| Born | 18 August 1934 Stuttgart, Württemberg, Germany |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Active years | 1961 |
| Teams | non-works Lotus |
| Entries | 3 (2 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1961 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1961 German Grand Prix |
Michael[1] May (born 18 August 1934 in Stuttgart, Germany[1]) is a former racing driver and engineer from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 May 1961. He scored no championship points.
After a crash during practice for the 1961 German Grand Prix, May concentrated on engineering, helping to develop a fuel injection system for Porsche and Ferrari.
May is generally credited with introducing the first manipulated elevated wing onto a racing car - a Porsche 550 Spyder- to produce downforce (or down thrust) for enhanced braking and cornering speeds to reduce lap times. The modified 550 was entered by May and his brother Pierre in the 1956 1000km of Nürburgring. During qualifying, the car lapped the circuit four seconds faster than the Porsche factory team 550s. However, race organizers disqualified the car following a complaint by Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein. The wing was removed for the remainder of the car's racing career.[2][3]
He also worked in designing high-compression engines, improving fuel economy among other things.[4] The most notable example was his reworked 'Fireball' head for the 'high-efficiency' high-compression Jaguar V-12 HE engine.[5][6]
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Transcription
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Scuderia Colonia | Lotus 18 | Climax 1.5l straight-4 | MON Ret |
NED | BEL | FRA 11 |
GBR | GER DNS |
ITA DNA |
USA | NC | 0 |
Non-Championship
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Scuderia Colonia | Lotus 18 | Climax Straight-4 |
LOM | GLV | PAU | BRX | VIE | AIN Ret |
SYR | NAP | LON | SIL Ret |
SOL Ret |
KAN | DAN | MOD | FLG | OUL DNA |
LEW | VAL | RAN | NAT | RSA |
| 1962 | Michael May | - | - | CAP | BRX | LOM | LAV | GLV | PAU DNA |
AIN | INT | NAP | MAL | CLP | RMS | SOL | KAN | MED | DAN | OUL | MEX | RAN | NAT |
Notes
- ^ Sources disagree as to the spelling of May's first name. Forix and The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who say "Michael", whereas www.grandprix.com says "Michel" and this 8W article lists both. However, this source offers evidence that it's "Michael".
References
- ^ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ Dargegen, Remi (21 July 2020). "Michael May's Porsche 550 Spyder is a winged wonder". www.classicdriver.com. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ Miterko, Andrew (2023-03-30). "The Giant Killers". Road Scholars - Vintage Porsche Sales and Restoration. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ David Scott (November 1976), "Fireball engine boosts mpg and cuts emissions", Popular Science, Rolle, Switzerland, p. 136
- ^ Ludvigsen, Karl (2005). The V12 Engine. Sparkford, Yeovil: Haynes Publishing. pp. 318–319. ISBN 1-84425-004-0.
- ^ Ray T. Bohacz (January 2009), "Fire in the Hole", High Performance Pontiac, archived from the original on 2012-05-05, retrieved 2011-10-30
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This page was last edited on 3 February 2024, at 10:40