Jo Schlesser

Born	(1928-05-18)18 May 1928
Died	7 July 1968(1968-07-07) (aged 40)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1966–1968
Teams	Matra, Honda
Races	3
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1966 German Grand Prix
Last race	1968 French Grand Prix

Joseph Schlesser (18 May 1928 in Liouville, France – 7 July 1968 at Rouen-Les-Essarts) was a Formula One and sports car racing driver from France. He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the 1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed. He scored no championship points.

Schlesser also participated in the 1966 and 1967 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, each time driving a Formula 2 Spec Matra-Cosworth. In 1966, he finished 10th in the overall classification and 3rd in the Formula 2 classification. In 1967, he was forced to retire with a clutch problem after 2 laps.

A real Formula One opportunity came for Schlesser in 1968 with Honda. The Honda team had completed an experimental air-cooled F1 car (dubbed the RA302) which was tested by their works driver John Surtees. Surtees pronounced it as not ready for racing, and a potential deathtrap. Undaunted, with the financial help of Honda France, Honda entered it for the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts. Being the local hero, Schlesser was hired to drive it.

Fatefully, after only two laps, the car slid wide at the Six Frères corner and crashed sideways into a bank. The magnesium-bodied Honda and 58 laps worth of fuel ignited instantly, leaving Schlesser no chance of survival. As a result, Honda withdrew from Formula One at the end of the 1968 season after Surtees refused to drive the car (again) at the Italian race of same year.

Jo Schlesser also raced in NASCAR finishing 13th in the Daytona 500.

A friend of Jo Schlesser's, future Formula One constuctor Guy Ligier always gave his cars type numbers beginning with 'JS' as a tribute to Schlesser.

His nephew Jean-Louis Schlesser later became a successful racing driver, who started one Formula One grand prix and won the Paris Dakar.

Complete Formula One World Championship results[link]

(key)

External links[link]

• Jo Schlesser's accident (in Italian)

v t e Honda Racing F1 Personnel: 1963–1968: Soichiro Honda | Yoshio Nakamura | Shoichi Sano 1999: Harvey Postlethwaite | Tim Densham 2006–2008: Nick Fry | Ross Brawn | Yasuhiro Wada | Geoff Willis | Shuhei Nakamoto | Loïc Bigois Notable drivers: Jenson Button | Rubens Barrichello | Ronnie Bucknum | Richie Ginther | Jo Schlesser | John Surtees Formula One cars: RA270 | RA271 | RA272 | RA273 | RA300 | RA301 | RA302 | RC100 | RA099 | RA106 | RA107 | RA108

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Jo Siffert

Born	(1936-07-07)7 July 1936
Died	24 October 1971(1971-10-24) (aged 35)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Swiss
Active years	1962 – 1971
Teams	Privateer Lotus and Brabham Rob Walker Racing Team March BRM
Races	100 (96 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podiums	6
Career points	68
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	4
First race	1962 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1968 British Grand Prix
Last win	1971 Austrian Grand Prix
Last race	1971 United States Grand Prix

Joseph Siffert (July 7, 1936 – October 24, 1971) was a Swiss racing driver.

Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing on two wheels, powering his way to the Swiss 350 cc motorcycle championship in 1959, before switching to four wheels with a Formula Junior Stanguellini. Siffert graduated to Formula One as a privateer in 1962, with a four-cylinder Lotus-Climax. He later moved to Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti, and in 1964 joined Rob Walker's private British Rob Walker Racing Team. Early successes included victories in the non-Championship 1964 and 1965 Mediterranean Grands Prix, both times beating Jim Clark by a very narrow margin. Siffert was married twice and to his second wife Simone during the height of his career in the late 1960s and at the time of his death in 1971. They had two children together, Véronique and Philippe.

Life and career[link]

Formula One[link]

Siffert at the wheel of a Porsche 906 in practice for the 1966 1000 km Nürburgring race.

In 1968, Siffert drove into the F1 history books by winning the 1968 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in Rob Walker Racing Team's Lotus 49B, beating Chris Amon's Ferrari into second place after a race-long battle. This is regarded as the last GP victory by a genuine privateer.^[1]

Sports cars[link]

While Siffert's status in F1 grew slowly, his fame came as a leading driver for the factory Porsche effort in its quest for the World Sportscar Championship. In 1968, Siffert and Hans Herrmann won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 907, marking the first major outright wins for the company, apart from a few earlier victories on twisty tracks.

Siffert in the Porsche 908.03 at the 1970 1000km Nürburgring

Siffert at the wheel of a Porsche 908

Later on, Siffert's driving displays in the Porsche 917 were legendary, earning him several major wins in Europe. In addition, Siffert was chosen by Porsche to help launch its CanAm development program, driving a Porsche 917PA spyder in 1969 and finishing fourth in the championship despite few entries.

In 1970 he teamed up with Brian Redman to drive a Porsche 908/3 to victory at the Targa Florio. That same year, Porsche bankrolled Siffert's seat in a works March Engineering F1 since the German company did not wish to lose one of their prize drivers to rival Ferrari. His association with March in F1 was disastrous, so he was delighted to join rival Porsche racer Pedro Rodriguez at BRM the following season.

Death[link]

Siffert won the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, but then was killed in the non-championship World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch GB, the scene of his first and greatest victory in 1968. The suspension of his BRM had been damaged in a lap 1 incident with Ronnie Peterson, and broke later. This was not admitted by BRM until much later when this fact was accidentally divulged by a BRM ex-mechanic.^[2] The BRM crashed and immediately caught fire. Siffert could not free himself from the burning car.

This accident led to a rapid overhaul of safety, both in-car and on circuit. In the subsequent Royal Automobile Club (the UK organising and regulatory representative of the FIA at the time) investigation it was discovered that the crash itself caused non-fatal injuries but Siffert had rather been killed by smoke inhalation. None of the trackside fire extinguishers worked, and it was found to be impossible to reach the car and extract Siffert because of the extremely intense fire. On-board fire extinguishers (using BCF—bromochlorodifluoromethane, an aircraft product) became mandatory and piped air for the drivers, direct into their helmet. Thus, perhaps one of the sad epitaphs of Seppi was the focus on vehicle and driver safety in Formula One and lesser formulae and far better fire retardant driving overalls.

His funeral in Switzerland was attended by 50,000 people and a Gulf-Porsche 917 of Team John Wyer led the hearse and procession through the streets Link of Fribourg. A very comprehensive story about Siffert's life and death was published in 2005 by Roger Benoit in the Swiss newspaper Der Blick. Benoit was a period Formula 1 sports reporter and knew Siffert well. He was also present at Siffert's last and tragic Brands Hatch race in 1971. The night before the race Benoit took pictures of Siffert, his wife Simone and his mother Maria as well as a friend Jean Tinguely at an evening victory celebration Link. He then also took the very last picture of Siffert alive as he sat waiting in his BRM in the pole position on the starting line five minutes before the start of the fateful race. Siffert's mother died in 1988, surviving her son by over 17 years.

Legacy[link]

In 2005, a very informative 90-minute documentary about his life was made by director Men Lareida: Jo Siffert - live fast, die young[1] "DVD"[2].

In the final round of the 2007-08 A1GP season, at Brands Hatch, the A1 Team Switzerland car carried the message:

Jo 'Seppi' Siffert

40th Anniversary

Brands Hatch

This commemorated his 1968 British Grand Prix victory at Brands Hatch.

Formula One results[link]

Complete World Championship results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

†Formula Two cars occupied fifth to tenth positions in the 1969 German Grand Prix, however drivers of these cars were not eligible for championship points. The points for fifth and sixth were awarded to the drivers of the eleventh and twelfth placed cars.

Non-Championship results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Jo Siffert web site (German and French) by Philippe Siffert, Jo's son
• Jo Siffert fan page authorized by Simone Siffert, Jo's second wife