Питер Грегг: Американдық жарыс шеберінің трагедиясы

American racecar driver

Peter Holden Gregg (May 4, 1940December 15, 1980) was an American race car driver during the golden age of the Trans Am Series and a five time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He was also the owner of Brumos, a Jacksonville, Florida, car dealership and racing team.

Gregg was born in New York City, the son of a mechanical engineer and manufacturer of marine incinerators. He graduated from the Deerfield Academy, a private prep school, He had a brief career in filmmaking while also competing as a squash player and then eventually settling on auto racing. he moved to Europe and attended the Centro Sud Driving School. Gregg won IMSA GTO overall championships in 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979, giving him six career titles in the class. 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, but was injured near Paris; en route to a practice session for the race, his car careered into a ditch. When doctors refused to allow Gregg to race his place was taken by Derek Bell.

Following his road accident in France on June 10, 1980, Gregg suffered from lingering concussion symptoms that included headaches and double vision for several months. "Peter had been concerned with a lot of things philosophically," business partner Bob Snodgrass said. "And after the accident that happened in Le Mans, Peter went through a rough period of having to face the reality that he was physically not able to race because of his medical problem." Gregg qualified 11th for the November 30 250 mile race at Daytona but withdrew before the race, claiming the car suffered handling issues. After a five month courtship, Gregg married Deborah Jane Marrs, a 25 year old commercial artist from Miami, on December 6. Peter Gregg committed suicide by firearm on December 15, 1980, near the beach south of Jacksonville. In his briefcase, he had left a suicide note that said, in part: “I just don’t enjoy life anymore. I must have the right to end it.” Police said that he had recently undergone psychiatric care. Hurley Haywood, Gregg's close friend, suspects that Gregg's decision was due to multiple factors, "not the least of which was the realization that the man other racers called “Peter Perfect” was no longer the best." New drivers were driving the same kind of car, a Porsche 935, and they were faster. “Peter could not accept the fact that he was not the top dog anymore.” She remarried and sold the dealerships in the mid '90s. In 1991, Brumos Porsche entered a two car Porsche team in the newly created IMSA SuperCar series and won three straight manufacturer’s championships for Porsche with a pair of traditional white, red, and blue 911 Turbos. Peter's son Simon later competed as a driver in Trans Am, the American Le Mans Series and the Grand Am Series. Simon Gregg campaigns a Chevrolet Corvette under the Derhaag Motorsports banner in the SCCA's GT 1 class. He won the SCCA Southeast Conference Major's Tour GT 1 race at Homestead Miami Speedway in January 2015, and set a new track record for the GT 1 class.

Gregg was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000.

Year Team Co drivers Car Class Laps 1966 Porsche System Engineering Sten Axelsson Porsche 906 Carrera 6 S 2.0 321 DNF DNF 1973 Sonauto BP Racing Guy Chasseuil Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GTS 3.0 298 14th 3rd 1976 BMW Motorsport GmbH Brian Redman BMW 3.0 CSL Turbo Gr. 5SP 23 DNF DNF 1977 JMS Racing ASA Cachia Claude Ballot Léna Porsche 935 Gr. 5SP 315 3rd 1st 1978 Martini Racing Porsche System Hurley Haywood Reinhold Joest Porsche 936/77 Gr. 6S 3.0 362 3rd 3rd 1979 Charles Pozzi / JMS Racing Claude Ballot Léna Michel Leclère Ferrari 512 BB LM IMSAGTX 219 DNF DNF