Vern Schuppan

Vern Schuppan

Nation:	Australia
Automobile world championship
First start:	Belgian Grand Prix 1974
Last start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1977
Constructors
1974  Ensign Racing  1975  Embassy Racing with Graham Hill  1977 Team Surtees
statistics
World Cup balance:	no World Cup placement
Starts Victories Poles SR 9 - - -
World Cup points :	-
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Vernon John "Vern" Schuppan (born March 19, 1943 in Booleroo ) is a retired Australian automobile racing driver and racing car designer . Schuppan drove in Formula 1 and won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1983 .

Career

After a few successful years in Australian karting , Schuppan came to Great Britain in 1969. There he entered Formula Ford and in 1971 Formula Atlantic . After his overall victory in the Yellow Pages Championship, he first came into contact with Formula 1 when Ken Tyrrell invited him to a test day. But not the Tyrrell team, but BRM gave him a works contract in 1972.

Schuppan was hired as a junior driver and, according to the contract, he was supposed to compete in races that were not part of the world championship. He finished fifth in the Gold Cup at Oulton Park and fourth in the John Player Challenge at Brands Hatch . When the situation at BRM did not change in 1973 and he was still waiting as a substitute driver for a job at a Grand Prix, he accepted an offer from John Wyer and his Gulf sports car team. In the Mirage M6 , he finished second in the Spa 1000km race with Mike Hailwood and Howden Ganley .

The Schuppan 962CR, designed by Vern Schuppan

In 1974 Schuppan became a works driver at Ensign and made his Grand Prix debut at the Belgian Grand Prix in Nivelles . In addition to his Formula 1 involvement, he made sporadic appearances in Formula 5000 .

The Australian's Formula 1 career remained unfulfilled and ultimately not very successful. After a race for Graham Hill in the Hill GH1 in 1975 , there were three more races for Surtees in 1977, then the time in the top monoposto class was over after only nine races.

In 1976 Schuppan had already moved to the USA for a year to compete in the USAC racing series for Dan Gurney's Eagle team . He returned in 1978 and came third in the Indy 500 in 1981 . In addition to his US involvement, he built a highly successful sports car career. In the early 1980s he was one of the fastest drivers in a Porsche 956 and his successful run culminated in the Le Mans victory in 1983 with Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood as partners.

Schuppan also excelled as a designer. His Schuppan 962CR , a street version of the Porsche 962 , was built and sold six times. After the end of his active career, he successfully entered team management and was a partner of Stefan Johansson in the Indy Light series for many years .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1973	Gulf Research Racing	Mirage M6	Mike Hailwood	John Watson	failure	accident
1974	Gulf Research Racing	Gulf GR7	Pure Wisell		failure	drive shaft
1975	Gulf Research Racing Co.	Gulf GR8	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud		Rank 3
1976	Gran Touring Cars Inc.	Mirage GR8	Derek Bell		Rank 5
1977	Gran Touring Cars Inc.	Mirage GR8	Jean-Pierre Jarier		Rank 2
1978	Gran Touring Cars Inc.	Mirage M9	Jacques Laffite	Sam Posey	Rank 10
1979	Gran Touring Cars Inc.	Ford M10	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	David Hobbs	failure	Disqualified
1981	Porsche system	Porsche 936	Jochen Mass	Hurley Haywood	Rank 12
1982	Rothmans Porsche System	Porsche 956	Jochen Mass		Rank 2
1983	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 956	Al Holbert	Hurley Haywood	Overall victory
1984	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 956B	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Alan Jones	Rank 6
1985	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	Al Holbert	John Watson	failure	Engine failure
1986	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	Drake Olson		failure	Gearbox damage
1987	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Jochen Mass	Bob Wollek	failure	Valve damage
1988	Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Sarel van der Merwe	Bob Wollek	failure	Engine failure
1989	Team Schuppan	Porsche 962C	Gary Brabham	Eje Elgh	Rank 13

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1986	Group 44	Jaguar XJR-7	Hurley Haywood	Brian Redman	failure	Valve damage
1987	Dyson Racing	Porsche 962	Price Cobb		failure	accident

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who. 3rd edition. Travel Publishing, Reading 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8 .

Web links

Commons : Vern Schuppan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Vern Schuppan at Racing Sports Cars