J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd (JWA)

Race Car constructor of United Kingdom

John Wyer was a British motorsport engineer and race director. John Wyer's race cars went for many years in the blue-orange livery of its sponsor Gulf Oil at the start.

John Wyer was one of the most successful team managers in sports car racing in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He began his career at Aston Martin , where he worked for nearly a decade as a race director. His biggest success for this brand was the triumph at the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours , which Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby drove in the Aston Martin DBR1 . Three times in a row, 1957, 1958 and 1959, Wyer led his team to success in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring .

In 1963, Wyer left Aston Martin and in 1964 led the racing activities of Ford in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In 1965 he founded his own racing team. His partner was John Willment , the brother-in-law of German racing driver Hans Herrmann .

During this time period, John Wyer Automotive became the most dominant racing team. At first, the team used the Mirage M1, which was essentially a lightweight Ford GT40, but it was a failure. Bianchi / Rodrguez won the 1968 Le Mans overall championship, followed by Ickx / Oliver in 1969.

Wyer designed the Ford-powered Mirage M-1, a prototype that won the 1967 1000 km Spa with the help of Gulf Oil and their team manager J-O Bockman. Prototypes were limited to 3,000 cc due to a rule change in 1968, whereas sportscars could have 5,000 cc if at least 50 were constructed. This was true of the two-year-old Ford GT40s that Wyer had modified. In 1968, Wyer surprised everyone by winning the World Sportscar Championship for Ford.

The superior power of the 302 cubic inch (4,942 cc) V8 in the GT40s allowed them to win on fast tracks, and especially at Le Mans two years in a row from 1968 (Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi) and 1969 (Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver), even though they were outclassed at twistier tracks.

In 1970, the triumphant advance of the Porsche 917 began . Again under the direction of Wyer and with great financial backing from Gulf Oil, the team won the 1970 Sports Car World Cup for Porsche in 1970 and 1971 . After the end of the 5 -liter formula Wyer built their own racing cars, which were brought back under the name Mirage at the start. In 1975, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell won on a Golf GR8 at Le Mans. It was Wyer's fourth victory as Race Director or Team Principal in this race. At the end of the year, Wyer sold his team and retired.