Wilhelm Sebastian

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Rudolf Caracciola and Wilhelm Sebastian during their victory in the Mille Miglia in 1931
An Auto Union Type A as piloted by Wilhelm Sebastian in 1934

Wilhelm Sebastian (born January 17, 1903 in Weinheim ; † October 30, 1978 there ) was a German automobile racing driver and racing mechanic.

Career

Wilhelm Sebastian won the Mille Miglia in Italy in 1931 as a co-driver and mechanic for Rudolf Caracciola . The German duo prevailed in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL as the first non-Italians in the history of the race, although they were hardly supported by Mercedes-Benz due to the global economic crisis and thus could not train for the 1000-mile race on public roads .

Sebastian then worked for Auto Union as a driver and racing mechanic in the European Grand Prix Championship . For the 1934 season , he joined the newly created works team under race director Willy Walb together with August Momberger as reserve driver. The regular pilots were Hans Stuck and Hermann zu Leiningen . Sebastian started on Type A at the Coppa Acerbo in Pescara , at the Italian Grand Prix on the high-speed railway in the Royal Park of Monza and at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix on the Masaryk Ring near Brno .

At the end of August in Pescara, Wilhelm Sebastian represented the sick August Momberger and came fifth together with regular driver Stuck, who had to park his car with a damaged piston and took over Sebastian's vehicle. On September 9th he finished seventh with Momberger in Monza. Three weeks later Sebastian replaced Momberger, who was suffering from arthritis, in Brno and also finished seventh, this was the last Grand Prix of his career. At the end of the season he resigned from racing because he did not think he was fast enough for the European Championship.

After that, Wilhelm Sebastian was only active as a mechanic in the racing team of the Zwickau Auto Union, in which his brother Ludwig was the chief mechanic. He worked first for Bernd Rosemeyer and later for Tazio Nuvolari . In 1939 he was involved in testing the W 165 for Mercedes-Benz , which saw its only racing appearance at the Gran Premio di Tripoli in 1939 and celebrated a double victory with Hermann Lang and Rudolf Caracciola.

Shortly before Rosemeyer's fatal accident on January 28, 1938 on the Reichsautobahn Frankfurt – Darmstadt , Sebastian advised him against the record runs. Rosemeyer assured him that he could assess the risk.

“Don't shit, those stupid record drives, we need you for the racing season. - You can rest assured that I will notice if it doesn't work. I just want to feel it again. "

Wilhelm Sebastian died on October 30, 1978 at the age of 75 in his hometown of Weinheim.

statistics

Pre-war Grand Prix results

season team dare 1 2 3 4th 5 6th
1934 Auto Union AG Auto Union Type A Flag of Monaco.svg Flag of France.svg Flag of Germany (1933–1935) .svg Flag of Belgium (civil) .svg Flag of Italy (1861-1946) .svg Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.svg
DNS 7. 1
Legend
colour meaning EM points
gold victory 1
silver 2nd place 2
bronze 3rd place 3
green Classified, covered more than 75% of the race distance 4th
blue not entitled to points, covered between 50% and 75% of the race distance 5
violet not eligible for points, covered between 25% and 50% of the race distance 6th
red not eligible for points, covered less than 25% of the race distance 7th
colour abbreviation meaning EM points
black DSQ disqualified 8th
White DNS did not start
DNA did not arrive
other P / bold Pole position
SR / italic Fastest race lap
DNF Race not finished (did not finish)
1Sebastian took over August Momberger's car during the race and drove it to seventh place.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Sebastian  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: X ° COPPA ACERBO. www.kolumbus.fi, January 10, 2014, accessed July 4, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: XII ° GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA. www.kolumbus.fi, April 9, 2013, accessed July 4, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: V Masarykův Okruh. www.kolumbus.fi, May 6, 2014, accessed July 4, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: 1935 GRAND PRIX SEASON. www.kolumbus.fi, May 18, 2014, accessed on July 28, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Mercedes W 165. www.grandprixhistory.org, accessed on July 4, 2014 (English).
  6. ^ Malte Juergens, Martin Schröder: Bernd Rosemeyer - The tragic death of a racing legend. www.motor-klassik.de, accessed on July 4, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Thomas Imhof: How the car hero really died. www.welt.de, October 26, 2008, accessed on July 4, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Sebastian, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German automobile racing driver and racing mechanic
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Weinheim
DATE OF DEATH October 30, 1978
Place of death Weinheim