10 Facts About Rolf Stommelen

1.

Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany.

2.

Rolf Stommelen participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points.

3.

One of the best endurance sports car racing drivers of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Stommelen won the 24 Hours of Daytona four times; in 1968,1978,1980 and 1982 and the Targa Florio in 1967 in a Porsche 910.

4.

Rolf Stommelen won the pole position for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 917 a year after finishing third in a Porsche 908.

5.

Rolf Stommelen inadvertently played a role in the end of the Spanish Grand Prix's tenure at Montjuich Park in Barcelona when he crashed there in the 1975 race after the rear wing of his Hill GH1 failed which caused his car to fly into the crowd, resulting in the deaths of five spectators and him being seriously injured.

6.

On race-day in heavy rain, Rolf Stommelen managed to overtake the Renault in front right after the start.

7.

Rolf Stommelen drove Toj SC320 prototype sportscars with some success against the works Alfa team.

8.

Rolf Stommelen was active in the German GT Championship Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, winning the championship in 1977 for the Gelo Racing Team in a Porsche 935.

9.

Rolf Stommelen was killed in a crash during the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix 6 hour International Motor Sports Association GT Championship event at Riverside International Raceway on 24 April 1983.

10.

Rolf Stommelen was competing in a John Fitzpatrick entered Porsche 935 with co-driver Derek Bell.