Florian Vetsch (racing driver)

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Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione chassis number 14437. It was with this car that Florian Vetsch had the fateful collision with Jo Bonnier's Lola at the 1972 Le Mans 24-hour race

Florian Vetsch (born June 9, 1941 in Geneva ) is a Swiss entrepreneur and former racing driver .

Entrepreneur

Florian Vetsch completed in the 1950s, training as a car - mechanic and opened in 1964 a workshop in Le Grand-Saconnex , which is still in operation today and has specialized in the restoration of historic automobiles.

Racing career

Vetsch gained his first experience as a driver in rallying and mountain races . In 1971 he became Swiss rally champion in a Porsche 911 2.2 S. On the racetrack, he had his first international assignment in the Tour de France for automobiles in 1970 , where he was eleventh overall. In 1972 he made his debut in the sports car world championship and the 24-hour race at Le Mans . He competed seven times in this 24-hour race , and from the mid-1970s onwards he competed in Le Mans as his only race of the year. His best place in the final ranking was 16th, which he achieved in 1973 together with Jean Selz in a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR .

Jo Bonnier's fatal accident

During his first race at Le Mans in 1972 , Florian Vetsch was involved in Jo Bonnier's fatal accident . At 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, Bonnier collided in a Lola T280 with Vetsch's Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 while braking at the Indianapolis curve. The Lola took off on impact, flew into the adjacent forest and exploded there. The Bonnier thrown from the car died at the scene of the accident. Vetsch was unharmed.

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
1972 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Bernard Chenevière SwitzerlandSwitzerland Gérard Pillon failure accident
1973 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Schiller Racing Team Porsche 911 Carrera RSR SwitzerlandSwitzerland Jean Selz Rank 16
1975 FranceFrance Guy Verrier Porsche 911 Carrera RS FranceFrance Guy Verrier SwitzerlandSwitzerland Jean-Robert Corthay failure Cylinder damage
1976 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Schiller Racing Team Porsche 934 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Claude Haldi failure Valve damage
1977 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Schiller Racing Team Porsche 934 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Claude Haldi SwitzerlandSwitzerland Angelo Pallavicini failure Engine failure
1979 FranceFrance Racing Organization Course Chevron B36 FranceFrance Marc Sourd FranceFrance Robert Carmillet failure accident
1980 FranceFrance ROC - Société Yacco Lola T298 FranceFrance Christian Debias FranceFrance Michel Dubois Rank 18

literature

  • Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : Florian Vetsch  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report and pictures of the Bonnier / Vetsch accident
personal data
SURNAME Vetsch, Florian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss entrepreneur and racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH June 9, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva