Date of birth : May 04 1940
Deceased : December 15 1980
Biography Peter Gregg
Peter Gregg was born in New York City. From his early youth, he was passionate about racing and racing cars. At the age of 14, he read an article about an Osca 1500 in Road & Track. Immediately he envisioned himself behind the wheel of a sports car racer, driving the Targa Florio or the Mille Miglia. Curiously he always imagined himself in a red Italian car, even though his major successes were always in German cars. His passion for Italian cars made him study the Italian language. After Peter Gregg graduated from high school, he attended Piero Taruffi’s driving school in Italy. After his return from Italy, he started racing in SCCA Club Races in a Corvette. In the Summer of 1964, he bought his first real racecar, a Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. His first step in the Porsche camp that he would virtually not leave until his death in 1980.
First race outings
His first outing with the Porsche 904 was at the Paul Whiteman Trophy race at Daytona, where he finished 2nd after Charlie Kolb’s Porsche 718 RSK. In that same car, he scored a 7th overall and 1st in class in the Sebring 12H in 1966. The co-pilot that day was Georg Follmer. That class victory cemented Peter Gregg’s relationship with Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, Florida. Even though he was very enthusiastic about the Porsche 904, Peter Gregg moved up to a Porsche 906 Carrera 6. Peter Gregg considered the Porsche 906 more a true race car, whereas he believed the Porsche 904 to be more a production car like a genuine racer. In 1967 he took his first international win in a Porsche 911, coming home 5th overall and 1st in the TransAm under 2.0 lt. class at Daytona.
Factory Pilot
1967 was the year Peter Gregg drove as a factory pilot for the first time too. At Sebring, he paired up with Joe Buzzetta to form an all-American Porsche 906 team. They finished 7th overall and third in class. This success secured Peter Greg the factory Porsche 911 for the rest of the season. From that point, Peter Gregg was Porsche’s American point man in the production car wars.
Brumos Porsche
Due to his close relationship with Brumos Porsche, in the hands of the Brundage family, Peter Gregg had taken an ownership interest in the company too. Brumos Porsche had always been active in motorsports but with the coming of Peter Gregg, their racing program shifted into overdrive. In 1969 Peter Gregg took Hurley Haywood under his wing. In the next 6 years, they formed the winningest duo in IMSA Competition. In 1971 Hurley Haywood made his professional debut alongside Gregg at the Sebring 12H in a Porsche 914-6. Less than a month later, the duo took overall and class victory at the newborn IMSA Series at the Virginia International Raceway in Danville.
1971, 1972 and 1973 Peter Gregg takes the IMSA crown, teamed up with Hurley Haywood. By 1973 they earned the right to campaign a factory Porsche 911 RSR at the long-distance races. With success, as they won both the Daytona 24H and the Sebring 12H. Peter Gregg wins the Daytona 24H 3 more times in his career, in 1975, 1976 and 1978.
End of career
In June 1980, he was due to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a 924 Carrera GTS for the Porsche factory team along with fellow American Al Holbert. However, a street accident prevented him from taking the start in the race. Even worse, due to the injuries of the accident, Gregg suffered from double vision, which meant the end of his active racing career. This set back pushed Peter Gregg into a depression, that finally leads him to use a gun to take his own life.
Nowadays you can find a great exhibition of Brumos cars at the Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Florida.
