Gerry Marshall

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Gerry Marshall (b. November 16, 1941 d. April 21, 2005) was a British saloon car racing driver, was considered by many to be one of the best drivers of all time according to a 2002 magazine poll. His professional driving career spans four decades, in 2000 chalking up his 600th win in a race at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk in an Aston Martin DB4. His first win was in 1964, driving a Mini.

Over the years Gerry raced many and numerous cars, ranging from 1950s Formula One cars (Aston DBR4, V16 BRM) to Le Mans cars (Ferrari 250 GTOs, AC Cobras, Lola T70, Porsche 962), to the extraordinary (Alvis Grey Lady, TVR Tuscan, Morris Marina, Ford P100).

However, he is probably best remembered for his flamboyant and crowd-pleasing style during the 1970s driving for Dealer Team Vauxhall in the racing Firenzas "Old Nail" and "Baby Bertha", and also the V8 Holden-Repco Ventora, "Big Bertha". He also won the 1971 Escort Mexico championship, beating future Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter and finished 2nd in the 1974 Avon Tour of Britain driving for the same team as the equally respected rally driver Roger Clark.

Marshall's style has been described as "sideways, on-the-edge cornering that was to distinguish his driving in any car, large or small, front or rear drive.” This outward appearance belied an extraordinary cool-headed ability and intelligence behind the wheel. His biography, published in 1978, is titled Only Here For The Beer and a tribute edition was re-issued shortly after his untimely death.

He died of a heart related illness whilst testing the ex-Richard Petty's IROC Chevrolet Camaro at Silverstone [1] .