Edward Everett "Teddy" Mayer died on January 30, 2009, at his home
in England, a sad loss to those in the racing community who knew
him personally and those who knew of his accomplishments. Born in
Scranton, Pennsylvania on September 8, 1935, Mayer became one of the
most successful team managers and owners in Formula One, IndyCars (CART)
and the former Can-Am Series.
His career path in motorsports actually started while he was a law
student at Cornell and working with his younger brother, Tim Mayer,
who had returned to the USA after a stint in the US Armed Forces.
The younger Mayer graduated from Yale and ventured into auto racing
overseas, honing his craft as a racing driver.
Mayer received his degree from Cornell in 1962, following on his
earlier degree from Yale, before his move to Europe to work with his
younger brother Timmy and Peter Revson. After the loss of his brother
two years later, in a racing accident in Tasmania, Mayer stayed in
motorsports.
Mayer's own career took off like a rocket, with Mayer helping Bruce
McLaren in the formation of the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team for the
1966 F1 championship season, and managing the team jointly with McLaren.
When McLaren died in 1970, testing a Can-Am car at the Goodwood Circuit
in England, Mayer stayed with the team, and under his direction in
1974, he led the team to their first F1 constructors' title with a Ford
Cosworth DFV powerplant -- and team driver Fittipaldi earned the
drivers' championship.
Even with F1 on their agenda, the team found time to compete in American
open-wheel IndyCar (USAC and later CART) series, and was one of the top
teams in Can-Am. In 1976, they pulled a double victory, with
Johnny Rutherford winning the Indianapolis 500 and James Hunt taking the
F1 driver's championship.
After that, though, the team gradually began to struggle in both series,
and pulled out from CART after the 1979 season to focus on Formula One.
Less than a year later, McLaren was still struggling, and both the
team's drivers -- John Watson and F1 rookie Alain Prost -- were shut out
from podium positions throughout the season.
With the situation not improving, the team's main sponsor, Philip
Morris, engineered a merger between Mayer's McLaren and Ron Dennis'
Project Four team, which was on its way to winning its second
consecutive Formula 2 championship.
Mayer stayed with McLaren, managing it jointly with Dennis, until 1982.
With Dennis having bought out his shares, he then returned to Indy-style
racing under the Mayer Motor Racing name based in England.
He formed the team with Tyler Alexander, who had also sold his McLaren
shares to Dennis. Tom Sneva and Howdy Holmes were named as the team's
drivers and they came close to taking the title in 1984, Sneva
ending second by only one point after Mario Andretti took the win in the
season finale.
He returned to F1 in 1985 in partnership with Alexander and Carl Haas,
entering one car for Alan Jones for four races in preparation for a
full campaign in 1986. With Jones joined by Patrick Tambay in 1986, the
team showed promise, finishing 4th and 5th in the Austrian Grand Prix.
However, the team's primary sponsor, Beatrice, pulled out at the end of
the season, and the team was forced to close its doors.
Roger Penske brought Mayer back to CART following a one-year
self-imposed hiatus. Mayer held the position of Vice-Chairman of
Penske's racing endeavors through the 1990s. He remained in a consulting
role with Penske after leaving the full-time role with the organization.
The magic between Penske and Mayer was noted in the first year; Danny
Sullivan earned the 1988 championship while Rick Mears won the Indianapolis
500. In 1991, Mears earned his fourth Indy 500 victory. Fittipaldi took the
Indy 500 win in 1993 and one year later, Al Unser Jr. earned the CART title
plus handed Penske his 10th Indy 500 win. Gil de Ferran was the next of the
talented pool of racers under Penske and in 2000, he delivered his first
championship, a feat he repeated in 2001.
The team's success at Indianapolis was highlighted by three consecutive Indy
500 wins: Castroneves in 2001 and 2002, and de Ferran in 2003. Penske moved his
team to the Indy Racing League's IndyCar series for the 2002 season, and in
2006, Sam Hornish Jr. won the title and the Indy 500.
Mayer's son Tim has followed in his father's footsteps into racing, and
is currently the chief operating officer of IMSA and the American Le
Mans Series, and a vice-president of ACCUS.
For those of us who had the honor to meet Mayer, two things stand out:
his sense of humor and his ability to include anyone he saw at a race
track with a warm hand-shake or a smile as he greeted them, be it a
volunteer worker to the drivers to team owners and series chiefs.
It is with great sadness that we reflect on the remarkable racing icon
but it is with a great deal of respect that we remember who he was and
the type of person he showed to the world.
Our sympathy is extended to his son, Tim and his daughter Anne.
