James Howden Ganley (born 24 December 1941) is a former racing driver from New Zealand. From 1971 to 1974, he participated in 41 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix. He placed fourth twice and scored points five times for a total of ten championship points (only the top-six places scored points). He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
Personal and early life When he was thirteen years old, Ganley attended the 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore which inspired him and provided him with an impetus to follow a career in racing. Immediately after leaving school, Ganley became a reporter for the Waikato Times and wrote a column for Sports Car Illustrated. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 and pursued a career as a mechanic.
Career
Early career Between 1960 and 1962, Ganley competed in many events throughout New Zealand driving a Lotus Eleven. Throughout this period, he was earning a living by working as a foreman for a concreting company.
In 1970, Ganley finished second to Peter Gethin in the European Formula 5000 championship. This caught the attention of the BRM Formula One team, who signed him to a contract for 1971.
Formula 5000
In 1970, Ganley finished the European Formula 5000 Championship in second place with help from his friend and mechanic Barry Ultahan.
Formula One In , Ganley started off the season promisingly with fifth place at the non-championship Race of Champions. At the end of 1971, having scored two points finishes during the year, Ganley was awarded the Wolfgang von Trips Memorial Trophy for the best performance by a newcomer to Grand Prix racing. In Ganley raced for the Marlboro BRM team and finished 13th in the Championship with four points. His highest finish for the season was fourth at the Nürburgring. For the season, Ganley signed up to drive an Iso–Marlboro car for Frank Williams Racing. At the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix, he was almost declared the winner because of a timing mix up with the pace car; when the results were corrected, Ganley was classified sixth.
A suspension failure in practice for the 1974 German Grand Prix while driving for the Maki team left Ganley with serious foot and ankle injuries that ended his Grand Prix career.
Ganley F1 Car In 1975, a Ganley F1 project was initiated. The Ganley-Cosworth 001 car was hand-built by Howden Ganley on his premises at Windsor. It was almost readied, and Ganley had two DFV engines at hand, but it never ran in anger. Ganley eventually used the equipment to start Tiga Race Cars with fellow driver Tim Schenken the following year.
Sportscars Ganley and François Cevert drove a Matra-Simca MS670 to second place in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tiga Race Cars
In 1976, Ganley and former Formula One driver Australian Tim Schenken founded Tiga Race Cars as a British-based race car constructor and race team. The team had plans to compete in Formula One in 1978, but the project did not proceed due to sponsorship withdrawal.
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Points 1971 Yardley Team BRM BRM P153 BRM P142 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER 15th 5 BRM P160 AUT ITA CAN USA 1972 Marlboro BRM BRM P160B BRM P142 3.0 V12 ARG RSA ESP BEL FRA 13th 4 BRM P180 MON BRM P160CGBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA 1973 Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso–Marlboro FX3B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA 19th 1 Iso–Marlboro IR ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA 1974 March Engineering March 741 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRARSAESPBELMONSWENEDFRA NC 0 Maki Engineering Maki F101 GBR GERAUTITACANUSA
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1972 Equipe Matra Simca Shell François Cevert Matra-Simca MS670 S 3.0 333 2nd 2nd 1973 Gulf Research Racing Derek Bell Mirage M6-Cosworth S 3.0 163 DNF DNF 1975 Gelo Racing Team Tim Schenken Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GTS 106 DNF DNF 1976 Gelo Racing Team Clemens Schickentanz Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Gr. 5 SP 74 DNF DNF
Footnotes