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Timmy Mayer
"Having a go" |
 Tim Mayer is 25 years old and was born in
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He was married in 1959 and his
wife Garrill who hails from Connecticut, accompanies
him on all his motor racing journeys.
In order to compete at race meetings Tim had to wait
until he was 21, the minimum age in the United
States for obtaining a competition licence.
After graduating from Yale University with the
equivalent degree of a Bachelor of English
Literature, he started competition with a 2.6 litre
Austin Healey and finished his first season with a
fourth in the national class placings.
In 1960 Tim bought a Lotus 18 Formula Junior, and
prior to wrecking the car at Louisville he had
finished second in five out of eight races in
which he had started.
For 1961 Tim Mayer obtained a Formula Junior Cooper,
and in spite of the enforced rank of Corporal Mayer
in the U.S. Army he managed to race almost every
weekend by judicious use of his leave and the
American network of airlines. Tim was still in the
army in 1962 and in spite of being based in Puerto
Rico he managed to win the S.C.C.A. Formula Junior
Championship and the Kimberley Cup for the most
improved and outstanding American driver. This
earned him a drive in the United States Grand Prix
at Watkins Glen in the third Cooper team car which
was of the old four cylinder 1500 c.c. type.
After obtaining his release from the U.S. Army, Tim
was given a chance to drive in the Ken Tyrrell
Racing Team of Formula Junior Coopers. Although he
gained a lot of experience in 1963 his successes
were few, but towards the latter part of the year he
showed his real form in a sports car race at Brands
Hatch. For this race he flew his 2.7 litre Cooper
Monaco over from America and finished third behind
Roger Penske and Roy Salvadori, also in Coopers.
Soon after joining forces with Bruce McLaren for the
Tasman Championship races it was announced that Tim
Mayer would be No. 2 in the Cooper team for 1964
International Championship Formula 1 races. His
foresight in undertaking
this "down under" tour is very commendable as it
will provide him with very valuable experience and
ensure that he will be in good form for the 1964
Grand Prix Season.
Tim has been assisted in his endeavours by Teddy
Mayer, his 28-year-old brother, who after graduating
at Yale with a B.A. degree gave up the chance of a
career as a tax lawyer to manage and further Tim's
progress towards the top of the motor racing tree.
In the first race of the Tasman Championship at
Levin on the 4th January, 1964, Tim finished in
second place to Denis Hulme, and again followed
Denis over the finishing line in the New Zealand
Grand Prix at Pukekohe a week later, this time in
third place. At Wigram he was unable to gain any
points but in the last New Zealand race at Teretonga
he came second to Bruce McLaren and his showing so
far has fully justified a place in the Cooper team
for the rest of this year.
Webmasters Note : This article
was written a few short weeks before Timmy Mayers death.
Bruce McLaren later penned the following tribute
after his friends tragic death at Longford.
 We sat
on top of the pits in the sun at Longford waiting
for the first practice session to start: Timmy
Mayer, his wife Garrill, the mechanics - our team.
We had a view of the picturesque countryside
and immediately below was the paddock area.
Colourful with polished
sports and racing cars and trade tents in the
background.
We were all happy. This was the last event of our
tour. For two months we had worked, raced and
relaxed together and, perhaps more than anyone else,
Timmy was enjoying himself. He told me he really
liked Australia.
Intelligent and charming, he had made dozens of
friends. As often occurs, to look at him you
wouldn't take him for a racing driver. You had to
know him, to realise his desire to compete, to do
things better than the next man, be it swimming,
water-skiing or racing.
So when, during the second practice session, he
crashed at high speed and we knew immediately that
it was bad, in our hearts we felt that he had been
enjoying himself, and "having a go".
The news that he died instantly was a terrible shock
to all of us. But who is to say that he had not seen
more, done more and learned more in his 26 years
than many people do in a lifetime?
It is tragic, particularly for those left. Plans
half made must now be forgotten, and the hopes must
be rekindled. Without men like Tim, plans and hopes
mean nothing.
To do something well is so worthwhile that to die
trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. I can't
say these things well, but I know this is what I
feel to be true. It would be a waste of life to do
nothing with ones ability, life is measured in terms
of achievement, not in years alone.
 To those who have shown Garrill, his wife, Teddy,
his brother, indeed all of
our team, so much kindness and consideration, I want
to say "thankyou". Telegrams that arrived from all
over the world bore testimony to Timmy's wide circle
of friends and the loss they felt.
Timmy was a true friend and a fine team-mate.
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Article
written by ? & Bruce McLaren
Every
effort has been made to trace the owners of
copyright and we apologise to any we have been
unable to contact |
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