James Hunt

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia James Simon Wallis Hunt 29 August 1947 15 June 1993 was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in 1976 After retiring from racing in 1979 Hunt became a media commentator and businessman Beginning his racing career in touring car racing Hunt progressed into Formula Three where he attracted the attention of the Hesketh Racing team and was soon taken under their wing Hunts often actionpacked exploits on track earned him the nickname Hunt the Shunt Hunt entered Formula One in 1973 driving a March 731 entered by the Hesketh Racing team He went on to win for Hesketh driving their own Hesketh 308 car in both World Championship and nonChampionship races before joining the McLaren team at the end of 1975 In his first year with McLaren Hunt won the 1976 World Drivers Championship and he remained with the team for a further two years although with less success before moving to the Wolf team in early 1979 Following a string of races in which he failed to finish Hunt retired from driving halfway through the 1979 season After retiring from motor racing he established a career commentating on Grands Prix for the BBC He was known for his knowledge insights dry sense of humour and his criticism of drivers who he believed were not trying hard enough which in the process brought him a whole new fanbase Hunt died from a heart attack aged 45 He was inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame on January 29 2014