Wolfgang
Von Trips

Wolfgang von Trips was born in Cologne on 4 May 1928 and grew up in Kerpen. He came from a noble Rhineland family and held the title of count. His friends and colleagues in racing called him Taffy. From 1951 he struggled with his training as a farmer, as his real passion lay in racing, and that was the path he went on to take.

He made his Formula One debut at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari, but did not start. In 1957 he contested three races for Ferrari and took his first podium at the Italian Grand Prix. He started six races in 1958 and finished on the podium again at the French Grand Prix. In 1959 he drove for Ferrari and Porsche and made two starts. In 1960 he raced for Cooper and Ferrari, started nine races and finished seventh in the championship. That year he also won the Solitude Formula Two Grand Prix in Stuttgart in a Ferrari.

In 1961 he won the Dutch and British Grands Prix and was second at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Ferrari took the first four places. In May he won the Targa Florio with Olivier Gendebien as his co-driver. He and his team-mate Phil Hill were fighting for the title.

At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 10 September 1961, von Trips collided with Jim Clark's Lotus on the second lap. His Ferrari crashed and von Trips lost his life, as did 15 spectators. He was leading the championship at the time. Ferrari did not take part in the final race in the United States, and Phil Hill won the title by one point, leaving von Trips posthumously as championship runner-up.

In all, von Trips was entered in 29 Formula One races and started 27, winning two, taking six podiums and one pole position. In 1961 he set up a kart track in Kerpen. Rolf Schumacher later leased it, and his sons Michael and Ralf drove their first laps there.

Source: Wikipedia, “Wolfgang von Trips”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.