Rolf Wütherich
Rudolf Karl "Rolf" Wütherich (born August 5, 1927 in Heilbronn , † July 20, 1981 in Kupferzell ) was a German racing driver in the Porsche racing car department . He received sustained media attention as a passenger in the fatal accident of James Dean , which Wütherich survived seriously injured.
Career
Wütherich survived a number of dangerous accidents. In 1952, his vehicle fell from a bridge. Six months later, he survived an accident in a test car in Heilbronn .
From 1950 Wütherich worked in the USA for what was then Porsche KG. As a co-driver of James Dean, who had a fatal accident while driving together on September 30, 1955, Wütherich sustained serious injuries. He broke his jaw and hip. A longer period of recovery followed. He later moved to Stuttgart . Since the accident he was considered mentally impaired and had to be hospitalized in 1966 after attempting suicide . A year later, he tried to kill himself and his wife. He kept receiving threatening letters from Dean supporters who blamed him for his death.
Wütherich died in 1981 as a result of a traffic accident.
Others
In 2016 the League of Ordinary Gentlemen published a song entitled The whole world is against me (Blues for Rolf Wütherich), which deals with the life of the racing driver after Dean's death and with the refrain “The whole world is against me - me feel like Rolf Wütherich ”is waiting for you.
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 | Dieter Glemser | Porsche 356 | DAY | SEB | SEB | MAY | TAR | BER | ONLY | LEM | TAV | CCA | RTT | ONLY | BRI | BRI | PAR | |||||||
11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1963 |
Ben Pon Günter Class |
Porsche 356 | DAY | SEB | SEB | TAR | SPA | MAY | ONLY | CON | ROS | LEM | MON | WIS | TAV | FRE | CCE | RTT | OVI | ONLY | MON | MON | TDF | BRI |
DNF | 9 | DNF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1964 | Porsche | Porsche 904 | DAY | SEB | TAR | MON | SPA | CON | ONLY | ROS | LEM | REI | FRE | CCE | RTT | SIM | ONLY | MON | TDF | BRI | BRI | PAR | ||
4th |
Web links
- Jürgen Kümmerle: For both of them, the road ends in eternity . In: Heilbronner Voice , from September 30, 2005.
- Rudolf Karl “Rolf” Wütherich at findagrave.com
- Rolf Wütherich at Racing Sports Cars
Individual evidence
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Wütherich, Rolf |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wütherich, Rudolf Karl (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German racing driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 5, 1927 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Heilbronn |
DATE OF DEATH | July 20, 1981 |
Place of death | Copper cell |