Klaus Ludwig

This article is about the racing driver Klaus Ludwig. For the church musician see Klaus Uwe Ludwig , for the rower see Klaus-Dieter Ludwig

Klaus Ludwig

Nation:
DTM
First race:	Diepholz 1985
Last race:	Hockenheimring 2000
Teams (manufacturers)
1985 Ringshausen, 1986–1988 Grab (all Ford) • 1989–1994 AMG (Mercedes-Benz), 1995 Rosberg • 1996 Zakspeed (all Opel) • 2000 HWA (Mercedes-Benz)
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 221 (119) 38 16 -
Podiums:	75
Overall wins:	3 (1988, 1992, 1994)
Points:	1,759.5

Klaus Ludwig (born October 5, 1949 in Bonn ) is a German automobile racing driver . He is considered Germany's most successful touring car driver and is therefore also known as "King Ludwig". In contrast to his contemporaries Hans-Joachim Stuck , Rolf Stommelen , Harald Ertl , Hans Heyer and Jochen Mass , he never competed in a Formula 1 race. His son Luca is also a racing driver.

Career

Klaus Ludwig (right) with Karl Ludwig Weiß at the Nürburgring in 1973

Ludwig drove touring cars from Ford in the German racing championship in the 1970s . In the annual ranking he reached second place in 1975 and 1976. It wasn't until 1979 that he became a master, now on a Kremer - Porsche 935 . With this racing car, which is based on the Porsche 911 Turbo road vehicle , he achieved an overall victory against the faster thoroughbred sports prototypes in the Le Mans 24-hour race in persistent rain. In 1981 he was again DRM champion, this time on a Zakspeed - Ford Capri Turbo.

1985: Victory at Le Mans

In the 1980s, he went on long distance races , the sports car Porsche 956 C and Porsche 962 , winning twice again in Le Mans, this time for Joest Racing . However, he criticized the dangerousness of this race, especially the extremely long and fast straight, as well as that of sports cars in general (see Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof ), and switched to the German Touring Car Championship , in which he became champion in 1988 with a Ford Sierra Cosworth . In 1989 he had a serious accident at the Nürburgring when, after turning backwards on the track , he was rammed head-on by Armin Hahne at around 170 km / h . Klaus Ludwig broke his arm in this accident - the worst injury of his career and for many years the worst accident in DTM history.

1992: The master car

Ludwig moved to Mercedes-Benz for the 1989 season and became DTM champion in 1992 and 1994. After the end of the DTM and ITC, he followed Mercedes-AMG into the FIA GT championship in 1997 .

1997: Ludwig in Donington

After winning the GT World Championship in 1998, he officially ended his career as a professional racing driver after a 29-year racing career. However, when the opportunity arose to drive a race car capable of winning on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife , he was still happy to get behind the wheel again. Last but not least, he is nicknamed “King of the Nordschleife”, which is based on his success on this legendary racetrack. He also has a hunting ground in the area.

In 1999 he resigned from the 24-hour race there and won for the third time in the Chrysler Viper GTS-R used by Zakspeed .

In 2000 he took part again as a professional in the first season in the "new DTM ". There, at the age of 50, he won the two races at the Sachsenring as the oldest DTM race winner to date . After this season he finished his professional career in third place overall, but stayed with the DTM and Mercedes as a so-called "taxi driver".

In 2004, 2005 and 2006 he competed for the Jürgen Alzen Motorsport team together with Uwe Alzen in the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in a Porsche 996 GT2 Bi-Turbo (2004-2005) or Porsche 997 (2006 ). In 2007 he started in an Aston Martin DBRS9 .

In the seasons 2001 to 2006, Klaus Ludwig worked as a commentator for ARD during the races for the DTM. Although he officially announced his retirement from racing at the age of 60, he took part in the 2011 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 997, but retired. Also in 2012 Klaus Ludwig was registered again, this time u. a. with Nick Heidfeld on a Gemballa McLaren . When lapping a slower vehicle, Ludwig retired after a serious accident shortly before the “Schwedenkreuz” section of the route; the drivers were not injured. The accident sparked discussions about consideration and mutual respect in races with different vehicle classes after Ludwig had used a “non-existent gap” to overtake and was responsible for the serious accident. Because of insults and assault on his opponent in the accident, the Seat pilot Dr. Klaus Weigner, Ludwig was also sentenced to a fine of € 10,000. The DMSB initiated a "sports law investigation". In an interview, Ludwig later stated that this was definitely his last participation in a racing event.

successes

• Winner of the Le Mans 24-hour race : 1979, 1984, 1985
• Winner 24-hour race on the Nürburgring : 1982, 1987, 1999
• FIA GT World Champion: 1998
• DTM champion: 1988, 1992, 1994
• DRM Masters: 1979, 1981

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1978	Weisberg Gelo Racing	Porsche 935/77	John Fitzpatrick	Toine Hezemans	failure	Cylinder head
1979	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 935K3	Bill Whittington	Don Whittington	Overall victory
1982	Zakspeed	Ford C100	Marc Surer	Manfred Winkelhock	failure	Electrics
1983	Sorga SA Joest Racing	Porsche 956	Bob Wollek	Stefan Johansson	Rank 6
1984	New-Man Joest Racing	Porsche 956B	Henri Pescarolo		Overall victory
1985	New-Man Joest Racing	Porsche 956B	Paolo Barilla	Louis Krages	Overall victory
1986	New-Man Joest Racing	Porsche 956B	Paolo Barilla	Louis Krages	failure	Engine failure
1988	Porsche AG	Porsche 962 C.	Derek Bell	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Rank 2
1998	AMG Mercedes	Mercedes-Benz CLK LM	Mark Webber	Bernd Schneider	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1988	Bayside Disposal Racing	Porsche 962	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Overall victory

Awards

• ADAC Motorsporter of the Year 1988

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Detailed information about his pole positions
2. ↑ K. Ludwig's accident 24h-Nürburgring: Onboard recording of the accident
3. ↑ K. Ludwig's accident 24h Nürburgring: private video of the accident
4. ↑ K. Ludwig's accident 24h Nürburgring: Interview with the other party involved in the accident
5. ↑ Speedweek print edition

Web links

Commons : Klaus Ludwig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Klaus Ludwig in the catalog of the German National Library