Open-wheel drivers weighing 100kg or more

I was wondering about the heavier open wheel drivers I've ever seen to squeeze in a cockpit. I'm not talking about "Montoya" and "small and chubby drivers" who weigh 70kg and measure 1,65m, but truly BIG AND HEAVY drivers.

I can remeber the likes of Froilán Gonzalez and in the "modern era" Tomas Kaiser from F3000 and Im in doubt if Paul Tracy and AJ Foyt weigh 100kg or more..

Yes, you are right about Troy, just found this amazing article:

"He is 62 now, but acquaintances say he looks better today--a trim 230 pounds distributed over his 6-foot-3 frame--than he did in 1952 when he weighed "about 265" the day he drove the Agajanian Special to victory at a then-record average speed of 128.922 m.p.h."

"Today, in another era, crippled drivers go through strenuous rehabilitation and return to their race cars as strong as ever.

But Ruttman says he spent his recuperation time drinking, gambling, womanizing and gaining weight.

"I'll bet I got up close to 300 pounds," he said. "I was all blubbery, and all I did was goof around. I didn't do what the docs said to do to take care of my arm, and after four or five months, it began to atrophy. From July '52 to May '54 I did everything I shouldn't have done."

But I would like to see names from "modern era".

Fulton Haight springs to mind, he did a very slow season as a pay driver with Magnum Racing in F3, I once saw him eat his way through the menu twice and, with the assistance of his mechanics, drank two magnums (I don't think there was even a suggestion of word association) of Chateau Haut Brion. The following day he was penalised for not fastening his seat belts on the warming up lap, it did not make a lot of difference as he was slowest in practice by 3 or 4 seconds. Two drivers in the car as John Robinson said.

70kg?? Patrick Depailler has had 58kg!

Big Gerry? Sorry Gregor....

Ivor the Driver was on the chunky side, and definitely outweighed by Jack Nurse, who had the aerodynamic properties of a barn door. Both are particularly impressive as they had only 35-40bhp to pull them along.

I can think of a modern historic racer who admitted his car rolled back the right way up due to 'pink ballast'...

Depailler was hardly "small and chubby", and Ruttman was tall, but trim when he won the '500' - you could even say he was lanky. He only started gaining weight after his accident later in 1952. <not a modern driver in any way, but Deacon Litz was tall and... well, heavy!

Ruttman was tall, but trim when he won the '500' - you could even say he was lanky. He only started gaining weight after his accident later in 1952

Gerry Marshall raced a Formula Ford a couple of times - When I last met him, he was well over 100Kgs - I weigh over 100 and he made me feel quite slim. Lovely man, he looked after my wife and her friend when a driver friend, Greg Hodges, lost 2 fingers in an FF accident at Snetterton.

Gerry Marshall raced a Formula Ford a couple of times - When I last met him, he was well over 100Kgs

He certainly did!  http://thumbsnap.com/s/dioehuRQ.jpg

 

Alan Jones had put on a few pounds when he came back and raced the Arrows in F1 and had a few problems when he tried that one make single seater series for ex F1 drivers. Was it Masters or something?

Fulton Haight springs to mind, he did a very slow season as a pay driver with Magnum Racing in F3, I once saw him eat his way through the menu twice and, with the assistance of his mechanics, drank two magnums (I don't think there was even a suggestion of word association) of Chateau Haut Brion. The following day he was penalised for not fastening his seat belts on the warming up lap, it did not make a lot of difference as he was slowest in practice by 3 or 4 seconds. Two drivers in the car as John Robinson said.

Very interesting, do you have some pictures of him?

He certainly did!  http://thumbsnap.com/s/dioehuRQ.jpg

 

 Awesome! Was he competitve when he raced F-Ford?

And about Jonesy, yes, he was fat in his Lola Haas times, but was he 100kg or more? I doubt. I would like to know Mr Foyt´s weight in the 80s..

Edited by Kart15, 28 February 2014 - 18:16.

 

 Awesome! Was he competitve when he raced F-Ford?

 

 

Gregor probably has the results somewhere, and yes I think he was competitive, but Gerry had the ability to make almost anything quick despite a slight weight disadvantage  

Edited by alansart, 28 February 2014 - 18:50.

Jerry Grant?

Guy Ligier played as a prop forward for France and could easily have weighed in at 100Kg.

Carl Godin de Beaufort always reckoned every other driver had at least 15/20bhp advantage on him, ISTR.  OT a bit with a US stock car racer, Tiny Lund was a big chap, but his weight and size came into their own when it really mattered, just ask Colonel Don Capps. If you have to ask who he? try finding out as a little test.

Usual disclaimers

Roger Lund

Carl Godin de Beaufort always reckoned every other driver had at least 15/20bhp advantage on him, ISTR.  OT a bit with a US stock car racer, Tiny Lund was a big chap, but his weight and size came into their own when it really mattered, just ask Colonel Don Capps. If you have to ask who he? try finding out as a little test.

Usual disclaimers

Roger Lund

Do not forget Buddy Baker.

Very interesting, do you have some pictures of him?

 

 

 Awesome! Was he competitve when he raced F-Ford?

 

And about Jonesy, yes, he was fat in his Lola Haas times, but was he 100kg or more? I doubt. I would like to know Mr Foyt´s weight in the 80s..

Evidently they had to literally hammer the sides of the tub to get Alan in the Arrows. At best he was burlier than the opposition.

Pete Geoghan, though he seldom drove open wheelers and probably not as he got older and bigger.

I doubt that many modern cars would accomodate someone that big these days. They do not accomodate tall drivers for sure and there is a lot of 80 plus kilo 6'5" young blokes who would love a go but do not fit the cars. Only skinny little blokes [or women] fit these cars.

Mark Webber was always severely compromised, and too a degree the cars were built for him.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 28 February 2014 - 22:37.

Also Steve Kinser, a sprinter is an open wheeler and I reckon Steve is a 100 plus these days and still on the pace.

There is actually quite a few big speedway drivers,, and a lot of skinny ones too.

Very interesting, do you have some pictures of him?

 

 

 Awesome! Was he competitve when he raced F-Ford?

 

And about Jonesy, yes, he was fat in his Lola Haas times, but was he 100kg or more? I doubt. I would like to know Mr Foyt´s weight in the 80s..

No pictures but I believe he is still around in the San Francisco area

Duncan Hamilton used to take himself off to a health farm at the beginning of each season to endeavour to reduce his considerable bulk, although I've no idea what he weighed. He drove mostly sports cars, of course, but did compete in open-wheelers: he had his own Lago-Talbot and he certainly drove, if he did not own, a Connaught A-type. He also raced a Maserati 6CM, a B-type ERA and even an HWM. All the same, his admitted preference was for big, powerful cars. This quite possibly, not to say probably, had something to do with his considerable physical presence.

Pete Geoghan, though he seldom drove open wheelers and probably not as he got older and bigger.

I doubt that many modern cars would accomodate someone that big these days. They do not accomodate tall drivers for sure and there is a lot of 80 plus kilo 6'5" young blokes who would love a go but do not fit the cars. Only skinny little blokes [or women] fit these cars.

Mark Webber was always severely compromised, and too a degree the cars were built for him.

I always thought it was the opposite, that was more difficult  to a big guy to fit in the old aluminium chassis (because you sit in the chassis not in a seat) than in the modern carbon fiber monocoques, because the modern chassis are not tight, they has a good space if you remove the seat and you know, nowadays the seat is made exactly of the driver´s size..

I currently weight 95kg and I have 1,80m and I've fit perfectly in some formula cars that I had the opportunity to sit, like a Dallara IR05 Indycar from Newman Haas Racing (without the seat and of course with recessed pedals that was made for the tiny Hideki Mutoh), and a F3 Dallara.. I once tested a Formula Vee but of course was a tubular chassis.. 

When Paul Tracy tried Indycars for the last time I bet he was with more than 90kg, wasn´t he?

Edited by Kart15, 01 March 2014 - 18:10.

Thus far and we haven't had the Wild Bull of Wessex, Horace Gould?

I think the OP only wants "modern", IOW tub type cockpit surrounds.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 02 March 2014 - 16:50.

Max Stewart was tall and solid-looking - would he have made 100kg?

If so, it didn't seem to hold him up much...

Thinking about it, for a six-foot driver even 200 lbs, much less 100kg makes the driver either a muscle bound hulk, or a goodly deal over-weight.

At 6'1 and late 50s I struggle to get under 95kilo. Otherwise I look anorexic. That is just my [larger] build, the same as my father and grandfather.

100kg is 15.75 stone. A reasonably muscular, six-foot-something man can easily be that heavy without looking huge.

I could believe Alan Jones was that big, although I'm not sure how tall he is. 

Jody Scheckter always looked far bigger and heavier than his contemporaries in his heyday, but that might be down to his posture, and the fact that he was often seen with tiny little blokes like Gilles Villeneuve and Patrick Depailler. 

100kg is 15.75 stone. A reasonably muscular, six-foot-something man can easily be that heavy without looking huge.

I could believe Alan Jones was that big, although I'm not sure how tall he is. 

 

Jody Scheckter always looked far bigger and heavier than his contemporaries in his heyday, but that might be down to his posture, and the fact that he was often seen with tiny little blokes like Gilles Villeneuve and Patrick Depailler. 

Alan Jones is between 5'6" and 5'8" in the old money, I saw him a few times in person when he was racing V8 touring cars; he always looked more corpulent than the average young whippet, especially on tv (and racing suits added to the illusion of bulk) but I didn't get the impression of a huge excess of weight. You'd probably say on the large side of average for a middleaged male, but alittle chunky for a racing driver. Like Scheckter, he probably looked larger compared to the jockeys he competed against.

Very interesting, do you have some pictures of him?

 

 

 Awesome! Was he competitve when he raced F-Ford?

 

And about Jonesy, yes, he was fat in his Lola Haas times, but was he 100kg or more? I doubt. I would like to know Mr Foyt´s weight in the 80s..

As far as I know he was 96 kg when he raced for the Haas Lola team in 1986.

Alan Jones is between 5'6" and 5'8" in the old money, I saw him a few times in person when he was racing V8 touring cars; he always looked more corpulent than the average young whippet, especially on tv (and racing suits added to the illusion of bulk) but I didn't get the impression of a huge excess of weight. You'd probably say on the large side of average for a middleaged male, but alittle chunky for a racing driver. Like Scheckter, he probably looked larger compared to the jockeys he competed against.

I think Alan is around 5'10 '5'11. When he was driving for Glen Seton. The couple of times I have spoken with him he was nearly my height, talk face to face, not look down at him.

How much did Nige weigh when they had to put build the "husky" sized cockpit for him? Tony Stewart was no lightweight even in his IRL days.

I think Alan is around 5'10 '5'11. When he was driving for Glen Seton. The couple of times I have spoken with him he was nearly my height, talk face to face, not look down at him.

Might be closer to 5'10", I started school post adoption of the metric system! My elders always say I'm 5'10 and am sure he was shorter than me...incidentally Alan and I share a birthday, albeit some years apart.

I don't know what either weighed but I would think 70s F5000 competitors Terry Sanger and Ulf Norinder might qualify.