Rikky von Opel

Last updated

Rikky von Opel
Born
Frederick von Opel

(1947-10-14) 14 October 1947 (age 77)
New York City, U.S.
Parent Fritz von Opel (father)
Relatives
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtensteiner
Active years 1973–1974
Teams Ensign, Brabham
Entries14 (10 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1973 French Grand Prix
Last entry 1974 French Grand Prix

Frederick "Rikky" von Opel (born 14 October 1947) is a former racing driver, who competed under the Liechtenstein flag in Formula One from 1973 to 1974. Von Opel remains the only Liechtenstein driver to compete in Formula One.

Contents

Born in New York City and raised in St. Moritz, von Opel was born into the noble Opel family as the son of Fritz von Opel and the great-grandson of Adam Opel, founder of Opel. He won the Lombard North British Formula 3 Championship in 1972. Von Opel participated in 14 Formula One Grands Prix for Ensign and Brabham, debuting with the former at the 1973 French Grand Prix. He finished a career-best ninth at the Swedish and Dutch Grands Prix in 1974 with Brabham, driving the Brabham BT44.

Upon retiring from motor racing, von Opel moved to a Buddhist monastery in Thailand, becoming a monk.

Racing career

Von Opel started out racing in Formula Ford in 1970, under the pseudonym "Antonio Branco". [1] After his year in Formula Ford, he moved on to Formula 3, where he competed for two years. [1] He raced a Lotus 69 in 1971 in the BRSCC Shell British Formula 3 series (six starts, one pole position, eight points), but changed over to Ensign Racing in 1972 and followed the team into Formula One. [2] He won the 1972 Lombard North Formula 3 championship, one of three concurrent regional championships (along with the John Player, and Forward Trust) in the United Kingdom.

Formula One

1973

Opel's Ensign N173 in 2012 Ensign at Silverstone Classic 2012.jpg
Opel's Ensign N173 in 2012

Opel's Formula One debut coincided with that of the team that provided him with his big break, Ensign. Both began at Paul Ricard in France, the eighth race of the 1973 season, with Opel qualifying his N173 25th and finishing 15th, three laps down. Great Britain was next, while Opel finished 13th, six laps down, after starting from 21st.

More promising signs appeared to be on the horizon at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix where he qualified a very creditable 14th, ahead of former World Drivers' Champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Graham Hill. However, on the morning of the race, cracks were found in the chassis. With too little time to make repairs, Opel was unable to start and the same issues prevented the team from starting in Germany too. Fuel system issues curtailed Opel's Austrian Grand Prix where he qualified 19th, and an overheating engine ended his Italian Grand Prix, after qualifying 17th.

The North American climax offered little better; he qualified 26th and last in Canada and was unclassified in the race, finishing 12 laps down, whilst in that year's United States Grand Prix he once again qualified dead last, 27th, and retired on the opening lap with his throttle jammed open. Opel's debut season produced no points, and he was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.

1974

Ensign's car for the new season, the N174, was much like the N173, but at the opening round of 1974 in Argentina, Opel discovered how little progress had really been made. He qualified 26th, again dead last, more than seven seconds slower than pole-sitter Ronnie Peterson and almost one and a half seconds slower than Guy Edwards, who qualified 25th. The handling of the car was so flawed that he chose to withdraw from the meeting. [3] Shortly afterwards Opel quit the team.

He sat out the races in the Brazilian Grand Prix and South Africa until he took over the second Brabham seat from Richard Robarts, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. Their BT44 was powered by the same Cosworth DFV V8 as the Ensign, but the chassis was far superior, so hopes were raised. However, Opel could not make the most of it and he struggled to match the performance of new teammate, Argentine Carlos Reutemann.

Retiring with an oil leak in Spain, after qualifying 24th, and again a fortnight later in Belgium with a blown engine, from which he started 22nd, were not the lift in performance Opel wished for. Monaco was worse still, where he was the only driver that failed to qualify. Brief respite was found in Sweden and the Netherlands with his first top-10 finishes, 9th on both occasions (after qualifying 20th and 23rd respectively).

The promise was short-lived though, as failure to qualify next time out in France was the final straw for Brabham boss Bernie Ecclestone, and Opel was replaced by Carlos Pace. For the second year running he was unclassified in the Driver's Championship with no points. A little over a year after his debut, the career of Liechtenstein's only Formula One driver was over.

Personal life

He is the son of Fritz von Opel and a great-grandson of Adam Opel, the founder of the German car-maker Opel. His mother is von Opel's second wife, Emita Herrán Olozaga, the daughter of a Colombian diplomat. He was born in the United States and lived in St. Moritz, Switzerland during his youth - often secretly challenging his cousin Gunter Sachs and friend Alexander Onassis to flat-out midnight bobsled runs at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun. He chose to represent Liechtenstein in racing despite having no connection to the country, and proclaimed before one of his Grands Prix that "When I win, I want to hear the German national anthem". [4]

After his stint in Formula One, von Opel retired to a Buddhist monastery in rural Thailand and became a monk. His exact whereabouts are unknown and his only contact with the outside world comes in the form of a post office box, the location of which is known by only a select few of his acquaintances. [1]

Results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415WDCPoints
1973 Team Ensign Ensign N173 Cosworth V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE FRA
15		 GBR
13		 NED
DNS		 GER AUT
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 CAN
NC		 USA
Ret		NC0
1974 Team Ensign Ensign N174 Cosworth V8 ARG
DNS		 BRA RSA NC0
Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT44 ESP
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 MON
DNQ		 SWE
9		 NED
9		 FRA
DNQ		 GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Testi, Gabriele; Bieri, Michael (20 October 2017). "70. Geburtstag des Liechtensteiners Rikky von Opel – Mönch und Rennfahrer" [Liechtensteiner Rikky von Opel's 70th birthday: monk and racing driver] (in German). Motorsport.com Switzerland. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Rikky von Opel". Driver Database. DriverDB AB. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Walker, Rob (May 1974). "It came right for Denny". Road & Track . Vol. 25, no. 9. CBS Consumer Publishing Division. p. 110.
  4. ↑ Scherer, Eric (2 November 2020). "The nice, crazy one". Opel POST. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by British Formula 3 Championship
BRSCC North Central Lombard Series Champion
1972		Succeeded by
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