Franz Wittmann Sr.

Franz Wittmann

Wittmann driving an Audi Quattro in 1984
Personal information
Nationality	Austrian
Born	(1950-04-07) April 7, 1950 (age 75) Ramsau
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973 – 1989
Co-driver	Hans Siebert Helmut Deimel Traude Schatzl Hans Fennes John Morgan Kurt Nestinger Rudolf Stohl Peter Diekmann Ferdinand Hinterleitner Max Ogrisek Matthias Feltz Jörg Pattermann
Teams	Audi, Volkswagen
Rallies	33
Championships	0
Rally wins	1
Podiums	3
Stage wins	27
Total points	66
First rally	1973 Austrian Alpine Rally
First win	1987 Rally New Zealand
Last rally	1989 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).

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 was acquitted by Finnish courts. ^[3]

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

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	18th Rally New Zealand	1987	Jörg Pattermann	Lancia Delta HF 4WD

References

1. "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. Salomaa, Tomi (2018-11-03). ""Istu alas, nyt on huonoja uutisia" - Raul Falin kuoli vuonna 1981 järkyttävässä turmassa, jonka aiheuttaja vaikenee edelleen oudoista yksityiskohdista" ["Sit down, there's bad news" - Raul Falin died in a shocking 1981 accident, strange details of the cause remain unknown]. Iltalehti (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2018-12-24.

External links

• Official website (in German)