05 Jun Gunnar Nilsson

Gunnar Nilsson was a Swedish F1 driver who raced in the Formula 1 World Championship between 1976 and 1977. He won the wet 1977 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder at the wheel of a JPS Lotus 78 after overtaking Niki Lauda, no less and setting fastest lap of the race. Sadly, Gunnar’s promising career was cut short when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December the same year and – to the intense sadness of Swedish motorsport fans and everyone in F1 – he tragically lost his fight against his illness in October 1978, weeks after he attended the funeral of compatriot Ronnie Peterson.