Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek (born November 4, 1943 in Strasbourg , † March 16, 2001 in Sebring , Florida ) was a French racing driver . He died after a bicycle accident while preparing for the Sebring 12 hour race .
Career
Wollek won the Sebring 12 Hours back in 1985, with Anthony Joseph Foyt as team partner in a Porsche 962 . Although Wollek was well over 50 years old in 2001, he was still fully competitive in racing. He always followed a rigorous training regimen that was largely based on cycling, and has always been one of the fittest riders throughout his career.
Wollek was best known as a sports car driver. In the 1970s he was driving a Porsche 935 K2 for the Cologne team Kremer Racing . He won the Daytona 24 Hours four times and in 1982 (on a Porsche 936 ) and in 1983 (on a Porsche 956 ) the German Racing Championship , a forerunner series of today's DTM . For many years he was a works driver for Porsche in a wide variety of racing series and was able to win almost all major sports car races in his long career . In addition, he celebrated countless class wins. Despite thirty participations between 1968 and 2000, he was denied a success at the Le Mans 24 Hours . Although he managed six podiums (four times second, twice third), the great triumph never came. At the end of his career, he had two more chances to win, but in 1997 the leading Porsche 911 GT1 retired on Sunday morning due to a driving error by Wollek in the Arnage corner. The car spun, hit the guardrail, and damaged the rear suspension. (The winner was the Joest-Porsche with Alboreto / Johansson / Kristensen.) A year later, a Porsche also won, but Wollek was again in the wrong car and had to settle for second place again.
After Porsche withdrew from the large sports car class, Wollek switched to the GT class. He celebrated class wins with the Porsche 993 GT2 in the ALMS until 2000 .
Deadly accident
On Friday, March 16, 2001 around 4:30 p.m., after he had qualified for the 12-hour race and was cycling back to his hotel, he was driving along Highway 98 from Sebring as he was hit by a motor home driven by an 82-year-old American. He died on the way to the hospital. It was particularly tragic that, before the race, Wollek announced that he would retire from active racing during the season and then work as an “ambassador” for Porsche. In 2001, every major sports car race was held in silence for Wollek.
Records
Wollek contested 480 GT and sports car races between 1968 and 2001. The 73 overall and 24 class wins are record. He finished 198 races in the top three of the overall standings. He started from pole position 60 times .
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | Le Mans Trophy | Alpine A210 | Christian Ethuin | Rank 11 | ||
1969 | Société Automobiles des Alpine | Alpine A210 | Jean-Claude Killy | failure | Shock absorbers | |
1973 | Equipe Matra-Simca Shell | Matra-Simca MS670B | Patrick Depailler | failure | Oil pump | |
1974 | Equipe Gitanes | Matra MS670B | Jean-Pierre Jaussaud | José Dolhem | failure | Engine failure |
1975 | Ecurie Buchet | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Cyril Grandet | disqualified | ||
1976 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 934 | Marie-Claude Charmasson | Didier Pironi | Rank 19 | |
1977 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 934 | Jean-Pierre Wielemans | Philippe Gurdjian | Rank 7 and class win | |
1978 | Martini Racing | Porsche 936/78 | Jacky Ickx | Jürgen Barth | Rank 2 and class win | |
1979 | Essex Motorsport Porsche | Porsche 936 | Hurley Haywood | failure | Engine failure | |
1980 | Gelo Racing Team | Porsche 935 | Helmut Kelleners | failure | Cylinder damage | |
1981 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 917 K81 | Guy Chasseuil | Xavier Lapeyre | failure | Engine failure |
1982 | Belga Team Joest Racing | Porsche 936C | Jean-Michel Martin | Philippe Martin | failure | Engine failure |
1983 | Sorga SA Joest Racing | Porsche 956 | Klaus Ludwig | Stefan Johansson | Rank 6 | |
1984 | Martini Racing | Lancia LC2 / 84 | Alessandro Nannini | Rank 8 | ||
1985 | Martini Racing | Lancia LC2 | Alessandro Nannini | Lucio Cesario | Rank 6 | |
1986 | Rothmans Porsche | Porsche 962C | Jochen Mass | Vern Schuppan | failure | accident |
1987 | Rothmans Porsche | Porsche 962C | Jochen Mass | Vern Schuppan | failure | Engine failure |
1988 | Porsche AG | Porsche 962C | Sarel van der Merwe | Vern Schuppan | failure | Engine failure |
1989 | Joest Racing | Porsche 962C | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Rank 3 | ||
1990 | Joest Porsche Racing | Porsche 962C | Louis Krages | Stanley Dickens | Rank 8 | |
1991 | Silk Cut Jaguar | Jaguar XJR12 | Kenny Acheson | Teo Fabi | Rank 3 | |
1992 | Courage Compétition | Cougar C28 | Henri Pescarolo | Jean-Louis Ricci | Rank 6 and class win | |
1993 | Joest Porsche Racing | Porsche 962C | Henri Pescarolo | Ronny Meixner | Rank 9 | |
1994 | Nisso Trust Racing Team | Toyota 94C-V | Steven Andskar | George Fouché | Rank 4 | |
1995 | Courage Compétition | Courage C34 | Mario Andretti | Eric Helary | Rank 2 and class win | |
1996 | Porsche AG | Porsche 911 GT1 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Thierry Boutsen | Rank 2 and class win | |
1997 | Porsche AG | Porsche 911 GT1 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Thierry Boutsen | failure | Gearbox damage |
1998 | Porsche AG | Porsche 911 GT1 | Jörg Müller | Uwe Alzen | Rank 2 | |
1999 | Champion Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Dirk Mueller | Bernd Mayländer | Rank 19 | |
2000 | Dick Barbour Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Dirk Mueller | Lucas Luhr | disqualified |
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Henn's Swap Shop Racing | Porsche 935L | AJ Foyt | Derek Bell | Rank 3 | |
1985 | Preston Henn | Porsche 962 | AJ Foyt | Overall victory | ||
1986 | Bayside Disposal Racing | Porsche 962 | Bruce Leven | Paolo Barilla | failure | Engine failure |
1987 | Busby Racing | Porsche 962 | In it Brassfield | Wally Dallenbach | Rank 7 | |
1989 | Joest Racing | Porsche 962C | Frank Jelinski | Jean-Louis Ricci | Rank 5 | |
1990 | Joest Racing | Porsche 962C | Louis Krages | Henri Pescarolo | failure | accident |
1991 | Joest Porsche Racing | Porsche 962C | Bernd Schneider | Massimo Sigala | Rank 3 | |
1997 | Konrad Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT2 | Franz Konrad | Wido Rössler | Rank 8 and class win | |
1998 | Champion Motors | Porsche 911 GT1 Evo | Thierry Boutsen | Andy Pilgrim | Rank 3 | |
1999 | Champion Racing | Porsche 911 GT1 Evo | Thierry Boutsen | Dirk Mueller | Rank 4 | |
2000 | Dick Barbour Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Sascha Maassen | failure | suspension |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
Web links
- Bob Wollek at Racing Sports Cars (English)
- Bob Wollek. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed on May 15, 2020 (English).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Woolk, Bob |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French racing driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1943 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Strasbourg |
DATE OF DEATH | March 16, 2001 |
Place of death | Sebring |