Johannes Ortner (racing driver)

Abarth 3000 SP , Johannes Ortner's emergency vehicle in 1969

The two-door Alfa Romeo Alfasud was the basis for the Alfasud Cup touring cars

Johannes Ortner (* 1935 ) is a former Austrian racing car driver and entrepreneur.

Racing career

Johannes Ortner, who was born in Carinthia , started out in motorsport in the late 1950s. He started in hill climbs and drove national rallies . He became known through his assignments in the alpine tour and his successes as a works driver with Abarth . In 1958, he competed for the first time in the Austrian rally, which has been driven over several Alpine passes with interruptions since 1910 . After finishing second overall in 1961, he won in 1962 on the small-displacement Steyr-Puch 500 . In addition to the individual victories, there was the Austrian state championship title in 1960.

In 1966 Carlo Abarth hired Ortner and brought him to his factory team in Turin . In the following years he became a regular driver at Abarth, who also enjoyed the special support of the team owner. In return, Ortner delivered successes. He drove the Abarth racing cars in the sports car world championship and came third in the 500 km race at the Nürburgring in 1967 . He also achieved this result at the 500 km race in Mugello , together with Gijs van Lennep on an Abarth 2000S . This race was part of the Italian Sports Car Championship in 1969 . Ortner was most successful in the European Hill Climb Championship . In 1970 and 1971 he was European champion in sports cars .

When Carlo Abarth had sold his company to Fiat and the racing team to Osella at the end of the 1971 racing season , Ortner withdrew from racing.

Alfasud Cup

In 1975, Johannes Ortner was the initiator of the Trofeo Alfasud , an Austrian brand cup with near-series touring cars based on the Alfa Romeo Alfasud . The Trofeo became the Alfasud Cup in Austria and Italy as early as 1976 . The cup subsequently became one of the most popular brand cups in Europe, and it became the springboard for many drivers for a motorsport career. The later Formula 1 drivers Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger started their careers in the Alfasud Cup . All cup vehicles were assembled in the workshops of the Ortner car dealership in Villach .

Entrepreneur

Johannes Ortner founded a car repair shop in Villach in 1964 . He ran the company with two employees as a contractual partner of Steyr-Puch . The company grew steadily. There were branches in Klagenfurt and new sales partners with Peugeot , Bultaco , the brands of the Fiat Group (Fiat, Lancia , Alfa Romeo and Jeep ) and Hyundai . From 1986 motor boats were also sold.

statistics

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1962	Johannes Ortner	Steyr-Puch 500	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
														33
1963	Steyr-Puch	Steyr-Puch 650	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
											36
1964	Steyr-Puch	Steyr-Puch 650	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
										46
1965	Johannes Ortner	Steyr-Puch 650	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
													56
1966	Abarth	Abarth 1300 OT Abarth 1300 SP	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
					15th			14th		27				DNF	11
1967	Abarth	Abarth 1300 OT Fiat-Abarth 1000	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
														7th	45	3
1969	Abarth-Osella	Abarth 2000 SP	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
									39
1970	Abarth	Abarth 2000S Abarth 3000 SP	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
						DNF	DNF

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

Commons : Johannes Ortner  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Johannes Ortner at Racing Sports Cars
• Johannes Ortner at WRC Results
• About Johannes Ortner
• Johannes Ortner on the website of the Technical Museum
• Official website of the Ortner dealership
• Official website of Ortner Boats

Individual evidence

1. ↑ International Austrian Alpine Tour 1958
2. ↑ International Austrian Alpine Tour 1961
3. ↑ International Austrian Alpine Tour 1962
4. ↑ 500 km Mugello race in 1969
5. ↑ About the Alfasud Cup