Helmut Koinigg

Helmut Koinigg

Nation:	Austria
Automobile world championship
First start:	1974 Canadian Grand Prix
Last start:	1974 USA Grand Prix
Constructors
1974  Team Surtees
statistics
World Cup balance:	no World Cup placement
Starts Victories Poles SR 2 - - -
World Cup points :	-
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Helmut Koinigg (born November 3, 1948 in Vienna , † October 6, 1974 in Watkins Glen , USA ) was an Austrian automobile racing driver . In his home country he was very popular as a talented Formula Super Vee racing driver and with the Ford Cologne Capri touring car racing team .

Endurance racing

Koinigg also competed internationally in endurance races. Among other things, he drove a Lola T 290 together with Guy Edwards in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1972 , which, however, failed after a leak in the fuel line. In 1974 he and Manfred Schurti finished seventh in the overall classification of the 1000 km race in a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR from the Martini Racing Team. He also drove in the European touring car championship , for example in the 6-hour race at the Nürburgring in 1973 with Werner Schommers in a Ford Escort and in 1974 with Harald Ertl in a BMW 3.0 CSL, with which he crashed due to a brake defect and retired. In 1973 and 1974 he competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race.

formula 1

In his first qualifying for an F1 race, the Austrian Grand Prix 1974 , in a Brabham BT42 of the Italian Scuderia Finotto , he failed to qualify for the race as the last in training.

When the two regular drivers Carlos Pace and Jochen Mass resigned from Team Surtees because they thought the vehicle was too unsafe, John Surtees invited Koinigg to a test in Goodwood and then offered him a two-year contract. At the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport International Raceway , Koinigg crossed the finish line in a Surtees TS16 in tenth place after finishing 22nd and gave the team one of the best results of the season. Two weeks later at the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen Koinigg also only reached 22nd place on the grid. On the ninth lap he went off the track at a rather slow point for reasons that were never entirely clear. When it hit the guardrail , the lower of the three steel strips loosened from the bracket and the car shot through the guardrail. In the process, the lower edge of the middle, remaining steel band cut through the driver's neck. His accident hadn't even been noticed for the time being, so that there was also some uncertainty, and it was also said that the accident had happened on the eighth or tenth lap.

Private

Helmut Koinigg was a journalism and mechanical engineering student and married. A few days after the accident in Watkins Glen he was buried in the Hietzingen cemetery .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1973	Ford Motor Works	Ford Capri LV	Jean Vinatier	Gerry Birrell	failure	Valve damage
1974	Martini Racing	Porsche Carrera RSR	Manfred Schurti		failure	Fire

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11
1972	Barclays Racing	Lola T290	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
										DNF
1973	Ford Germany Martini Racing	Ford Capri Porsche Carrera RSR	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
										DNF	8th
1974	Eberhard Sindel Porsche	Porsche 911 Carrera	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
				DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF

See also

• List of fatally injured Formula 1 drivers

Web links

Commons : Helmut Koinigg  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Helmut Koinigg at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Behrnd, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC 1000 km race . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-89880-903-0 .
2. ↑ Programs for the 6-hour race on the Nürburgring
3. ↑ «Nobody noticed Koinigg's death» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 8, 1974, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ Thomas Karny on the death of Helmut Koinigg.