Volkert Merl

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Volkert Merl (born February 10, 1940 ) is a former German racing driver.

Career

Volkert Merl began his racing career in touring car motorsport in the mid-1970s. After gaining initial experience with Opel and Alfa Romeo racing cars, he switched to Porsche. In 1976 and 1977 he competed in a Porsche 934 in the German Racing Championship (DRM) and in the German Automobile Circuit Cup (DARM). In 1976 he recorded his first victory at the DARM race in Ulm.

From 1978 to 1981 Merl drove Porsche 935 racing cars from various teams in the 1st division of the DRM. After the 1978 season with Konrad Racing, he drove with the Joest Racing team until 1983 . In 1982, after the regulations were changed to Group 6 and Group C racing cars, he switched to a Porsche 908/3 Turbo and a Porsche 936C . In the races he achieved many placements among the top ten and was able to secure 4th place overall in 1980 and 5th place in 1982. His last DRM racing season was mainly in 1983 with a Porsche 956 , where he achieved his best overall result in this racing series with a runner-up championship title.

At the end of the season in 1977, he drove the first long-distance races in the sports car world championship with the Kremer Racing team in a 934/5 and 935. A year later, he was in a Porsche cockpit for Konrad Racing. In 1979, after moving to Joest, he drove in the Porsche 935 / 77A and Porsche 935 J in Group 5 and in the Porsche 908/3 Turbo in Group 6 of the brand world championship until 1982. He and Reinhold Joest won the 6-hour race at Dijon and the 6-hour race at Brands Hatch in 1979. He celebrated his most important long-distance victory in 1980 at the Daytona 24-hour race , which he won together with Reinhold Joest and Rolf Stommelen in a Porsche 935 J. He drove a Porsche 956 in the racing seasons of the sports car world championship in 1983 and 1984.

From 1980 to 1982 Merl also started in the Interseries . There he drove a 908/3 Turbo and later also a Porsche 936C regularly into points and winning places. 1980 was his most successful inter-series season when he won the title. He contested his last race in 1984 in the Interserien-race in Most, in which he finished third overall.

Merl drove a total of three times in the Le Mans 24-hour races . In 1980 he started with his driver colleagues Claude Haldi and Bernard Béguin in the Porsche 935 / 77A in Group 5, but had to give up prematurely due to engine problems. At his second start in 1983 with Clemens Schickentanz and Mauricio de Narváez in the Porsche 956, he had more success and achieved fourth place overall. A year later he was able to celebrate fifth place in the overall standings with Dieter Schornstein and Louis Krages ("John Winter") .

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
1980 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Meccarillos Racing Porsche 935 / 77A SwitzerlandSwitzerland Claude Haldi FranceFrance Bernard Béguin failure Engine failure
1983 GermanyGermany Joest Racing Porsche 956 GermanyGermany Clemens Schickentanz ColombiaColombia Mauricio de Narváez Rank 4
1984 GermanyGermany Chimney Racing Team Porsche 956 GermanyGermany Dieter Chimney GermanyGermany Louis Krages Rank 5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Teamdan - website: race results and overall placements of the DRM 1980. (No longer available online.) On: www.teamdan.com , archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved September 29, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Teamdan - website: race results and overall placements of the DRM 1982. (No longer available online.) On: www.teamdan.com , archived from the original on September 20, 2011 ; Retrieved September 29, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Teamdan - website: race results and overall placements of the DRM 1983. On: www.teamdan.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Classicscars - Internet site: Race results of the Sports Car World Championship 1979. At: www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Classicscars - Internet site: Racing results of the sports car world championship 1980. At: www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Classicscars - Internet site: Race results of the Interserie 1980. At: www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  7. ^ Classicscars - website: Le Mans race results 1980. From : www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  8. ^ Classicscars - Website: Le Mans racing results 1983. At: www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
  9. ^ Classicscars - Internet site: Le Mans race results 1984. At: www.classicscars.com , accessed on September 29, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Merl, Volkert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1940