| Manfred Schurti | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Liechtensteiner |
| Born | 24 December 1941 Lustenau, Austria |
Manfred Schurti (born 24 December 1941) is a former touring and prototype racing car driver from Liechtenstein mainly known for racing factory-entered Porsches.
| Manfred Schurti | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Liechtensteiner |
| Born | 24 December 1941 Lustenau, Austria |
Manfred Schurti (born 24 December 1941) is a former touring and prototype racing car driver from Liechtenstein mainly known for racing factory-entered Porsches.
He was born on Christmas Eve in Austria, but his parents moved after the war to the nearby small principality of Liechtenstein.
A mechanic by trade who became leader of the national motor vehicle inspection authority (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle MFK), Schurti began with moto cross and wanted to switch to motorcycle racing. His sponsor Baron von Falz-Fein denied support for a two-wheel effort, but offered a ride in a Formula Vee, where a group of Austrians including Niki Lauda supported each other with slipstreaming. Schurti managed to keep up with them, winning his first race in 1969 in Hockenheim, and then the 1970 World championship. In 1972, with Hilti support, he won the Formel Super Vau Castrol Trophy series and the International Castrol GTX Trophy, and was elected Sportsman of the year in Liechtenstein.
His entry in Formula 2 was expensive but the car was not competitive. In 1976, after testing a similar Williams-F1 in Goodwood, the 34-year-old switched to touring car and sportscar racing, like the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft series, where he won three events. In 1980 he competed in the BMW M1 Procar Championship, winning once, on the AVUS in Berlin. Peter Sauber made him a good offer to race sportscars, but the 39-year-old, who witnessed fatal crashes, decided to retire from pro racing. He came out of retirement to contest the 1984 Nürburgring Race of Champions in a Mercedes-Benz 190E, which he later bought once converted to a road car. [1]
Schurti entered the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans with a factory Martini Racing Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo prototype which caught fire while the other car finished second overall. In 1975, when Porsche was absent developing the 911-based Porsche 935 and the Porsche 936 sports car for 1976, he finished 5th (and 1st in GTS class) in a regular 911 Carrera RSR together with three other drivers.
Schurti was a test driver for Porsche, which in 1976 competed in two separate World Championships. With main drivers Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass, and Rolf Stommelen also busy in F1, Schurti and Jürgen Barth substituted or raced backup cars.
He backed up the factory Le Mans entry with the 935 in 1976, finishing first in class (Group 5) and 4th overall. He returned in 1977 and 1978 in the factory 935, and in 1979, when the factory was absent, with a private 935, while another private 935 won. He also supported the factory entries of Porsche 924 variants from 1980 to 1982.
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Ovr. Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 |  Martini Racing Porsche System |  Helmuth Koinigg | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo | S 3.0 | 87 | DNF | DNF |
| 1975 | Gelo Racing Team |  Gijs van Lennep  John Fitzpatrick Toine Hezemans | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | GTS | 316 | 5th | 1st |
| 1976 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Rolf Stommelen | Porsche 935 | Gr.5 SP | 331 | 4th | 1st |
| 1977 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Rolf Stommelen | Porsche 935 | Gr.5 | 52 | DNF | DNF |
| 1978 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Rolf Stommelen | Porsche 935 | Gr.5 +2.0 | 326 | 8th | 3rd |
| 1979 | Gelo Racing Sportswear International | Hans Heyer | Porsche 935 | Gr.5 +2.5 | 196 | DNF | DNF |
| 1980 | Porsche System | Jürgen Barth | Porsche 924 | GTP | 316 | 6th | 3rd |
| 1981 | Porsche System | Andy Rouse | Porsche 924 | IMSA GTO | 315 | 11th | 1st |
| 1982 |  B.F. Goodrich | Patrick Bedard Paul Miller | Porsche 924 | IMSA GTO | 128 | DNF | DNF |
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1958 as Martini International Club, founded by Count Metello Rossi di Montelera of Martini & Rossi. The race cars are marked with the distinctive dark blue, light blue and red stripes on white, red or silver background body cars. The car model which has won the most titles for Martini Racing is the Lancia Delta HF Integrale.
The Porsche 935 was a race car developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules, it was an evolution of the Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype, the second place overall finisher in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation purposes. The limited-production street-legal version developed as a result was named the 911 GT1 Straßenversion.
Bernd Mayländer is a German racing driver and current Formula One safety car driver.
Hans Herrmann is a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 44th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1976. This year the FIA introduced its new Group 5 and Group 6 regulations and the race was now open to nine distinct classes, although it was still not part of the World Championship seasons. Porsche introduced its new models, the 936 in Group 6, the 935 in Group 5 and the 934 in Group 4. In response, BMW had its modified 3.0 CSL in Group 5. It was the year that turbos arrived in considerable numbers, with over a dozen turbocharged entries, led by the Renault Alpine A442. It saw the arrival of French prototype manufacturers Jean Rondeau and Gérard Welter in a new GTP class and a first-time invitation to American IMSA and NASCAR entries.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is a GT1 sports car built and produced by Mercedes-Benz in conjunction with their then motorsport partner AMG. Intended for racing in the new FIA GT Championship series in 1997, the CLK GTR was designed primarily as a race car, with the road cars necessary in order to meet homologation standards being secondary in the car's design, i.e. it was a homologation special.
Jörg Bergmeister is a former racing driver from Germany and an ambassador of Porsche.
The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the naturally aspirated BMW S70/2 V12 engine. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes in very wet conditions. The F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.
The 1980 World Sportscar Championship season was the 28th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship for Makes which was contested as a series running under both Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) regulations. It ran from 2 February 1980 to 28 September 1980, and comprised 11 races, including races run with Camel GT Championship.
Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races.
The Porsche WSC-95 was a Le Mans Prototype originally built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. It was modified by Porsche from the original Group C Jaguar XJR-14 from which it derived, and run by Joest Racing. Originally intended to race in the IMSA World Sportscar Championship, the WSC-95 saw very little race action even though it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1996 and 1997 without being acknowledged as a factory supported project. It was later upgraded to the Porsche LMP1-98 before being retired. Only two cars were ever built.
Earl Anderson Bamber is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class.
Olaf Manthey is a German former race car driver, and former owner of Porsche team Manthey Racing.
Dave Helmick was an American sports car racer and owner.
Nick Faure is a former English Sportscar racing driver, and purveyor of Porsche in the United Kingdom of his era. Known affectionately as Mr. Porsche, Faure achieved fame through racing and selling Porsche 911 and 356s, since the 1960s and his name has become synonymous with the marque. His fame allowed him the opportunity at Le Mans 24 Hours eleven times. He retired from international motor sport after his last race, 1989 Spa 24 Hours.
Group GT1, also known simply as GT1, was a set of regulations maintained formerly by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), for Grand Tourer racing. The category was first created in 1993, as the top class of the BPR Global GT Series, and was included in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It fell under FIA regulation from 1997, after the BPR series came under the control of the FIA, becoming known as the FIA GT Championship. The category was dissolved at the end of 2011. The category may be split into four distinctive eras, from its debut in 1993–1996, 1997–1998, 2000–2009, 2010–2011.
Equipe Alméras Frères is a French auto racing team founded by Jean-Marie Alméras and his brother Jacques Alméras in 1971. The racing team is an extension of the automotive dealership in Montpellier through which the brothers tune, develop, and restore Porsches, in which the team is commonly known as Porsche Alméras. Early success in French and European hill climbs led to rallying efforts across Europe, including overall victories at the Monte Carlo Rally and Tour de Corse, and the full support of Porsche in developing their 911 model for rallying. Small forays into sports car racing in the 1970s eventually shifted to the team running sports cars full-time in the 1980s, including multiple participations at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and eventually an effort in the World Sportscar Championship. By the 1990s the team returned to hill climbs and rallying while participating in French circuit championships including the Porsche Carrera Cup.
 | This biographical article related to auto racing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |