American racer Dan Gurney, a Formula One and Le Mans 24 Hours winner in the 1960s who started a trend by spraying champagne on the victory podium, died in California on Sunday aged 86.

The news was announced by his wife Evi and family in a statement.

“With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018,” it said.

“In deepest sorrow, with gratitude in our hearts for the love and joy you have given us during your time on this earth, we say, ‘Godspeed.”

Gurney, whose Formula One career spanned one of the most glamorous and dangerous periods of the sport’s history from 1959 to 1970, died of complications from pneumonia.

Gurney began racing in 1955 and won in nearly every racing series he attempted.

He drove for Ferrari, BRM, Porsche and Brabham in Formula One, then formed his own team. He won the Belgian Grand Prix in 1967 in his own car, the first and only time an American won an F1 race in a car of his own design.

Gurney teamed with AJ Foyt that year to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40, and he’s often credited with starting the tradition of spraying the champagne from the podium at that race.

Gurney retired from driving in 1970 with 51 victories.

Mario Andretti hailed Gurney in a post on Twitter.

“I was first inspired by him when I was in midgets dreaming of being like him. I was last inspired by him yesterday. Yes, I mean forever,” Andretti wrote. “He understood me better than anyone else, which is why he wrote the foreword for my book in 2001.”