Masten Gregory
American Racing Driver Won Le Mans 24 Hours in a Ferrari
Masten Gregory may well have become America’s first Formula 1 World Champion if fate had been kinder to him. During the 1950s and 1960s he was one of the world’s very fastest racing drivers.
Gregory's Early Racing Career
Gregory was born in Kansas City on February 29th, 1932, the youngest of three children. His entry into the world of motor racing was smoothed by a substantial inheritance which he received after marrying at the age of 19. His parents had owned an insurance company, but this was sold following the death of his father when Gregory was still an infant. He used the money to purchase an Allard sports car, with which he started competing in SCCA events.
Success was not long in arriving and, by 1953, Gregory had added a Jaguar C-Type to his collection. He was the very antithesis of a modern racing driver, wearing thick spectacles and constantly smoking cigarettes. Despite this he was soon in demand, making his international debut in 1954 at the Buenos Aires 1000km race in Argentina. Gregory acquitted himself well and would have finished higher but for mechanical problems.
Gregory Races in F1
In order to further his career Gregory realised that he would have to move to Europe. He found a place near to the Ferrari factory and moved his family across. He continued racing in sports cars before finally landing a Formula 1 drive in 1957. The Italian Scuderia Centro Sud team offered him a Maserati 250F to drive at Monaco. Gregory put in an extraordinary debut performance, finishing third. He stayed with the team for the rest of the year, ending up sixth in the points table.
Gregory’s career lost momentum in 1958 after he injured himself in a sports car race at Silverstone. He had a unique way of dealing with an impending accident, which involved him jumping out of the car. Gregory did return in time for the tragic season-ending Moroccan Grand Prix, which saw Mike Hawthorn crowned as Britain’s first World Champion.
Despite the trials of 1958 Gregory was signed as a works Cooper driver for the following season, partnering Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. He scored a third place finish at Zandvoort and a second place in Portugal. Unfortunately, he then injured himself again after performing his accident evacuation technique in a spots car at Goodwood. Nevertheless, Brabham won the title and Gregory helped Cooper to win the Constructor’s Championship.
Gregory Wins 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours
Gregory fully expected to be driving for Cooper again in 1960, but was mysteriously dropped. Rumours abounded that his speed had worried team-leader Brabham. Gregory was angry, but moved on. He was never again to drive a front-running car in Formula 1 and began to concentrate on sports cars. In 1965 he scored the greatest victory of his career, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours with Jochen Rindt in a private Ferrari. He also appeared at Indianaoplis that year, running strongly before retiring in a race won by Jim Clark. Gregory started competing less frequently and, in the early 1970s, stopped altogether. He died of a heart attack on November 8th, 1985, at his home in Italy.
Masten Gregory, American F1 driver
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