Mike Fisher

Michael Jeffry Fisher (13 March 1943 - Present): American racing driver from Hollywood, California who participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix in 1967, achieving a best finish of 11th at the Canadian Grand Prix and failing to start the Mexican Grand Prix due to mechanical failure. Fisher was a little-known American club racer whose brief Formula One career was interrupted by the Vietnam War when he entered U.S. Air Force pilot training in 1968.

Born in Hollywood at the height of World War II, Fisher grew up in Southern California during the postwar boom. He began racing in the early 1960s in American club racing, competing in various categories including sports cars. Prior to his Formula One appearances, Fisher raced a variety of cars including a Lotus 18 and Porsche 906 and 910 sports cars, establishing himself as a capable competitor in West Coast racing circles. Fisher's Formula One opportunity came in 1967 when Earl Chiles purchased the ex-Jim Clark Lotus 33 that had been driven by the double World Champion.

The Lotus 33, which Clark had driven to numerous victories, was fitted with a 2-litre BRM engine, making it eligible for Formula One competition under the 3-litre formula introduced in 1966. Fisher entered the first Canadian Grand Prix on 27 August 1967 at Mosport Park, a challenging circuit northeast of Toronto. The race was the eighth round of the 1967 World Championship and featured a strong field including World Champion Jack Brabham, defending champion Jack Brabham, and rising stars like Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. Despite driving an outdated Lotus 33 with a less powerful engine than the frontrunners, Fisher qualified for the race and completed the full distance, finishing 11th—a creditable result for a privateer American in his Formula One debut.

Encouraged by his Canadian Grand Prix performance, Fisher entered the 1967 Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on 22 October. He practiced competitively, qualifying tenth on the grid—an impressive performance that suggested he could challenge for points. However, disaster struck before the race. A diaphragm on the car's fuel metering unit ruptured, making the car undriveable.

Unable to repair the component in time, Fisher could not start the race. It was a heartbreaking DNF—eliminated before the race began after showing genuine pace in qualifying. Fisher's racing career was interrupted in 1968 when he entered U.S. Air Force pilot training, a decision influenced by the Vietnam War. The war was escalating, and Fisher either volunteered or was drafted into military service.

His entry into pilot training removed him from motorsport entirely, as military commitments took priority over racing. Fisher never returned to Formula One, his brief career consisting of two race entries, one start, one finish (11th at Canada), and one DNS (Did Not Start) at Mexico. His Formula One record shows zero championship points, though his tenth-place qualifying at Mexico suggested he might have scored had the car not failed. Following his military service, Fisher's subsequent life and career remain largely undocumented in motorsport sources.

Unlike some drivers who remained visible in racing after retiring, Fisher appears to have left motorsport entirely, perhaps pursuing careers related to aviation or other fields. Known for his Formula One debut at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix finishing 11th in the ex-Jim Clark Lotus 33, impressive tenth-place qualifying at Mexico before fuel metering unit failure prevented him starting, Vietnam War service interrupting his racing career, and subsequent disappearance from motorsport, Mike Fisher represents the American club racers who briefly touched Formula One's highest level during the 1960s when the sport was still accessible to privateers with limited budgets. His two-race Formula One career, interrupted by military service, exemplifies how external circumstances often determined whether talent could be fully explored.