Gil de Ferran (1967-2023)

[Vassago]

The news is in the Brazilian media and Tony Kanaan's IG. Apparently Gil de Ferran suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away at the age of 56. Horrible news

[theracer120]

Very sad. Apparently he was driving at a private track with his son in the passenger's seat when he pulled over feeling unwell.

[Ruslan]

Sad. Just saw it on my news feed.

[MonteCristo]

RIP.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Horrible News. RIP Gil de Ferran. 56 is way too young.

De Ferran died after racing with his son at The Concours Club in Florida, multiple former colleagues confirmed to The Associated Press. Fellow Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan said de Ferran was with his son, Luke, at the private course in Opa-Locka, Florida, when he pulled over and said he wasn't feeling well.

The Brazilian Motorsports Confederation, in a statement issued by president Giovanni Guerra, said de Ferran suffered a fatal heart attack.

"Gil de Ferran shone in Brazilian and foreign tracks, having as highlights his English Formula 3 title, his two IndyCar championships, and the victory at Indy 500 in 2003," Guerra said in the statement. "In my name and in the name of our confederation, we pray to God so He welcomes our brother in all glory and comforts his family, friends and millions of fans all over the world."

When de Ferran won the 2003 Indy 500 for Roger Penske, it was the third consecutive win in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for Penske.

"We are terribly saddened to hear about the tragic loss of Gil de Ferran. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Angela, Anna, Luke and the entire de Ferran family," Penske said in a statement. "Gil defined class as a driver and a gentleman. As an IndyCar Champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner, Gil accomplished so much during his career.

"He was beloved by so many and he was a great friend to the Team Penske family and to the entire international motorsports community. It's a tragic loss and he will be deeply missed."

Kanaan said he was "devastated" at the loss of the Brazilian icon.

"He was one of my best friends and we grew up together and lately and we worked together at McLaren," Kanaan told The Associated Press. "In the beginning of this year he was a mentor, helping me out. I lost a dear friend. I am devastated. I have to say, he went in Gil style, driving a race car. If I could choose a way to go, that's what I could do."

Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2000 and 2015 IndyCar champion, said: "Crazy sad news. Amazing guy and great racer."

The French-born Brazilian was rehired at McLaren as a consultant in May. He had been sporting director of McLaren's failed effort to qualify Fernando Alonso for the 2019 Indy 500.

"Everyone at McLaren Racing is shocked and deeply saddened to learn we have lost a beloved member of our or McLaren family," the team posted on social media. "We sent our deepest condolences to Gil de Ferran's family, friends and loved ones.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, a longtime close friend of de Ferran's: "I am shocked and devastated to hear of the loss of a great friend and he teammate. I've raced with Gil all over the world and watched him win some of the biggest races.

"He's been a great friend for over 20 years and will be greatly missed and never forgotten. My deepest condolences to his family. RIP Gil. The next win is for you! Goodspeed."

De Ferran won the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car titles driving for Penske, and the 2003 Indy 500 with Penske, as well. He was runner-up in LMP1 class of the American Le Mans Series in 2009, driving for his self-owned de Ferran Motorsports.

In 2000 at California Speedway, de Ferran set the closed-course land speed record during CART qualifying with a lap of 241.428 mph -- a mark that stands.

Marco Andretti was one of dozens of drivers to post their respects on social media. His included a photo of de Ferran that said: "My friend. One of the real ones. One of the reasons for my F1 tests. Loved your passion and love for our sport, Thank you for what you contributed to my life."

De Ferran was inspired to race by fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi and started his career in karting before embarking on a career in the European ladder system. He lost the British Formula Three title to countryman Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard in 1991, but won the title the next season.

He won seven CART and five IndyCar races, finishing second in the 2003 standings. He joined Team Penske with its iconic Marlboro sponsorship in 2000.

De Ferran is survived by his wife, Angela, daughter Anna, and son Luke. Anna has become a DJ at Formula One races around the world and the entire family had been posting festive Christmas photos over the past week.

.https://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/ ... 03-dies-56

[sadsac]

Godspeed Gil

[PTRACER]

Oh this is terrible news I remember seeing him in the paddock at the Festival Of Speed back in 2006. Legend of CART racing.

[SBan83]

Pretty unbelievable...RIP. Wonder if he had some underlying condition.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Rest in Peace Gil de Ferran

[PTRACER]

Any opinion on Gil de Ferran's greatest race?

[Everso Biggyballies]

Any opinion on Gil de Ferran's greatest race?

De Ferran’s victory at the 2003 Indianapolis 500 was surely the highlight of his racing life, and the closed-circuit record lap of 241.428mph he achieved at the California Speedway a bigger landmark. But Rockingham, as de Ferran closed on what would be his second consecutive Champ Car title for Team Penske, was also special – and must have felt almost like a home win for a man who’d become so familiar with the UK, the country in which he met his wife Angela.

(Motorsport in part of their Obit to Gil))

Perhaps not his greatest race, but certainly one of his greatest moves ever. Rockingham oval in the UK back in 2001...... when Gil mugged Kenny Bräck to steal victory at the final corner of the final lap.

A bit of background.... It was an event that was hyped to the max.... full-scale oval racing returned to Britain for the first time since Brooklands closed in 1939.

However, circumstances intervened meaning It was run at a horrible time in world and Indycar terms. in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US (a couple of weeks prior). Travelling anywhere was unsettling, especially for something that seemed so trivial in the terrifying and awful context we were then all living in.

Then to make matters much worse, poor Alex Zanardi had that dreadful accident on another new European oval: the Lausitzring in Germany. Just four days later the Indycar 'circus' turned up at Rockingham..... they all just wanted to get back to their families. But here they all were, in a former open quarry just outside gritty Corby in rural Northamptonshire.

It seems from the Indycar drivers a dreadful track for various reasons. It had "weepers'..... (even when it wasn’t raining, the too-porous surface on the 1.5-mile oval was springing damp patches. Thus the term ‘weeper’ entered the British motor sport dictionary). Paul Tracy described the track in Kimi style....“Nothing against you guys,” he grimaced, “but this place is f****** shit.”

Oh and their feelings were compounded by jet-lagged crew some in motorhomes at the circuit when the track employed trucks fitted with jet engines to dry the ‘weepers’ all through the night. It was said to be like trying to kip at the end of a runway.


Here are the final 10 laps from Rockingham.....





This is how Gil remembered the race some 20 years later in an interview with Motorsport.

Years later, the winner recalled that weekend and those final moments when he sat down for lunch with Motor Sport’s Simon Taylor. “Kenny was fast, smart and hard as nails,” he said. “In September there were two new European CART races a week apart, at Lausitzring in Germany and in England at Rockingham. We’d all just landed in Germany when the dreadful news came through of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. I’m in Berlin, my wife and kids are 5000 miles away in the US, all flights have shut down, it’s like World War III has broken out. Seeing those TV pictures over and over, it wasn’t good. Then in the race comes Zanardi’s dreadful accident. We were all sure he would die, we didn’t think he could survive that. That was a black weekend.

“We arrive at Rockingham and the circuit has ‘weepers.’ The race is due on Saturday, and on Thursday and Friday it’s too dangerous to run. On Saturday they decided it’s dry enough, we get a few familiarisation laps and then we line up in points order for the start. After dreadful understeer problems in Germany I’d gone to a completely different set-up, and I had no idea how my car would handle. But it worked. I had a great battle with Kenny for the lead. He got by me in the traffic on the penultimate lap, but I used the backmarkers to dive-bomb around the outside in the very last corner of the race, and won by half a second.

After the previous 12 days, that felt good.”