Rolf
Stommelen

Rolf Johann Stommelen was born in Siegen on 11 July 1943. In sports car racing with Porsche, he won the Targa Florio in 1967 and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1968. That same year he finished third at Le Mans in a Porsche 908. In 1969 he put a Porsche 917 on pole position there, and he became the first driver to exceed 350 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight.

In the Formula One World Championship, Stommelen started one race for Lotus in 1969. In 1970 he drove for Brabham, started ten of his 13 entries and finished 11th in the championship, his best final position. Surtees followed in 1971 (19th), then Eifelland in 1972, Brabham again in 1973 and Lola in 1974. In 1975 he drove for Hill and Lola, and in 1976 for Brabham and Hesketh, again finishing 19th overall. His final season came in 1978 with Arrows. In total he made 54 starts and took one podium, with no wins or pole positions.

At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, the rear wing on his Hill GH1 failed and the car went into the spectator area. Five spectators died and Stommelen was injured.

After his recovery he won races for Alfa Romeo and took three more victories at Daytona, in 1978, 1980 and 1982. In 1976 he drove the Porsche 936 in its first race at the Nürburgring and finished second. In 1977 he won the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, the German GT championship, in a Gelo Racing Porsche 935. At Le Mans in 1978 he drove the Porsche 935 known as "Moby Dick" and was the fastest driver on the Mulsanne Straight. In the 1980s his cars included the Kremer CK5, the Lancia LC1 and the Porsche 956.

Stommelen died on 24 April 1983 during an IMSA GT Championship race at Riverside. He had taken over the Porsche 935 from Derek Bell and was running second when the rear wing broke because of a mechanical failure.

Source: Wikipedia, “Rolf Stommelen”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.