He was the son of jockey Ken Gethin & was first noticed in British Formula 3 in 1968. In 1969 he moved to British Formula 5000 with Church Farm Racing. He dominated the series, winning the title in his first year & again in 1970.
He also won the 1970 Formula 2 race at Pau & soon afterwards he moved into Formula 1, being drafted in by McLaren after the death of team founder Bruce McLaren who had been killed at the Goodwood Circuit earlier in the month. He stayed with the team in 1971 but in the mid-season he was approached by BRM which needed to replace Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed in a sports car race at the Norisring. In his second race for BRM he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when he forced his BRM P160 into the lead at the last corner, winning the race by one-hundredth of a second at an average speed of 151.634mph. Not only was it the smallest margin of victory recorded up to then in Formula 1 history, but was also the fastest ever average speed. A month later he won the Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Gethin participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, having debuted on June 21 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest average speed in Formula One history (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher at the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. He succumbed to a lengthy illness at age 71. More information here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-getpet.html
He also won the 1970 Formula 2 race at Pau & soon afterwards he moved into Formula 1, being drafted in by McLaren after the death of team founder Bruce McLaren who had been killed at the Goodwood Circuit earlier in the month. He stayed with the team in 1971 but in the mid-season he was approached by BRM which needed to replace Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed in a sports car race at the Norisring. In his second race for BRM he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when he forced his BRM P160 into the lead at the last corner, winning the race by one-hundredth of a second at an average speed of 151.634mph. Not only was it the smallest margin of victory recorded up to then in Formula 1 history, but was also the fastest ever average speed. A month later he won the Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Gethin participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, having debuted on June 21 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest average speed in Formula One history (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher at the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. He succumbed to a lengthy illness at age 71. More information here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-getpet.html
He was the son of jockey Ken Gethin & was first noticed in British Formula 3 in 1968. In 1969 he moved to British Formula 5000 with Church Farm Racing. He dominated the series, winning the title in his first year & again in 1970.
He also won the 1970 Formula 2 race at Pau & soon afterwards he moved into Formula 1, being drafted in by McLaren after the death of team founder Bruce McLaren who had been killed at the Goodwood Circuit earlier in the month. He stayed with the team in 1971 but in the mid-season he was approached by BRM which needed to replace Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed in a sports car race at the Norisring. In his second race for BRM he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when he forced his BRM P160 into the lead at the last corner, winning the race by one-hundredth of a second at an average speed of 151.634mph. Not only was it the smallest margin of victory recorded up to then in Formula 1 history, but was also the fastest ever average speed. A month later he won the Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Gethin participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, having debuted on June 21 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest average speed in Formula One history (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher at the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. He succumbed to a lengthy illness at age 71. More information here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-getpet.html
He also won the 1970 Formula 2 race at Pau & soon afterwards he moved into Formula 1, being drafted in by McLaren after the death of team founder Bruce McLaren who had been killed at the Goodwood Circuit earlier in the month. He stayed with the team in 1971 but in the mid-season he was approached by BRM which needed to replace Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed in a sports car race at the Norisring. In his second race for BRM he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when he forced his BRM P160 into the lead at the last corner, winning the race by one-hundredth of a second at an average speed of 151.634mph. Not only was it the smallest margin of victory recorded up to then in Formula 1 history, but was also the fastest ever average speed. A month later he won the Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Gethin participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, having debuted on June 21 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest average speed in Formula One history (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher at the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. He succumbed to a lengthy illness at age 71. More information here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-getpet.html
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