Drivers A - Z
V
Ira Vail
1893 - 1979Ira Vail was a driver, owner and promoter who successfully bridged the gap between the early barnstorming years and the post WWI era of dirt track racing.
Enrique Díaz Sánez Valiente
1918 - 1958Enrique Valiente was an Argentine sportsman. A keen shot, pilot and racing driver. He won a silver medal in pistol shooting (25 meters) at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and the Argentine Sports Car Championship in 1954 and 1955. He also won a round of the World Sports Car Championship, the Buenos Aires 1000 Km in 1955.
Charles Van Acker
1909 - 1998Raced at the Indy 500 three times between 1946 and 1950. Later became a mechanic after his successful driving career ended.
Sheila van Damm
1922 - 1987Motor-racing driver and theatre manager (She oversaw London's Windmill Theatre), Van Damm will always be associated with Sunbeam, winning more than 50 trophies in their cars.
Eric van de Poele
1961A former Formula One driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, debuting on March 10, 1991. He is currently competing in the GP Masters Series.
Dries van der Lof
1919 - 1990Van der Lof was a wealthy industrialist who competed in the Dutch Grand Prix in 1952.
Sarel van der Merwe
1946One of the best drvers to come out of South Africa, van der Merwe was too tall for single seaters so he carved out a career in sports cars and saloons winning the Daytona 24 hour race in 1984 amongst his many victories.
Gijs van Lennep
1942A much respected driver, Gijs always gave a good account of himself on his occasional Grand Prix appearances. He was most successful in sports cars winning Le Mans twice with Helmut Marko and Jacky Ickx.
Noel van Raalte
1888 - 1940Noel van Raalte was a wealthy and influential playboy and British Peer. He was the owner of the first production Bentley ever made. His family's wealth allowed Noel to indulge in his passion for fast cars. He raced in the Indy 500 in 1915 finishing 10th.
C.W. van Ranst
1892An exceptional engineer he worked for Duesenberg, Cord and the racing side of Louis Chevrolet. He designed the Frontenac racing heads for Ford, front wheel drive race cars for Durant and a lot more. He raced in the 1921 Indy 500.
Jean-Pierre Van Rossem
1945Van Rossem is a well-known Flemish politician, entrepreneur and writer. In 1989 he bought the Onyx F1 team. He was convicted of fraud in 1991.
William Kissam Vanderbilt II
1878 - 1944William Kissam Vanderbilt II was a motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family.
Guy Anthony Vandervell
1898 - 1967English industrialist, motor racing financier, and founder of the Vanwall Formula One racing team.
Achille Varzi
1904 - 1948Achille Varzi was one of the greatest drivers of all and master of a smooth driving style that was fast and effective. Always elegant and immaculate in his personal style his racing career was virtually error free. He only had two on track incidents caused by driver error, and the second one cost him his life.
Jimmy Vasser
1965Jimmy Vasser made his Champ Car debut in 1992 and in 1996 won the Champ Car Champion, driving for Chip Ganassi. He was at his peak during the CART-IRL 'split' so he didn't get to race in the Indianapolis 500 when he was at his best.
Garcia Veiga
1945Garcia Veiga was an Argentine racing driver who started racing in 1967 driving both in Turismo Nacional and Turismo Carretera. He also raced in the local F1 series and in sports car races. In 1974 he moved to the USA to drive in F5000. He then returned to Turismo Nacional Series and remained active until his retirement in 1986.
Bob Veith
1926 - 2006Bob Veith was a veteran of 11 Indianapolis 500-Mile Races and the 1956 Rookie of the Year. He made 63 AAA and USAC Championship Car starts, finishing in the top ten 37 times, with his best finish in 2nd position twice, both in 1958.
Fermin Velez
1959 - 2003Velez died after a long battle against cancer three days shy of his 44th birthday. Fermin raced for many years in endurance racing. twice winning the Sebring 12 hours in 1995 and 1997, he also had a 10th place finish in the '97 Indianapolis 500.
Gilles Villeneuve
1950 - 1982Gilles Villeneuve was a Canadian racing driver. An enthusiast of cars and fast driving from an early age, he started in snowmobile racing. He moved into single seaters, winning the US and Canadian Formula Atlantic championships in 1976 before being offered a one-off drive with McLaren at the 1977 British Grand Prix. He was taken on by reigning world champions Ferrari and from 1978 to his death in 1982 drove for the Italian team. He won six Grand Prix races in a short career at the highest level. In 1979 he finished second by four points in the championship to teammate Jody Scheckter.
Jacques Villeneuve
1971Jacques Villeneuve is a Canadian racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship in 1997 and in 1995 the CART Championship and the Indianapolis 500. He left F1 mid way through the 2006 season and is now pursuing a racing career outside F1, including entry into the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar race.
Luigi Villoresi
1909 - 1997Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who raced on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception and was at his zenith in the immediate post-war era.
Emilio Villoresi
1914 - 1939Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver, Emilio Villoresi was born in Milan, Italy, the younger brother of the star Maserati driver, Luigi Villoresi.
Rich Vogler
1950 - 1990Vogler won both the USAC Sprint Car and Midget championships. He raced at the Indy 500 five times but was killed in a sprint car race at his home track at Salem Speedway.
Winfried Vogt
1945 - 1989Winner of the 1987 European Touring Car Championship title, the charismatic driver succumbed at the age of only 44.
Ottorino Volonterio
1917 - 2003A lawyer from Locarno, Count Ottorino Volonterio of Orselina was an enthusiastic Swiss amateur who rarely troubled the score sheets. With a pace that varied between slow and very slow his career was spent at a leisurely pace.
Robert Eberan von Eberhorst
1902 - 1982Robert Eberan von Eberhorst was one of the world's premiere racing car design theorists. He was Head of Experimental Work in the racing department of Auto Union until 1941. After the war he worked for Porsche before moving to England with ERA and Aston Martin. He return to Germany in 1953 and re-joined Auto Union.
Alex von Falkenhausen
1907 - 1989A respected engineer with BMW both before the war and after, von Falkenhausen is also remembered for his own AFM cars which were successful in numerous national races in Germany in the immediate postwar period when that country was banned from racing outside its borders.
Huschke von Hanstein
1911 - 1996Charismatic head of Porsche's racing department in the 1950s, Huschke von Hanstein was a successful motorcycle racer who switched to cars, winning the Mille Miglia in 1940.
Rikky von Opel
1947Frederick "Rikky" von Opel is a former racing driver from Liechtenstein. He won the Lombard North British Formula Three Championship in 1972 and participated in 13 Formula One grands prix for Ensign and Brabham.
Fritz Adam Hermann von Opel
1889 - 1971Grandson of Adam Opel, founder of the Opel Company, Fritz is best remembered for his spectacular demonstrations of rocket propulsion that earned him the nickname "Rocket Fritz".
Walther von Selve
1876 - 1948Walther von Selve was a racing driver as well as a manufacturer of luxury and sports cars. His greatest contribution to automobil racing however may have been his pioneering work on the use of aluminum pistons for internal combustion engines.
Hans von Stuck
1900 - 1978Despite many successes in Grand Prix motor racing for Auto Union in the early 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows", he is now mostly known for his domination of hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains"
Wolfgang von Trips
1928 - 1961Nicknamed "Taffy" by Mike Hawthorn, von Trops had reputation for erratic driving early in his career however, hitting top form in1961, he won the Dutch and British Grands Prix and went into Italian GP at Monza on the verge of winning the World Championship. Tragically he collided with Jim Clark's Lotus on the second lap of the race and was killed along with 14 spectators.
Bill Vukovich
1918 - 1955Know as 'Vuky' or the 'Mad Russian' for his intense driving style. He was also know as the 'Silent Serb' for his cool demeanor. He won the Indy 500 twice, in 1953 and 1954. He was holding a 17-second lead on the 57th lap of the race in 1955, going for his hat trick, when he was killed in a crash.
Nicolás Vuyovich
1981 - 2005Vuyovich was a young sportscar driver who died in a plane crash returning from his first win in the Turismo Nacional.