Born : June 10 1940
Deceased : July 2 1962
Biography Peter Ryan
Peter Ryan was born in Philadelphia, PA. Peter Ryan grew up at Mont Tremblant, PQ where his father opened Mont Tremblant Lodge. Mont Tremblant was a ski resort which was one of the first in the world to use chairlifts. As a 3-year-old, Peter Ryan started taking the slopes under the watchful eye of his father. In 1957, he won the US National Ski Association’s junior downhill championship at Mount Rose, Nevada. Peter Ryan’s victory was protested on the grounds that he was ineligible on account of his nationality. However, as both of his parents were Americans who never actually naturalized as Canadians, Peter was legally an American citizen, so the result was allowed to stand.
Porsche
In 1959 however, Peter Ryan makes a career shift. He starts looking for speed in a different way and starts car racing. Peter Ryan decided to buy the Porsche 550 Spyder of American racer Bernie Vihl. It is John Fitch that learns Ryan how to proper race a car on the Lime Rock Park race track. Ryan practices what he learned on the twisty roads on his way home to Mont Tremblant. Peter Ryan’s debut into motorsport is at a Libre event at Green Acres on May 30, 1959, where he over-revved his engine and blows it up. Just 2 weeks later, at St. Eugène, Peter Ryan takes revenge and wins the 1.5-liter class, finishing fourth overall. In his first active year in motorsport, Peter Ryan races in 8 races throughout the season and has 6 class victories, including two 2nd places overall.
Porsche is impressed by the skills of the young Peter Ryan and sells him a brand new Porsche 718 RS60. In that car, Ryan dominated the Canadian sports car racing season in 1960. Out of twenty events in which Ryan competed in 1960, he won eleven. Even though he didn’t win the first race of that season, it definitely was a race that many remember. At the Greenwood Acres, great racers like Olivier Gendebien and Roger Penske emphasized the growing importance of Canadian racing. During the complete race, the young Ryan chases the great Roger Penske in the Porsche 718 RS60. Roger Penske won the race, followed by Peter Ryan.
Formula 1
Peter Ryan’s 1961 season began with the famous 12 Hours of Sebring, where he shared a Porsche with great rivals Francis Bradley and Ludwig Heimrath. That same year he wins the Canadian GP, not a F1 race at the time, in a Lotus 19. After heavy battling with Pedro Rodriguez in a Ferrari, he finishes the last lap just 1 second faster than Rodriguez. What Ryan didn’t know but after the race, was that he lapped the Mexican. The splendid results in his race career didn’t go unnoticed. Colin Chapman offered Ryan a seat in a Lotus 18 for the 1961 USA GP at Watkins Glen. Peter Ryan qualified 13th, ahead of six other cars, including similar Lotuses driven by experienced racers like Olivier Gendebien. Ryan finishes 9th after fierce battling with his good friend Roger Penske. That result impressed Colin Chapman who offered Peter Ryan a 3-year contract with Team Lotus.
NART
Peter Ryan’s disappointment was great when he found out that the 1st year of his contract with Team Lotus, he would not be racing F1. Instead, he would spend a year in the seat of a Formula Junior. That year, Ryan competed in the NART too. He raced the Daytona 3Hours in a Ferrari 250 GTO, sharing the wheel with Ricardo Rodriguez. Another NART race he 12 Hours of Sebring, where Ryan partnered with John ‘Buck’ Fulp and finished third in class in the new Ferrari Dino 248 SP.
Formula Junior
The European debut of Peter Ryan was not in a Formula Junior race but at the 1000 km Nürburgring in May, where he shared an Ian Walker Lotus 23 with Paul Hawkins. DNF was the result with an overheated engine. One week later, Peter wins his first race in Formula Junior in Monaco. The next Formula Junior race on the program was the Coupe Internationale de Vitesse des Juniors in support of the Reims Grand Prix on the famous high-speed French circuit. In the 5th lap, disaster struck. Peter Ryan and Bill Moss tangled at the first turn of the circuit. Peter Ryan’s car was flipped over and he was thrown out. Stirling Moss was lucky to escape with only minor injuries, but Ryan sustained a broken leg, a crushed hip and he was knocked unconscious. After a coma, Peter Ryan succumbed to his injuries.
In 1993, Peter Ryan was inducted to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.One of the quotes of Ryan was “You live in a higher way during a race. Everything is duller afterward.” which probably makes many of you think about the legendary ‘Life is racing. Everything before and after is just waiting” by Steve McQueen.
Pictures courtesy Ryan Family and unknown.
