PAST IMPERFECT:Chris Amon's luck didn't stretch to showcasing his talent – but it kept him alive in a dangerous era, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
DEPENDING ON your point of view, Christopher Arthur Amon may have been the unluckiest driver in the history of Formula One – orthe luckiest.
Growing up on the family sheep farm at Bulls, near Wanganui in New Zealand, he learned to drive a tractor and, by the time he was 16 and wanted to start racing, he was fortunate that his family had the wherewithal to enable him to do so.
His first car was an Austin-engined special that he raced in dirt-track events to good effect, winning three races before his 17th birthday. This car was sold and a four-year-old Formula Two Cooper-Climax acquired. This car was raced just once, Amon being beaten by a Maserati 250F. The Cooper (plus cash) was exchanged for the Maserati, in which Amon began to really make a name for himself.
Before long, Reg Parnell invited him to replace John Surtees, who had moved to the Ferrari team, driving his Lola-BRM in European races. Straight into F1, Amon claimed seventh place in the French and British Grand Prix (on his 20th birthday). Although offered a drive in the Le Mans 24 Hrs that year, French officials refused to let him take part, claiming he was too young.
The 1964 season fell apart for Amon owing to the unexpected death of Parnell, and for 1965 Amon joined fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren as a test driver and 2-litre sports car driver.
It was a partnership that was to greatly enhance his skills as a test driver. Driving thousands of miles testing Firestone tyres, especially in the McLaren F1 car, his testing skills came to be highly valued and indeed, Firestone believed him to be the greatest test driver available. A memorable win at the Silverstone Martini Trophy came when he substituted for McLaren, starting from the back of the grid. Inclusion in the Ford Le Mans team followed. Paired with American Phil Hill, Amon led for a period before transmission troubles eliminated their car.
In 1966 he was winning in Can-Am and, returning to Le Mans, Amon and McLaren took victory there in a Ford GT. Desperately in search of a F1 victory, Amon signed on for the 1967 season with Ferrari and, driving the new V-12 Ferrari F1 car, Chris was third four times, tying for fourth place in the 1967 Driver’s Championship. This was a dangerous era in F1 and by season’s end Amon was team leader, owing to the death of teammate Lorenzo Bandini at Monaco and Mike Parkes’ involvement in a serious accident.
In the 1968 season, the Ferraris were beset by problems and Amon dropped to 10th in the driver standings. The next year was little better and on many occasions Amon led, only for a mechanical problem to intervene.
By now he was widely regarded as the best driver not to have won a Grand Prix, as well as the unluckiest driver on the grid. In reality, it was Amon’s misfortune to drive for Ferrari during one of the most unsuccessful periods in its history.
A move to the new March F1 team in 1970 brought his first F1 win, but in a non-championship race at Silverstone. For 1971 Amon signed for the French Matra team, resulting in a ninth place in the Driver’s Championship. Success continued to elude the New Zealander and he left Matra and Grand Prix racing at the end of 1972. Brief returns were made with Techno and with Mo Munn’s tiny team before an ill-starred attempt to start his own F1 team, after which he retired to New Zealand where he farms to this day on the family farm at Bulls.
Unlucky, certainly, but as Amon himself is quick to point out, he survived the most dangerous period in F1 history without a scratch, so perhaps “lucky” is a better description of this talented man’s racing career.