Michael May (racing driver)

Michael[1] May (born 18 August 1934 in Stuttgart, Germany[1]) is a former racing driver and engineer from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 May 1961. He scored no championship points.

For other people with similar names, see Michael May (disambiguation).
Michael May
Born (1934-08-18) 18 August 1934
Stuttgart, Württemberg, Germany
Formula One World Championship career
NationalitySwitzerland Swiss
Active years1961
Teamsnon-works Lotus
Entries3 (2 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1961 Monaco Grand Prix
Last entry1961 German Grand Prix

After a crash during practice for the 1961 German Grand Prix, May concentrated on engineering, helping to develop a fuel injection system for Porsche and Ferrari.

Porsche 550A with large wing as modified by May for the 1956 Nürburgring 1000km
Porsche 550 with wing as modified by May for the 1956 Nürburgring 1000km

May is generally credited with introducing the first manipulated elevated wing onto a racing car - a Porsche 550 Spyder- to produce downforce (or down thrust) for enhanced braking and cornering speeds to reduce lap times. The modified 550 was entered by May and his brother Pierre in the 1956 1000km of Nürburgring. During qualifying, the car lapped the circuit four seconds faster than the Porsche factory team 550s. However, race organizers disqualified the car following a complaint by Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein. The wing was removed for the remainder of the car's racing career.[2][3]

He also worked in designing high-compression engines, improving fuel economy among other things.[4] The most notable example was his reworked 'Fireball' head for the 'high-efficiency' high-compression Jaguar V-12 HE engine.[5][6]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WDC Points
1961 Scuderia Colonia Lotus 18 Climax 1.5l straight-4 MON
Ret		 NED BEL FRA
11		 GBR GER
DNS		 ITA
DNA		 USA NC 0

Non-Championship

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1961 Scuderia Colonia Lotus 18 Climax
Straight-4		 LOM GLV PAU BRX VIE AIN
Ret		 SYR NAP LON SIL
Ret		 SOL
Ret		 KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL
DNA		 LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA
1962 Michael May - - CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU
DNA		 AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT

Notes
  1. ^ Sources disagree as to the spelling of May's first name. Forix and The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who say "Michael", whereas www.grandprix.com says "Michel" and this 8W article lists both. However, this source offers evidence that it's "Michael".

References
  1. Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. Dargegen, Remi (21 July 2020). "Michael May's Porsche 550 Spyder is a winged wonder". www.classicdriver.com. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  3. Miterko, Andrew (2023-03-30). "The Giant Killers". Road Scholars - Vintage Porsche Sales and Restoration. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  4. David Scott (November 1976), "Fireball engine boosts mpg and cuts emissions", Popular Science, Rolle, Switzerland, p. 136
  5. Ludvigsen, Karl (2005). The V12 Engine. Sparkford, Yeovil: Haynes Publishing. pp. 318–319. ISBN 1-84425-004-0.
  6. Ray T. Bohacz (January 2009), "Fire in the Hole", High Performance Pontiac, archived from the original on 2012-05-05, retrieved 2011-10-30
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