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<\/a>Jo Bonnier, impressed by the fact that the young man had gotten a 2nd place at Zeltweg, signed him for his Super Vee team for 1973. Bonnier never lived to see the promise fulfilled, as he was killed at Le Mans in 1972, but had already asked Kottulinsky to look after Gunnar. Alongside the veteran Kottulinsky in the Lola T252, Gunnar participated in the Volkswagen Gold Cup and the Castrol GTX Trophy, and finished 5th in both championships. \u201cGunnar was a coming man. I knew he would get to be a big boy,\u201d Kottulinsky remembered. In his debut at the Norisring in a GRD-Ford entered by Pierre Roberts, Gunnar finished 4th on aggregate time. \u201cHe had no problems adapting whatsoever to stronger cars, no way,\u201d said Petersens.<\/p>\n
The year 1974 was Gunnar\u2019s \u201cbreaking point\u201d in Petersens\u2019 words, when he attracted considerable attention. It was when he bought a March fitted with a Toyota-Novamotor engine from former Lotus- and BRM-driver Reine Wisell\u2019s team. He competed in the German Polifac and Swedish F3 championships. In Polifac, Gunnar achieved two 2nd places and a 4th and, in the Swedish series, he was 2nd twice and set his first pole and fastest lap.<\/p>\n
In Formula 2, at Karlskroga, he retired after colliding with David Purley but at Hockenheim in a year-old March BMW entered by Brian Lewis, he excelled again. In the first heat, a throttle wire broke after 15 laps so he started last in the second. Yet, he drove through the field to finish 4th. That was good enough for the March works team for 1975. Robin Herd of March disagreed with the \u201cWild Swede\u201d epithet he had been given by the press: \u201cGunnar was a careful driver and, contrary to what people said, he was a very capable driver who wasn\u2019t one for smashing up cars.\u201d Despite crashes at Cadwell Park and Monza, Gunnar stayed out of trouble.<\/p>\n
Gunnar made just one appearance in Swedish F3 with a victory at Knutstorp, as he focused his efforts on Britain. He won six rounds in the BP Super Visco championship, setting fastest lap seven times and starting on pole five times. He was champion with 74 points to teammate Alex Ribeiro\u2019s 59. Herd vividly remembered the British Grand Prix support race where, in front of the F1 team owners, Gunnar and Ribeiro fought for the lead: \u201cThey went into the last lap nose to tail and I remember turning to Max (Mosley) and saying, \u2018Only one of them is gonna come round next time and guess who it\u2019s gonna be!\u2019 Sure enough, it was Gunnar.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, Herd praised Gunnar\u2019s abilities off the circuit, likening him to Emerson Fittipaldi: \u201cThey were both mischievous, and Gunnar was mischievous in the extreme. Gunnar was very good politically and I don\u2019t mean politically in spin or in that sense at all. I felt that when he was driving for us, if I opened a door, I felt there were ten Gunnar Nilssons! He really did, great credit to him, work at his career on a personal level and making sure that he was always at the right place at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n Gunnar drove a Chevron B29 for Ted Moore\u2019s Rapid Movements team in Formula Atlantic. He helped his career advance by winning four races, making a big splash. He was then invited to test a Williams FW03 at Goodwood. Completing 154 laps, he lapped 0.5 seconds faster than Vittorio Brambilla\u2019s lap record. He also sampled a Brabham BT44B at Silverstone. Williams offered a drive for 1976; Lotus and McLaren also expressed interest. But Gunnar was persuaded to remain with March since it offered him a full F2 season and a few F1 outings, whereas McLaren only offered a third car for a few races.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As it turned out, it would ultimately be Lotus instead. The team was in the doldrums following a poor 1975 season with the obsolete Lotus 72. The Lotus 77, in the words of mechanic Glenn Waters, was also a \u201cdire car,\u201d and an unhappy Ronnie Peterson would leave after Brazil. Gunnar replaced him and had a tough start, qualifying last and retiring early at Kyalami. At Long Beach during qualifying, he slammed into the wall at Shoreline Drive at high speed, leaving him with a strained neck for months. Matters improved drastically at the following race at Jarama where he finished 3rd. Ken Tyrrell became a fan, remarking that it was the performance of a future world champion.<\/p>\n The Swedish press, already pleased that there were two Swedes in the sport, devoted more coverage to Gunnar: \u201cRonnie was shy and didn\u2019t trust many of the Swedish journalists because he thought they only wrote about death, about money and the danger,\u201d explained Petersens. \u201cGunnar, on the other hand, was the contrary. He was open; he was happy and was laughing. He always talked a lot which was perfect for the Swedish journalists to talk to Gunnar.\u201d<\/p>\n The atmosphere in the team around Gunnar was good, compared to Peterson\u2019s acrimonious split. \u201cHe was a good solid member of the race team. Valued by everybody, loved by everybody. Good guy, good bloke,\u201d Waters fondly remembered. He spent two weeks in Sweden with Gunnar after his victory in Belgium. \u201cHe looked after us really well there. He made sure we were really comfortable in the hotel and popped in to see us a couple of times. Really good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn spoke of the camaraderie between Gunnar and the mechanics: \u201cI spent a long time in racing, particularly with lots of young drivers, and what really makes a difference to where somebody will go with their racing career is their ability to get people to want to help them. Some people build really big barriers around them; you can\u2019t help them for all you want. Others are easy to help, and Gunnar was one of those. He was one of the people that you really wanted to help and assist and see him go forward. He was a good guy. He was one of the people that if there was some problem with the car or he\u2019d damaged the car or whatever else, he\u2019d get out and he\u2019d want to become involved. He was one of the people that enjoyed being with the mechanics in the team. He had some empathy with them; he would share jokes and buy beers and whatever else.\u201d<\/p>\n Andretti was also close to Gunnar. \u201cIt was very easy to befriend Gunnar,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was one of those chaps that had a lot of charisma and I thoroughly enjoyed being with him. Off the track, we used to spend considerable time doing things together. We never had a word sideways. In Pennsylvania, at what I call my lake resort, with all the toys, we used to play so hard and play tennis and do all the watersports and just really enjoy ourselves. It was a great relationship and a special time of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Mario was a good teacher to Gunnar: \u201cWe were at Fuji and I had an engine problem, so I stopped alongside the circuit and I was watching him negotiate a couple of S corners and he was way overdriving the car. You could tell he did not have the feel of the throttle to apply power, he was doing a lot of wheel-spinning. When I went back, I told him, \u2018Gee, you\u2019ll pick up so much time if you\u2019ll just cool it a little and make sure you connect with the track. Don\u2019t just make noise.\u2019 He thanked me for that.\u201d Compared to Peterson: \u201cGunnar was a more technical driver when he applied himself. He was always very interested in trying to make the car do some of the work for him.\u201d Gunnar used this advice well, outqualifying Andretti at Jarama, the Osterreichring and Monza in 1976. Andretti continued: \u201cI thought he was always there; Gunnar was always one to be taken seriously, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Gunnar helped himself to be taken seriously by finishing 10th in the championship standings with 11 points. Armed with the Lotus 78 wing car, he underlined his seriousness even further in 1977, especially on June 5, at Zolder. He avoided the first-lap collision between Andretti and John Watson and, after 21 laps, he came into the pits for dry tires. He was in for more than a minute due to a cross-threading wheel nut. Rejoining in 8th, he scythed his way past Peterson, Depailler, Brambilla, Jones and Hunt. The wing car thrived in damp conditions. When Scheckter pitted, only Lauda remained. He lost 7 seconds when he spun, but he caught Lauda again on the 50th lap and led to the end. He was so overjoyed that he shouted: \u201cI won! I won!\u201d when he passed the checkered flag.<\/p>\n Other outstanding performances included Jarama, where an anxious Gunnar talked until 4:00 a.m. to Petersens in his hotel room. He had qualified 12th, compared to Andretti\u2019s pole. He drove a hard race and finished 5th, the last car on the same lap as the victorious Mario. At the Osterreichring, starting from 16th, he rose to 2nd behind Andretti after remaining on wet tires. After falling to 13th when he pitted for dry tires, he rose to 3rd before his engine failed. At Fuji, Gunnar started 14th when Mario was on pole again. The red-liveried Imperial Tobacco car rose to 4th before retiring after 64 laps. \u201cHe never gave up,\u201d said Petersens.<\/p>\n He earned 6th in the Top Ten drivers of the Autocourse annual of 1977\/78. Mike Kettlewell described Gunnar as one of the most improved drivers of the year but added: \u201cThe amusing Swede still has a long way to go in Formula One.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That was correct, regarding toughness. After a frosty beginning, Gunnar and Colin Chapman became good friends. It was, in Waters\u2019 words: \u201cA really good relationship, a good employer-employee relationship.\u201d Like Andretti, Chapman was a good teacher. At Jarama, Chapman advised Gunnar: \u201cJust keep cool and everything will be okay.\u201d Gunnar benefited as shown. There was one low point at Hockenheim as Andretti recalled: \u201cI know that Colin was bollocking him like he was a five-year-old child. He made a comment to me, \u2018Sorry you had to see that ugly side of me.\u2019 I said, \u2018You know something Colin? That was really, really ugly and if I was Gunnar, I would\u2019ve walked away.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It was something Chapman dished out to his employees when they did something crass or stupid, but Mario was astonished by Gunnar\u2019s acceptance of that outburst. \u201cI would\u2019ve never taken that. One of Gunnar\u2019s faults was that he was too damn nice,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was in his character; he just didn\u2019t want to make waves.\u201d<\/p>\n Petersens agreed: \u201cPerhaps Gunnar didn\u2019t have that last bit of killer instinct because he wanted to be friends with everybody and just have a good race.\u201d F1 in the 1970s had \u2018really nice guys,\u2019 so it would not have set Gunnar back that much as it did Elio de Angelis, who was also described as a \u2018nice fellow.\u2019 In short, Gunnar had to learn to be more ruthless and to be an \u2018egoist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Kettlewell also wrote: \u201cIt is to be hoped that Gunnar will be furnished with a competitive car so that he can once more display his race-winning form as he did at Zolder.\u201d With the \u201cfavored Lotus son\u201d Peterson returning to Lotus with welcome money from Count Guggi Zanon, Gunnar would be leaving. The Swedish papers were on tenterhooks to hear where he would be driving for 1978. He tested for McLaren, but it would turn out to be the breakaway Arrows team. He hoped to be team leader there, \u201cto fly with my own wings,\u201d as he said.<\/p>\n It was against Petersens\u2019s advice, when Gunnar told him the news while dining at Watkins Glen. \u201cI wasn\u2019t too sure about the whole situation. But Gunnar wanted to have a change, and be part of a whole new team and be able to build it up together with the others,\u201d mused Frederik.<\/p>\n That desire was greatly helped by the friendship he formed with his intended boss, Jackie Oliver. \u201cI used to spend a lot of time with him at his home in Sweden and we were soul-mates in that regard,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cHis personality would have fitted in very well with the new team because he was a pleasant individual that I got on very well with.\u201d In Helsingborg, Oliver experienced the nightlife with Gunnar. \u201cWe had a lot of fun. I always remember doing that during the summer and it always amazed me that we\u2019d come out of the nightclub at 2 or 3 o\u2019clock in the morning and it was still daylight!\u201d He laughed.<\/p>\n Although he was doing it for fun, Gunnar proved his mettle in \u201ctin-top\u201d racing as well. In 1976, he drove the BMW CSL in World Sportscar Championship rounds. He retired at Silverstone after 42 laps but won with Dieter Quester at the Osterreichring. In European Touring Cars, with the BMW \u2018Batmobile,\u2019 he won the N\u00fc\u00fcrburgring Six Hours by two laps and, at the Tourist Trophy at Silverstone, he finished 4th due to a faulty pump and puncture after having led. In 1977, he competed in the International Race of Champions (IROC), in the U.S. Despite having never raced on ovals before, driving a Chevrolet Camaro Z28, he finished 5th at Michigan. At Riverside, he finished 6th twice, after a duel with Richard Petty. He was so exhausted that he needed to be lifted out of the car and showered with his overalls on! He earned $7,500 in prize money and qualified for the Daytona 500 for the following February. Having been barred by Chapman before on the grounds of safety, he hoped to take up the invitation for the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n However, those hopes would be dashed. Gunnar was suffering throughout 1977, and Waters powerfully illustrated how the illness manifested itself. The Hewland gearbox had a 5-inch diameter steel input shaft that served as a feeder mechanism for the selector rods. The shaft could not be bent, even if it had been put into a vice and hit with a 2-pound hammer all day. Only the driver provided the load, and Gunnar broke the shaft at the warm-up at Long Beach. He\u2019d never done that before and Waters was bemused: \u201cWe were thinking, how the bloody hell do you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At Fuji, gear-selection problems halted Gunnar. \u201cHe had failed the gear-selection shaft, the rod that runs alongside the engine,\u201d said Glenn. \u201cWhat he had done was that he\u2019d bent this 5\/8-inch diameter rod from being a straight piece of rod; he\u2019d bent it compressedly by applying a load to the end. It was a compression failure that had bent it. I think that was some manifestation of his illness. I sat on the airplane talking to him on the way back, and he was telling me personally that he was having all sorts of difficulties.\u201d Gunnar refused to sit out a few races and see a doctor. \u201cThat was Gunnar\u2019s way. \u2018I have a job to do and I\u2019ll finish it. The pain I have, I can live with that,\u2019\u201d said Petersens. After Fuji, Gunnar visited a doctor who was a friend of Ken Tyrrell. Cancer was diagnosed and he was sent to London for treatment.<\/p>\n He would never be well enough to drive the Arrows FA1. In the hands of Patrese, it set 5th fastest lap on its debut at Jacarapagua; led at Kyalami for 36 laps before retiring and finished 2nd at Anderstorp. With Gunnar at the wheel, Arrows would have had \u201cfantastic results,\u201d in Oliver\u2019s words, due to his experience and being a more \u201cmoulded personality\u201d than Patrese, who had under his belt F2 and nine races with Shadow. While conceding that Gunnar would have been affected, as the team was by the legal wrangling that led to the banning of the FA1, there was \u201cno doubt. Absolutely no doubt\u201d that Gunnar would have won a race for Arrows, a moment the team would never enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
Photo: Gunnar Nilsson Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
Photo: Gunnar Nilsson Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n