Klaus Walz

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Klaus Walz (* 1942 in Ettlingen ; † 1992 in Munich ) was a German automobile racing driver who competed in sports car races from 1976 to 1980. Attempts to establish oneself in formula racing were unsuccessful. Walz has been linked in the media to several homicides and other serious crimes that occurred after he ended his racing career.

Personal

Little is known about Klaus Walz's living conditions. According to one source, he worked as a teacher for a while before or after his motorsport career, according to another source, he was a car dealer in Karlsruhe in the late 1970s .

Motorsport career

Klaus Walz's racing career was closely linked to the in Bruchsal -based team TOJ of Jorg Obermoser connected. The racing driver Obermoser was the German representative of the British racing car manufacturer Group Racing Developments (GRD) in the early 1970s and, after its bankruptcy, sold slightly modified cars from the GRD successor Modus under the brand name TOJ (Team Obermoser Jörg). He also ran his own racing team, with which he successfully participated in competitions. After Obermoser had sold racing car production to Wilfried Matter in 1977, he concentrated on managing his motorsport team and on racing.

Klaus Walz drove regularly in sports car races for Obermoser's team until 1979, where he often drove his cars. In his few formula races, Walz also had the cars prepared by mechanics from the TOJ team.

Sports car

In 1976 Walz made his debut in international motorsport. This year there is only one race participation. Walz started a sports car race in Monza in May 1976 ; however, its result is not documented. For the Nations Cup in 1976 at the Hockenheimring , a run of the Inter Series , he was for Jörg Moser's top team Warsteiner with a TOJ SC2 reported. In the end, however, it did not start for unknown reasons. A month later, Walz failed to qualify for the Salzburg Festival Prize .

In 1977 there were only two races with a TOJ for Walz, one of which ended with a finish. He finished second in the Stuttgart City Prize at the Hockenheimring, a race without championship status in which only six drivers took part. At the 500 km race in Le Castellet , the sixth round of the World Sports Car Championship in 1977 , he retired after a technical defect in his Ford engine after a third of the race distance.

1978 was the most successful year in motorsport for Walz. He took part in five of six races of the 1978 Interseries with a TOJ SC206 . He finished third in the race in Colmar-Berg , Luxembourg , and won the 2.0-liter class at Wunstorf Air Base and came second overall. Then came a fifth place on the Nürburgring and an eleventh in Kassel . At the fifth round of the Interseries in Ulm , Walz dropped out after a gearbox damage, but was still classified as 14th. A championshipless race at the Hockenheimring, in which only six drivers took part, Walz finished in third, and in a race in Salzburg , which was part of the European sports car championship , Walz finished seventh and last.

In the spring of 1979, Walz first tried to establish himself in formula racing. After these efforts had failed, he drove another race of the Interseries in the summer of 1979 . It is unclear whether this mission was carried out again together with Jörg Obermoser's TOJ team. In any case, the message for the race at the Nürburgring in July 1979 was for the Motor Racing Service team . Walz no longer drove a TOJ car this year, but a British March . The sources do not provide a more detailed specification of the car. At the Nürburgring, Walz was ranked tenth. There were further reports for the following races in Most and Ulm; However, Walz never competed there. His last race this year was the championship-free 6-hour race in Vallelunga , in which he was entered together with the Frenchmen Daniel Brillat and Hubert Striebig . Brillat reported a Cheetah G601 for the three pilots , while Striebig reported a TOJ SC206 for the same trio. While the TOJ was canceled after 51 laps after electrical damage, the trio Brillat / Striebig / Walz crossed the finish line in 13th place with the Cheetah.

In May 1980, Walz drove his last sports car race. Together with Norbert Przybilla , he drove a TOJ SC302 in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1980 . The race was part of the 1980 World Sports Car Championship ; the first seven rounds were also counted as a run for the 1980 Interseries . In the inter-series classification, Walz and Pzybilla finished eighth. In the eleventh round they were canceled, so that they had no result for the sports car world championship.

Formula racing

In 1978 and 1979 Walz tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in formula racing. The operations were again organized by Jörg Obermoser's team TOJ. However, Walz did not drive any TOJ racing cars here, although Obermoser had built around half a dozen Formula 2 vehicles in 1976 and 1977. Instead, Walz took over a current Formula 2 racing car from the British manufacturer March (Type 782 ), which he launched in both the Formula 2 European Championship and the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series .

Formula 2 European Championship

March 782

Walz limited his Formula 2 involvement to two events that took place at the Hockenheimring. In September 1978 he announced his March for the Prize of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse , the 12th round of the 1978 Formula 2 European Championship . Here he missed the qualification. In April 1979 there was another report on the Hockenheimring on the occasion of the Germany trophy . His team was now called Walz TOJ Racing . Here, too, there was no participation in the race. Walz was the only driver who couldn't qualify for the race.

Aurora AFX Formula 1 Series

After his failure at the Germany Trophy, Walz refrained from further Formula 2 involvement. Instead, he reported his March in the spring of 1979 for two rounds of the Aurora AFX Formula 1 Series 1979 , which was also known as the British Formula 1 Championship. The technical regulations of this series corresponded to those of the Formula 1 World Championship ; however, the cars used were mostly older vehicles and the drivers were mostly young drivers. Walz also started here with his March 782, which had a BMW engine and was underpowered compared to many competing vehicles. At the opening race in Zolder , Belgium , Walz started 17th and finished eighth. The second race of the season in Oulton Park , UK, ended Walz outside the classification. After that there were no more reports in the Aurora series.

Slipping into illegality, alleged capital crimes and death

The name Klaus Walz reappeared in the international media in 1992, this time in connection with several homicides and other serious crimes. Motorsport specialist publications usually assume that this alleged criminal Klaus Walz is identical to the former racing driver Klaus Walz; occasionally, however, this is also questioned.

According to some sources, Klaus Walz, who had been wanted by the police since the mid-1980s, was the head of an international gang of car dealers who frizzled stolen luxury vehicles and exotic vehicles and delivered them to customers around the world. Walz lived in the south of France at the time; The gang's headquarters were in a workshop in Desio, northern Italy . In 1989, Walz is said to have killed a car mechanic in Italy; in addition, the police attributed three other homicides in Italy, Portugal and Switzerland.

In early 1992, Walz founded the investment company Comstock Development under the alias Rainer Walldorf , which was based in Cannes and alluded to the US silver mine Comstock Lode by its name . In August 1992, Walz entered Formula 1 as Rainer Walldorf with Comstock via the Larrousse racing team . Comstock took over the shares that the French car manufacturer Venturi had previously held in the team. According to a source, the public presentation of the Comstock engagement brought the police on the trail of the wanted Walz. At the end of September 1992, Walz was arrested by the French police, but was able to free himself and temporarily took a French police officer hostage. After his release, he fled to Italy with his nephew, who had been his long-time accomplice. At the end of 1992, Walz was shot dead by the Munich police while attempting to arrest him.

The Klaus Walz scandal seriously damaged the reputation of Formula 1 team Larrousse. After Didier Calmels , who shot his wife in 1989, Walz was the second partner to bring the team into connection with homicides. In the British press, the racing team in 1992 was among others the nickname Murder Racing Inc . Even decades later, Klaus Walz and Larrousse are repeatedly used as examples of criminal involvement in Formula 1.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Allen Brown: Klaus Walz. In: oldracingcars.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ TOJ SC 205 / 206. In: polyform.nrw. April 4, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2018 .
  3. ^ David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , pp. 195, 248.
  4. ↑ Sonja Zeh: A racing life for TOJ. In: Der-Kurier.de . September 13, 2018, accessed October 4, 2018 .
  5. ^ SM Monza 1976. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  6. ^ Interserie Hockenheim Nations Prize 1976: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  7. ↑ 200 mile Salzburgring 1976: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  8. ^ Stuttgart Prize Hockenheim [Sports] 1977: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Le Castellet 1977: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  10. ^ Interserie Wunstorf 1978: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  11. ^ Interserie Nürburgring 1978. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Interserie Kassel-Calden 1978: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  13. ^ Interserie Ulm 1978: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  14. ^ Hockenheim [S2.0] 1978: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  15. ^ Salzburgring 1978: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  16. ^ Interserie 1979. In: classicars.com. June 16, 2000, accessed October 4, 2018 . Interserie Nürburgring 1979: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  17. ^ Vallelunga 6 Hours 1979: Entry List. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Vallelunga 6 Hours 1979: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Interserie Nürburgring 1980: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers 1980: Race Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Bonhams: 1976 TOJ-BMW F201 Formula 2 Racing Single-Seater Chassis no. 201-02 / 76. In: bonhams.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018 (image).
  22. ^ X Prize of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse 1978. In: formula2.net. September 4, 2001, archived from the original on February 1, 2017 ; accessed on November 25, 2018 .
  23. ↑ XIII Germany Trophy 1979: XI Jim Clark Memorial Race. In: formula2.net. March 7, 2002, archived from the original on February 2, 2017 ; accessed on November 25, 2018 .
  24. ↑ 1979 Zolder F1: Coupe de Belgique - Aurora AFX British F1 Championship. In: Motor Sport Magazine Database. June 12, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  25. ↑ 1979 Oulton Park Gold Cup: Sun Gold Cup - Aurora AFX British F1 Championship. In: Motor Sport Magazine Database. June 12, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Klaus Walz. In: Motor Sport Magazine Database. June 12, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2018 .
  27. ↑ a b c Joe Sawart: Fascinating F1 Fact: 56. In: joesaward.worldpress.com. February 1, 2017, accessed October 4, 2018 .
  28. ^ Comstock Development. In: societe.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  29. ^ A b c Joe Saward: Formula One and Crime. In: grandprix.com. August 1, 1999, accessed October 2, 2018 .
  30. ↑ René Hoffmann: Formula 1 - The return of the rich. In: sueddeutsche.de . May 17, 2010, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  31. ↑ a b Anno Hecker: The Mosley Case: The Unmasking of a Moral Apostle. In: faz.net . May 4, 2008, accessed October 4, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Walz, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Ettlingen
DATE OF DEATH 1992
Place of death Munich