Died of cancer when at the peak of his very decent career. A lovely, generous man, he kept upbeat despite his illness. A cancer ward is still named in his memory as he founded the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation whilst gravely ill. Nilsson's illness stopped the sport seeing just how good Gunnar could've been; although he would've been, before illness, team leader at an Arrows team that didn't win in 1978, Gunnar may've been the difference as he won the 1975 British Formula 3 title, took two Nurburging 1000km wins, was a regular winner in Formula Atlantic and won brilliantly at the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.

Biography last updated 25 Jan 2016