Peter Ryan (racing driver)
| Born | 10 June 1940 |
|---|---|
| Died | 2 July 1962 (aged 22) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 Canadian |
| Active years | 1961 |
| Teams | non-works Lotus |
| Entries | 1 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1961 United States Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1961 United States Grand Prix |
Peter B. Ryan (June 10, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States – July 2, 1962 in Paris, France) was an American-born Canadian racecar driver from Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. He had a short Formula One career. He participated in one Grand Prix, the 1961 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, finishing ninth. He scored no championship points.
Ryan first came to prominence as a skier, winning the National Ski Association's junior downhill championship at Mount Rose, Nevada, in 1957. "Immediately after Ryan's victory, Americans protested that Canadians could not win an American championship." The protest was disallowed. His Olympic prospects were such that a dispute arose as to which country he should represent. The Americans asserted that he: "was born in the United States as were his father, the late Joseph P. Ryan, and his mother." Ryan expressed a preference for the Canadian team: "But while he would like to ski for Canada, he wouldn't care to give up his American citizenship." "An outstanding skier, Ryan shifted to auto racing in 1959 after a ski crackup in which both his legs were broken."
On April 25, 1959, Denise McCluggage, writing in Competition Press, reported: "Peter Ryan of the Mont Tremblant Ryans bought Bernie Vihl's beautifully kept old 550 Porsche in which to take up racing-sports car racing that is. Peter at 19, is an old hand at ski racing being a downhill expert." Ryan's successes came in sports cars racing in Canada, the US and Nassau. On October 1, 1960, Ryan co-drove with Roger Penske in a Porsche RS60 to win the six-hour Sundown Grand Prix at Harewood, in Ontario, Canada. The next week Ryan was entered in the 230-mile Formula Libre road race at Watkins Glen, New York. In qualifying he was "the surprise of the day, taking the fifth position over England's Roy Salvadori." Ahead of him were Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Joakim Bonnier and Olivier Gendebien. He was driving the Bill Sadler Formula Libre special, known as "Formula Ferocious," a rear-engined single-seater device, when his motor blew on lap 56.
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