Robert Brett Lunger (born 14 November 1945 in Wilmington, Delaware) is an American racecar driver and Vietnam War veteran. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
There was so much to write concerning Brett Lunger that I have done two posts on him; one detailing his racing while this one tells of his interesting life and activities outside of racing.
Although most people remember him for his bravery in rescuing Niki Lauda from his blazing Ferrari, what may not be known is the fact he also served with distinction in Vietnam and later piloted humanitarian flights for seriously ill children.
He was studying at Princeton but dropped out and enlisted, eventually becoming a US Marine in Vietnam. He served with distinction (being awarded a Purple Heart) with an elite reconnaissance squadron which operated in the front line, and even behind enemy lines. When he returned to America he took part in a simulated prisoner of war programme of sleep deprivation and was even water-boarded.
After leaving the Army he resumed his passion for motor racing and continued racing up to 1982, when he retired.
However, although retired he thrived on being competitive so ran marathons and raced pushbikes; he said ironically he suffered more injuries when cycling than when he raced cars. He worked as a journalist with CBS, covering F1 races such as the 1979 South African GP plus completed his degree at Princeton.
He also founded Responsibility Today and the I Am Responsible Movement was his way of giving back to the community by drawing from his many successes and failures during his early life and racing career. He attends conferences and writing blog articles related to responsible decision making on the Responsibility Today website.
He also became interested in flying, starting with a single-engined propeller plane and eventually moved up to a small jet. He signed up with the Angel Flight network and has done more than 120 flights for them, at his own expense, flying children with life-threatening diseases and injured military veterans from their homes to hospital. The flights can get them to where they need to go without the problems of commercial aviation or perhaps extremely long bus journeys and he described it as often being a humbling experience.
Brett Lunger’s interest in motor racing was started after seeing SCCA racing at Vineland Motor Speedway in New Jersey and the competitive nature of it grabbed him. He started practising with a Corvette at Bridgehampton and his first proper race car was a Lotus 23. He finished eighth in a McLaren Chevrolet in the 1966 Nassau Trophy race and raced a Lola T160 in the 1968 Can-Am
During this time he was studying at Princeton but dropped out and enlisted, serving with distinction as a US Marine in Vietnam. After leaving the Army he resumed his passion for motor racing and competed in two SCCA National events.
During his early racing, his budget was so tight that he didn’t have enough money to fly to races and drove everywhere in a van. He raced a F5000 Lola T192 in 1971’s L&M 5000 Continental Championship and at Lime Rock Park, started the race with a 103 degree fever as he was suffering from mononucleosis. He finished third in the championship.
In 1972-73 he raced in Carl Hogan’s F5000 team and did European F2 in a Space Racing March, with sixth place finishes at the Nürburgring and Monza plus a fourth at Mantorp Park.
The first year with Hogan brought victories at Road Atlanta and Lime Rock and he finished third in the championship. The following year, in five races in Europe he was a regular on the podium and, after a second place at Brands Hatch, the two Lolas dominated Silverstone’s International Trophy meeting, with team mate David Hobbs finishing ahead of him.
He stayed in the UK, driving a Trojan for Sid Taylor Racing in the Rothmans Championship. There were victories at Snetterton and Mallory Park and he was leading the championship halfway through the season, but missed several rounds and finished fifth. Back in the US with the Hogan team, there were podiums but no wins and in addition to this, he completed in the European F2 Championship and Torneio Internacional de Formula 2 do Brasil.
In 1974 he raced Dan Gurney’s Eagle, declaring Dan Gurney was an all-American hero and that driving for him was a great experience. He started all seven races of the SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship, taking a second, third and a sixth place and finished fifth in the championship. He also raced a BMW 3.0 CSL in the Six Hours Watkins Glen race and competed in a SCCA Trans Am race, with George Follmer.
There were a few sports car races in early 1975 plus he did three Grands Prix with the Hesketh team, alongside James Hunt. He finished 13th in Austria, 10th at Monza but retired at Watkins Glen, and the following year saw him drive for Surtees, his best finish being 10th at Osterreichring.
1976 saw the heroic incident at the Nurburgring, where, he, Guy Edwards, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl, rescued Niki Lauda. Lauda’s burning Ferrari was in the middle of the track and although Edwards was able to pass to the left of it, Brett was unable to avoid it. Ertl also collided with it and knocked it into Lunger’s Surtees. Brett got out of his car and when marshals began putting foam on the Ferrari it enabled him and Merzario to get close to the fire. At first they were unable to free Lauda, who was struggling to free himself but the fire flared up and kept them back from the car. Lunger jumped on the Ferrari and grabbed Lauda by his shoulders and after Merzario unbuckled the seatbelts Brett and Lauda tumbled out of the car as part of the cockpit broke. Workers put foam onto them and they lay for a few seconds in the grass but the burning fuel was moving toward them and they walked a few steps steps away from the fire.
Brett himself stated about it, “Art Merzario came along and undid Niki’s belts while I grabbed him and pulled him out. I wasn’t a hero. People make a big deal out of it, but it wasn’t that. Maybe my military training helped. I was able to function under duress, and combat in Vietnam was certainly that-you learn to filter out the irrelevant things”
What he didn’t tell anyone at the time was that his father had died the day before the accident.
In 1978 he moved to BS Fabrications, who were racing McLarens and during a season in which there could be 36 drivers trying to qualify, he only missed the cut once and finished regularly among the top 10 or 12. His results included seventh in Zolder, eighth at Brands Hatch and eighth in Austria and his final GP was at his home race, but he had now switched to the Ensign team and finished 13th.
During that year he also raced in the BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone, finishing fourth, but at the end of the season he moved away from F1 and returned to US Sports Car racing.
There were sports car outings in a Porsche 935, with some good results, and he co-drove a Datsun 280Z with the man who started him in racing, George Alderman.
Brett retired from motor racing in 1982.
About “his” money Dupont and other
How American Brett Lunger Helped Niki Lauda Escape Flames of 1976 German GP
