Kurt
Ahrens, Jr.

Kurt Ahrens Jr. was born in Braunschweig on 19 April 1940. His father, Kurt Ahrens Sr., was a German speedway champion and raced against his son for five years. Ahrens began in 1958 with a Cooper-Norton in Formula 3 and won the German Formula Junior title in 1961 and 1963, the year his father retired. He then moved on to Formula 2.

In the Formula 1 World Championship he made four starts, one each in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. He drove a Brabham in 1966, 1968 and 1969, and a Protos in 1967. Thanks to the long Nürburgring circuit, Formula 2 cars could line up in the German Grand Prix, and Ahrens usually drove Brabhams there for Caltex Racing. In 1968 he was invited to drive the Formula 1 Brabham-Repco in the rain.

In sports cars he joined the Porsche works team in 1968. In 1969 he shared victory with Jo Siffert in the Austrian 1000 km race. At Le Mans in 1969 and 1970 he co-drove a long-tail Porsche 917, but neither car reached the finish. In 1970 he won the Nürburgring 1000 km with Vic Elford in a Porsche 908. Ahrens retired from racing after the 1970 season.

Source: Wikipedia, “Kurt Ahrens Jr.”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.