John Horsman, the engineer and team manager who guided John Wyer Automotive to sportscar success in the 1960s and 70s, has passed away at the age of 85.
Horsman was active in motorsport for several decades. In 1958, he was offered an apprenticeship at Aston Martin Lagonda by managing director John Wyer, establishing a relationship that would take sportscar racing by storm in the coming decades.
Horsman followed Wyer to Ford in 1964, where he became involved with the GT40 program. Two overall wins in 1966 and 1967 followed before Wyer set up John Wyer Automotive Engineering after the Ford factory program ended.
At JWAE, Horsman became responsible for the development, construction and race preparation of all of JWAE’s products. During his tenure, the team scored two further back-to-back wins at Le Mans as well as World Sportscar Championship success in 1986, 1970 and 1971.
While working at JWAE in 1970, Horsman was tasked with developing the Porsche 917. In its early days, the 917 was a fast but flawed machine, plagued by handling issues. Horsman is credited with the bodywork solution that directly led to the creation of the short-tail version known as the 917K. The 917K has since gone on to win Le Mans twice and has become one of the most iconic racing cars of all time.
Horsman continued to work on Gulf-sponsored cars for years, including the Mirage line of cars that gave him another overall win in 1975.
‘The Horse’ as he was nicknamed, was renowned for his attention to detail.
“John’s attention to detail – that carried him so well through his career – is something I have never forgotten and have used as comparison to every other team I subsequently drove with,” Derek Bell wrote in the foreword of Horsman’s book ‘Racing in the Rain, My Years with Brilliant Drivers, Legendary Sports Cars, and a Dedicated Team’.
Motorsport Week offers its condolences to Horsman’s family and friends at this difficult time.
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