Former F1 and endurance racer Howden Ganley has received his homeland’s highest motor racing honor, joining former inductees Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Chris Amon and others on MotorSport New Zealand’s Wall of Fame.
Ganley arrived in England in 1961 and was employee number three hired at the fledgling Team McLaren in 1964. He became an F1 driver after finishing 2nd in the 1970 British F5000 championship driving for McLaren, having done two seasons in F3. He drove in F1 for BRM in 1971 (winning the Wolfgang von Trips award for the best performance by a new driver) and 1972, Williams Racing in 1973 and March in 1974 before a crash at the German GP at Nürburgring in the Maki F101 ended his F1 career.
Ganley belonged to an era of F1 drivers who competed in different forms of motor racing, and his efforts included Can-Am and endurance racing. He drove for the Matra and Gulf Research Mirage teams in endurance racing from 1972-’73, finishing 2nd at Le Mans in ’72, and drove a BRM P167 to wins in the Interseries. His one Can-Am race at Riverside in 1971 netted him 3rd place behind the all-conquering Team McLaren cars.
Despite his fondness for racing, there was no question that Howden’s greatest love was his late wife, American-born racer Judy Kondratieff, to whom he was introduced by Patti McLaren in 1971. They were married in 1975.
Shortly before retiring from driving, Howden formed Tiga Racing with Tim Schenken and became a successful constructor of WEC prototypes, sports racers and formula cars over the next decade, as Tiga chassis won multiple championships in the U.S., Australia and Europe, including the 1985 C2 World Endurance Championship.
