Gunnar Olander

Gunnar Olander, 2008

Örebro, Sweden

**Gunnar Isak Olander** (born 20th December 1948) is a Swedish former racing driver who raced for Lotus and Ferrari in the Formula One World Championship. He made his debut in the 1972 South African GP, scoring a second place finish.

## Personal Life

Gunnar Isak Olander was born on the 20th of December 1948, to parents Per Olander and Monika Kron, both Swedish nationals. Per ran his own bookstore in the city centre and Monika was a politician in the Socialdemokraterna. Monika's connections granted Gunnar a privileged access to education, and he was a successful student in school.

Gunnar completed his university studies in 1971, being awarded a degree in Law. He was criticised by peers for pursuing a career as a racing driver alongside his studies. Gunnar is fluent in Swedish, Norwegian, English & Italian, and married long-time girlfriend Rosa Lundquist in 1974.

Olander lead a relatively quiet life following Formula One, resurfacing to perform stewardship duties for the series before re-entering the public eye after the founding of Olander Management. Gunnar has three children - Stine Olander (b. 1976), Joachim Olander (b. 1978) and Irma Olander (b. 1981).

## Racing Career

Gunnar began racing at an early age, competing in karts and touring car racing at a national level, before eventually graduating to open wheel racing. He moved to the United Kingdom as soon as he finished University to compete in British Formula 3. He achieved enough success to draw the eye of Lotus for a part-time schedule in Formula One for 1972, providing a financial bonus to the team to get his foot in the door.

### **Lotus**

#### 1972

Gunnar competed in three rounds of the 1972 Formula One World Championship, and impressed instantly by scoring a second place in a nailbiting finish with the late Alexander Wilson in the South African Grand Prix. Olander & Wilson had a friendly off-track relationship, though the pair would only drive together in two rounds, with Wilson being killed in the following race at Monaco. Gunnar did not start after an engine issue plagued his Sunday. Wilson had helped him greatly with adjusting to the pace of the 72D and his death had a profound effect on Gunnar.

Gunnar missed the Belgian Grand Prix, returning for the British Grand Prix. He once again impressed, and took 2nd place with the fastest lap of the race. He had won the BARC F3 race at Brands Hatch the previous week. Gunnar and new teammate Stefan Van Damme did not get on quite as well, but maintained a professional working relationship. The Media speculate that part of this was Stefan's immediate success in the car, and eventual taking of the 1972 World Championship title.

#### 1973

Gunnar was brought on full time by Lotus after winning the 1972 BARC F3 championship and his impressive showings for the F1 effort. He repaid this by taking his first win in the Spanish Grand Prix, and a second victory coming at the British Grand Prix. He was beaten to the title by Alex Robin Plunkett, despite matching Stefan Van Damme in wins.

#### 1974

1974 once again saw Olander take two victories - a win in the Brazilian Grand Prix and second in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Despite some success, he was beaten by teammate Stefan Van Damme and the souring relationship spurred Olander to leave Lotus and join Ferrari for the 1975 season, hoping to bring the floundering Italian squad some trophies. Said souring relationship continued to worsen in 1975, as Stefan fell further into alcoholism and drug use, when Gunnar suggested that Stefan had been taking performance enhancing drugs.

### **Ferrari**

#### 1975

Gunnar started the 1975 season slowly. He fell ill prior to the Argentine Grand Prix and this illness cost him in testing time. He started the race in 7th and finished 4th, complaining of braking problems. At the second round in South Africa, there was a large improvement, with Olander grabbing pole position but narrowly missing out on the victory. Gunnar took another podium in the next race at Montjuich.

However, in the Belgian Grand Prix of Zolder, Olander would have problems. He struggled with pace throughout the practice sessions, netting a reasonable 4th in qualifying. Olander was running in 2nd at the end of the 1st lap when he span at the final corner, picking up suspension damage. This mistake would not be the worst to come in the race however, as he was involved in a 155 mph accident with newcomer Tor Sørli driving for Williams - one which put Olander out of action for several months with broken feet and concussion. Many had suspected the second fatality of the weekend had occurred - following 1973 champion Alex Plunkett's earlier accident with Nathan Meiri.

Problems followed the rest of Olander's season, with engine problems at the Italian Grand Prix and suspension damage and a late-race incident in the Canadian Grand Prix, which re-injured Olander and forced him to sit out the final round in the USA. He was temporarily replaced by William Worcestershire-Smythe.

#### Post-1975

Olander noted that the feeling and control in his feet were impaired by his injury and subsequent re-injury, eventually leading to his retirement in 1977 aged 29. He would later express regret at his early retirement, as the years following saw a whole host of exciting rookies and close championships. Gunnar later professed that had he been in a better mental state at the time he would have likely attempted a comeback.

### Business ventures

#### Olander Management

Gunnar founded Olander Management in 1991 to aid his daughter Stine in her career, eventually signing Otto Makkinen in 1995 and proving influential in securing a healthy contract for Otto's move to McLaren in 1996. Gunnar used his law experience to help drivers negotiate more favourable contracts which were less restrictive. While initially not-for-profit, as the commerical nature of Formula One increased, so did the importance of driver management & contract negotiation, and the business soon got off it's feet financially.

#### Hotel Biassono

Gunnar purchased a majority stake in Hotel Biassono in 1999, one of a handful of hotels nearby to the Monza circuit used in the Italian Grand Prix. Funding was supplemented by a small investment by Gunnar's daughter, Stine Olander, who took a minority stake in the business and a cut of the profits. Over the next few years, Gunnar transformed the hotel into a luxury option primarily aimed at racing fans and drivers attending the infamous Monza circuit, offering a loyalty scheme to incentivize returning customers. The hotel featured a Ferrari 312T2 showpiece on loan from the Ferrari Museum on Grand Prix weekends.