Fifteen minutes of fame: Junior formula

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Alan Mertens’ first Glamer Indycar design won the worlds biggest race at its first attempt. Set up for life then? No, not exactly. Adam Cooper reveals why this was its only attempt, too

The Galmer G92’s spell in the spotlight probably extended to half an hour, since it did win two major races, but the fact that it appeared for just one full season before being canned makes it an ideal candidate for this series.

The story began in January 1988 when long-time March designer Alan Mertens left to join CART team owner Rick Galles. The plan was for Mertens to tweak the customer March 88C in the search for a Penske-style ‘unfair advantage’ that would give Al Unser Jnr an edge over the competition.

A combination of surnames produced the moniker Galmer Engineering, and Mertens set up a small design base in Bicester. Galles then switched to a Lola chassis in 1989, and Galmer expanded to manufacturing go-faster parts. Building a bespoke chassis was a natural progression, but the first job was to convince Galles that it was worth the investment

“It was mostly Junior who convinced Rick to do that,” recalls Mertens. “For one reason or another he believed in me, and he always wanted to continue that trend of having engineering development which was exclusive to him, and which would set him aside from running generic cars.

“In 1990, we won the championship, and that year Rick also went into partnership with Maury Kraines of Kraco. The income made it a lot more affordable. We had substance behind us as company and as a team. That’s when we decided to get ambitious and start work on the Galmer.”

The car was developed in Bicester — ironically at a facility acquired from the now-defunct March — throughout 1991. The prototype appeared at the end of that year, and in testing, Mertens discovered a problem surrounding the torsional rigidity of the bellhousing between the engine and the gearbox. That was sorted, and an impressive array of four chassis was dispatched to the season-opener in Australia for Unser Jnr and the team’s new signing, Danny Sullivan.

Incredibly, Al put the car on pole. He and Sullivan then ran first and second until it rained, eventually finishing fourth and fifth. The car was less impressive on the Phoenix oval, but shone again on the streets of Long Beach, where Sullivan won after a controversial late collision with his team mate — which denied Al a fifth straight win in California!

Next stop was Indianapolis. Phoenix had provided a clue, and at the Speedway there was more proof that the brilliant street fighter was less at home on ovals.

Mertens: “One of the unique aspects of the car was that we turned the turbo around through 90 degrees, and we had twin inlets on the top of the bodywork when traditionally they had been one on one side. The twin exhausts and wastegates traversed the complete exit of the underwing.

“On road courses and street courses it worked with us, because the balance change we got coming on and off the gas allowed us to get a very good entry into tight corners, and to get good power down coming out But it worked against us at the Speedway. If the drivers had to ‘breathe’ the car at all, or got caught in traffic, then the balance changed. So the car lacked consistency.”

Sullivan and Unser Jnr qualified eighth and 12th, quick among the Chevy crowd, but unable to match the speed of the front-runners. Then on a cold and overcast raceday, Unser came into his own. A series of huge crashes sent Mario Andretti and others to hospital, and in between the many yellow flags, Al worked his way into contention. When Michael Andretti retired with just 11 laps to go, the Galmer moved into the lead. In a thrilling finish, Unser just held off a late charge from Scott Goodyear, while Sullivan finished a solid fifth.

“It didn’t quite sink in at first,” says Mertens. “In the words of Pink Floyd, I was comfortably numb! It was a great result, but the full credit must go down to Junior — his tenacity, his common sense, his ability to use his head, keep the car on the road, and be patient He’s always been that sort of driver.”

The Galmer also earned Mertens the prestigious Schwitzer Award for technical achievement. It seemed so easy, but after Indy, there were no more wins. However, Unser finished every race, sometimes grafting his way onto the podium, and he eventually scored enough points to claim third in the championship.

“It was a pretty decent car, a nice looking car when it was altogether,” recalls crew chief `Ziggy’ Harcus. “It was heavy and overbuilt in places, but it was strong as hell. A couple of times Al had contact with other people, and one time he was three or four feet in the air at a 45-degree angle. He came down and just carried on! It was a good streetcar, but the small ovals were the biggest problem.”

The car’s inherent failings proved costly. That would have been addressed on the G93 by aero specialist Andy Brown, but the car was never built Galles simply lost interest and pulled the plug.

“After Indy,” says Mertens, “we got the impression that Rick had decided in his own mind that he’d achieved everything that he wanted to achieve when he set out to do his own car. True, it was costing a lot, but the car generated $3.5m of prize money! And by the end of the year we had orders from other teams. I was heartbroken.”

For 1993, a disappointed Unser was back in a Lola, and by ’94, he had jumped ship to Penske.

“Al was adamant that if we wanted to beat Penske, we had to have our own car,” says Harcus. The G92 enjoyed a brief swansong when Bruce McCaw entered Dominic Dobson in a handful of races in 1993, marking the birth of the PacWest team. Meanwhile Mertens sold the unused G93 design to Reynard, and it would form the basis of the company’s entry into CART the following year. Galmer continued as a design consultancy, working mainly for Pac West, until it was sold and absorbed by Prodrive in 1999.

Mertens, Galles and Unser Jnr were briefly reunited in the IRL in 2000. When that fizzled out, Alan and Al joined up with investor Mike Malloy to start a new design business based in Albuquerque. So don’t be surprised to see a 43-year-old Unser in his own car at Indy in 2006. Possibly alongside his son, ‘Mini’ Al.