Franz Wittmann Sr.

Last updated
Franz Wittmann
FranzWittmannSen.1984.jpg
Wittmann driving an Audi Quattro in 1984
Personal information
Nationality Flag of Austria.svg Austrian
Born (1950-04-07) April 7, 1950 (age 74)
Ramsau
World Rally Championship record
Active years1973 – 1989
Co-driver Flag of Austria.svg Hans Siebert
Flag of Austria.svg Helmut Deimel
Flag of Austria.svg Traude Schatzl
Flag of Austria.svg Hans Fennes
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Morgan
Flag of Austria.svg Kurt Nestinger
Flag of Austria.svg Rudolf Stohl
Flag of Germany.svg Peter Diekmann
Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Hinterleitner
Flag of Austria.svg Max Ogrisek
Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Feltz
Flag of Austria.svg Jörg Pattermann
Teams Audi, Volkswagen
Rallies33
Championships 0
Rally wins 1
Podiums3
Stage wins27
Total points66
First rally 1973 Austrian Alpine Rally
First win1987 Rally New Zealand
Last rally1989 Rally Australia

Franz Wittmann (born 7 April 1950 in Ramsau) is an Austrian rally driver, who won the 1987 Rally New Zealand, a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

Contents

Career

Wittmann began rallying in 1970. He competed mainly on a national level during his career, winning the Austrian championship 12 times between 1976 and 2001. [1] He also won 32 rounds of the European Rally Championship, finishing second in the standings in 1978. [1] As a test driver for Audi, he debuted the revolutionary Audi Quattro in 1981. He also competed as a factory Volkswagen driver in 1985 and 1986. In 1987 he won Rally New Zealand in a privately entered Lancia Delta HF 4WD. He competed on his final WRC event at the 1989 Rally Australia.

Wittmann was involved in a severe accident at the 1981 Rally Finland. He failed to spot the finish sign at the end of the Ehikki stage and crashed into race officials. One of those hit was Raul Falin, the president of AKK-Motorsport and the Finnish delegate at FISA, who died in the crash. [2] Wittmann was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but acquitted by Finnish courts. [3]

Wittmann's son Franz Jr. also competes in rallying.

WRC victories

 # EventSeasonCo-driverCar
1 Flag of New Zealand.svg 18th Rally New Zealand 1987 Jörg Pattermann Lancia Delta HF 4WD

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References

  1. 1 2 "RallyBase". www.rallybase.nl. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  2. ↑ "Suru avasi Suurajot" (PDF). Keskisuomalainen (in Finnish). 29 August 1981. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  3. ↑ https://www.iltalehti.fi/ralli/a/512a6fc0-8067-45d3-9f06-5c5f68a6714d


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