Racing Driver. He became the first German driver since Wolfgang von Trips to appear regularly on the Formula 1 starting grids. After racing his private Porsche 904 GTS in 1964-1965, he was invited to join the works team winning the 1967 Targa Florio with Paul Hawkins, and in 1968 the Daytona 24hrs and Paris 1000km races. He got into Formula 1 in 1969 with a hired Lotus F2 car and, after gaining sponsorship, drove a full season in 1970 with Brabham. For 1971, he took his sponsorship money to Surtees, but he had a poor season. For 1972 he drove the strange looking Eifelland-Ford, but the car was a lame duck. This seemed to have put him out of Formula 1 for a while until he was called into the Hill team during 1974. In the first race in 1975 at the Spanish GP, his rear wing collapsed whilst he was leading the race. His car pitched into the crowd killing four spectators and seriously injuring the driver. When he recovered, he returned to Hill and Arrows but gained more success in endurance racing. In 1980, he won the Daytona 24hrs and Nurburgring 1000km races as a Porsche factory driver. In 1983, he lost his life at Riverside International Raceway, when he crashed his Porsche 935. His best finish in Formula 1 was a third place at the Austrian Grand Prix in 1968.
Racing Driver. He became the first German driver since Wolfgang von Trips to appear regularly on the Formula 1 starting grids. After racing his private Porsche 904 GTS in 1964-1965, he was invited to join the works team winning the 1967 Targa Florio with Paul Hawkins, and in 1968 the Daytona 24hrs and Paris 1000km races. He got into Formula 1 in 1969 with a hired Lotus F2 car and, after gaining sponsorship, drove a full season in 1970 with Brabham. For 1971, he took his sponsorship money to Surtees, but he had a poor season. For 1972 he drove the strange looking Eifelland-Ford, but the car was a lame duck. This seemed to have put him out of Formula 1 for a while until he was called into the Hill team during 1974. In the first race in 1975 at the Spanish GP, his rear wing collapsed whilst he was leading the race. His car pitched into the crowd killing four spectators and seriously injuring the driver. When he recovered, he returned to Hill and Arrows but gained more success in endurance racing. In 1980, he won the Daytona 24hrs and Nurburgring 1000km races as a Porsche factory driver. In 1983, he lost his life at Riverside International Raceway, when he crashed his Porsche 935. His best finish in Formula 1 was a third place at the Austrian Grand Prix in 1968.
Bio by: Paul Narramore
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