Herbert Linge
The Monaco pits are awash with star drivers and supermodels, walnut-faced security staff and (of course) the super-rich. In one display area sits the Porsche 804 aboard which Dan Gurney won the 1962 French Grand Prix. It remains the sole Formula 1 victory for the marque. Nearby, and ignored by the media, stands the man who developed not only that car but just about every legendary road and race Porsche for almost half a century. He was the firm’s first-ever employee.
Herbert Linge is seemingly invisible. At least, he is until Jacky Ickx makes a beeline for him. So does Derek Bell, along with countless other legendary wheelmen. Then the world seems to take notice, and the softly spoken nonagenarian is surrounded by photographers and film crews. He is clearly someone special, but who? Linge poses as best he can, but clearly finds the attention unsettling. Then it’s back to the comfort of anonymity.
Scroll forward an hour, and we’re sitting in the relative quiet of a hotel bar. Linge sips his mineral water while batting away the suggestion that he was sufficiently talented to
