Phil Hill (1927-2008)

pfrocker

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Sad News today, Phil Hill has passed away today at the of 81. He was the first American F1 champion. And I had just watched him in a Good Wood festival of speed re-run. May he Rest in Peace.
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http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/8/8286.html
Phil Hill, the United States? first Formula One world champion, has passed away aged 81. Hill, who took the 1961 drivers? title with Ferrari, died on Thursday in a California hospital of complications from Parkinson?s disease.

Born in Santa Monica in 1927, Hill started racing after dropping out of college to become a mechanic?s helper in Los Angeles. In 1955 he joined Ferrari?s driver roster at Le Mans, a race he would eventually win three times, and was promoted to a Formula One drive after the deaths of Luigi Musso and Peter Collins in 1958.

Hill took the first of his three Formula One victories in 1960 at Monza. The Italian circuit also saw him crowned champion the following year, but in heartbreaking circumstances, after German team mate Count Wolfgang von Trips was killed during the race.

It was a tragedy from which Hill?s Formula One career never really recovered and he eventually retired from single-seater racing in 1964, going on to establish a successful car restoration business in his native California.

For more on Phil Hill, visit his profile in Formula1.com?s Hall of Fame section.
 
RIP, I remember I used to watch old documentaries on Speedvision about him when I was young.
 
RIP, Master Hill.

Jaguar gave Phil Hill his big break and he went from there. Despite the fact that he jumped ship for Ferrari shortly thereafter, he will be missed in the Jaguar community - if for nothing else than a masterful competitor and a master of the sport.
 
RIP, any man who drove an F1 car in that time, let alone a world champion, should be praised...
 
I liked reading his articles in Road & Track... :(
 
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