Heuer

The connection between Heuer as a trophy for motorsport runs deep, and Tony Adamowicz won more than his fair share of races – and Heuer’s. This watch, and Autavia GMT, marries racing flair with a penchant for travel which is fitting considering that it was won at an endurance race in South Africa. 

The race was held at the Kyalami International Grand Prix Circuit and called The Nine Hours of Kyalami. Tony was driving a rather legendary car for the occasion, the Porsche 917 – the very same car that Steve McQueen would make famous in his movie LeMans. While any endurance race is difficult, the challenge was enhanced by three items: his co-driver, the competition, and the car itself. His co-driver was a wealthy Italian winemaker named Mario Casoni who thought the idea of going racing sounded exciting but was ultimately not up to the task, leaving Tony to do as much of the driving as permissible under racing regulation – physically and mentally taxing. The competition – was none other than Brian Redman, Clay Regazzoni, and Mario Andretti, all driving the brand new Ferrari 312P cars which were more powerful and more agile than Tony’s older Porsche. As if to make matters worse, Regazzoni crashed into Tony early on, costing him his lead in the race. Lastly, Tony’s car – in Lucky Strike cigarette livery – was a parts bin special slapped together before the race with minimal testing.

“The new car was put together out of parts bins and had not turned a wheel on a circuit until I got into the car. I’m not certain it even had a chassis number. I had the pleasure of learning a demanding circuit and sorting out the car. I often wonder how I did it.”

-- Tony Adamowicz

While Tony was no match for the Ferrari’s he did set the fastest overall lap, and for this, he was given the Heuer Autavia GMT wristwatch. A fitting watch to commemorate a racing victory in an exotic locale – and certainly a race that was hard fought. As Tony himself would later say: “I got a nice Heuer watch for the effort. It turned out to be a pretty good race.” As we look to celebrate the connection between Heuer, motorsport, and the champions of the sport who wore them – it’s worth noting that both Regazzoni and Andretti who were at this same race, were likely with Heuer’s on their wrist as well – and are known champions of this beloved brand. 

Image of Porsche 917 at Nine Hours of Kayalami Courtesy of: Staffan Berggren