brett Lunger participated in 43 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting in 1975, without scoring any championship points during his four seasons in Formula One.

5.

Brett Lunger is known for helping to rescue Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari in 1976 at the Nurburgring.

6.

Brett Lunger was brought up to enjoy baseball, hockey, and football.

7.

Brett Lunger became interested in auto racing when a friend took him to a race in 1965.

8.

Brett Lunger finished 8th in a McLaren Chevrolet in the 1966,252-mile Nassau Trophy race, in Nassau, Bahamas.

9.

Brett Lunger was only a few seconds behind Peter Gregg in a Porsche Carrera 6.

10.

Brett Lunger fielded a Lola T160 chassis in the 1968 Canadian American Challenge Cup.

11.

Brett Lunger started the race with a 103 degree fever having been diagnosed with mononucleosis the previous day.

12.

Brett Lunger was hospitalized after the race for several days.

13.

Brett Lunger came in 3rd overall in the overall standing, after David Hobbs had clinched the title with 99 points.

14.

Brett Lunger followed this up with another win, this time in the Lime Rock Grand Prix.

15.

Brett Lunger might have finished third again in 1973 had mechanical problems not held him to just four finishes, and seventh overall.

16.

In March 1973, Brett Lunger placed 2nd to Peter Gethin in the opening race of Rothman's Formula 5000 European Championship at Brands Hatch.

17.

Brett Lunger led the first 19 laps before a stuck throttle forced him to spin at turn 7.

18.

Brett Lunger was 2nd in a Lola in a Formula 5000 race at Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, in September 1973.

19.

Brett Lunger drove for the Dan Gurney's Anglo American Racers team, in their Jorgensen Eagle 73A which debuted in Formula 5000 in 1974.

20.

In July 1974, Brett Lunger piloted a BMW 3.0 CSL in the six hours of Watkins Glen and competed in a Trans Am race, sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America, with George Follmer.

21.

Brett Lunger started 8th and ran as high as 4th in the Can-Am Challenge Trophy race.

22.

Brett Lunger developed engine problems with 4 laps to go.

23.

Brett Lunger said, We're not ready yet, but we're getting there.

24.

Brett Lunger won 2 heat races but crashed during the 1974 California Grand Prix at Ontario Motor Speedway.

25.

Brett Lunger was trying to pass a slower car and at the same time hold off eventual race winner, Mario Andretti.

26.

Brett Lunger assisted rescue workers in pulling Rupp from his car.

27.

Brett Lunger teamed with Follmer and Derek Bell in a Vasek Polak entry in the Los Angeles Times 6-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance in April 1979.

28.

Brett Lunger joined the Hesketh Racing Formula One team in 1975 for the running of the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix.

29.

At the age of 29 Brett Lunger found himself without a car to drive for a major team.

30.

Brett Lunger's friends bought him a ride with the team of Alexander Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh for the remainder of the 1975 Formula One season.

31.

In qualifying for the 1975 United States Grand Prix, Brett Lunger wrecked his Hesketh, sustaining superficial damage to his car.

32.

Brett Lunger recovered to become one of 24 qualifiers for the 199.243-mile race.

33.

Brett Lunger ran as high as 8th at Watkins Glen, before he retired.

34.

Brett Lunger described the dilemma of negotiating the Long Beach race track, which incorporated 85 circuits from Ocean Boulevard downtown to a parking lot and to Shoreline Drive, not far from the RMS Queen Mary, and then back to Ocean Boulevard.

35.

Brett Lunger failed to make the field on the 2nd day of qualifying.

36.

Brett Lunger's Surtees broke the clutch in practice and was never correctly fixed.

37.

Brett Lunger is perhaps most renowned for being one of the drivers, along with Guy Edwards, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl, who saved Niki Lauda from his burning car during the 1976 German Grand Prix.

38.

Brett Lunger described Lauda's accident which occurred on the 2nd lap.

39.

Brett Lunger had apparently crashed on exit, went through a couple of rows of catch fence, up a relatively steep bank, and back into the middle of the track, the Ferrari on fire.

40.

Brett Lunger said that Edwards was able to get by Lauda's car to the left but Brett Lunger was unable to avoid the wrecked Ferrari.

41.

Brett Lunger made contact about three quarters on because I was committed to a line and couldn't make it through the debris.

42.

Brett Lunger got out of his Surtees which was tangled up with the Ferrari.

43.

Brett Lunger jumped on top of the Ferrari and grabbed Lauda by his shoulders.

44.

In January 1977 Brett Lunger announced that he had signed with BS Fabrications, an English race team, and manufacturer of race car components.

45.

Brett Lunger fielded a McLaren M23, the same car driven by James Hunt when he won the 1976 Formula One World Championship.

46.

Brett Lunger did not complete the race after he was in an accident on the 4th lap.

47.

Brett Lunger drove a McLaren to a 19th-place finish in the 1977 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

48.

Brett Lunger had a time of 1 minute, 41.40 seconds.

49.

Brett Lunger placed 9th at Zandvoort in the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix.

50.

Brett Lunger was 10th, 2 laps down, at the 1977 United States Grand Prix.

51.

Brett Lunger was one lap off the pace and finished 19th at Buenos Aires in the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix.

52.

Brett Lunger's McLaren was 20th at Rio de Janeiro in the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix and was 11th at Johannesburg in the 1978 South African Grand Prix, in March.

53.

Brett Lunger started 24th, in last position, for the 1978 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.

54.

Brett Lunger went on to score his career best F1 finish, 8th place, albeit, one lap behind winner Carlos Reutemann.

55.

Brett Lunger started an Ensign from 24th position in the 1978 United States Grand Prix.

56.

Brett Lunger finished 4th in the non-championship 1978 BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone.

57.

Brett Lunger was behind winner Keke Rosberg, 2nd place Emerson Fittipaldi, and Tony Trimmer.

58.

In many ways, Brett Lunger was one of the last privateers in Formula One, plying his trade in year-old machinery, prepared by small independent racing teams.

59.

Brett Lunger called time on F1, at the end of the 1978 season, and returned to US Sports Car racing.

60.

Brett Lunger became an author of a workbook series centered around responsibility, and as a result, founded Responsibility Today.

61.

Brett Lunger continues to expand his organization by attending conferences and writing blog articles related to responsible decision making on Responsibility Today's website.

62.

Brett Lunger takes part in cycling competitions in his spare time, when not running a research and development business.

63.

Brett Lunger is a pilot, and this work, along with his wife, includes the Angel Flight Network.