AUTOMOBILSPORT #32

RACING | HISTORY | PASSION

ISSUE #32

IN STORES AROUND EUROPE SINCE 06/03/2022
AND AVAILABLE IN OUR ONLINE SHOP

COVER STORY

Scuderia Filipinetti
1962–1973

The Swiss Godfather of Motorsport – Georges Filipinetti
A Plethora of Makes – Filipinetti in the World Sportscar Championship 1963–1973
Breaking into Formula 1 with Filipinetti – Jo Siffert’s beginnings in four-wheel racing
Alliance with Turin – Fiat Filipinetti

Breaking into Formula 1 with Filipinetti

Jo Siffert’s beginnings in four-wheel racing

The road to the top of motorsport wasn’t an easy one for Swiss driver Joseph Siffert. With the help of Scuderia Filipinetti he managed to break into grand prix racing. But what looked like a good partnership disintegrated quickly and Siffert had to battle on alone.

Siffert was born into a poor family in Fribourg in Switzerland on July 7, 1936. He developed keen trading skills and a persuasive nature at an early age. He collected and sold things like rags with a single goal in mind; ever since a visit to Bremgarten in Bern in 1948 he was determined to become a grand prix driver. Aged 11 he sat behind the wheel of a car for the first time and from the word go it was clear he could drive. At 16 he began an apprenticeship as a panel beater and began racing motorbikes in 1957. He quickly made a name for himself through both his talent and courage. He won the Swiss championship in 1959 and raced sidecars alongside Edgar Strub. In the meantime, Siffert set up his own car dealership and decided to switch to four wheels for the 1960 season. He bought a Stanguellini Formula Junior from his friend Lucien Balsiger to start out, before switching to a Lotus 18 in 1961 and then a Lotus 20. He was so successful that he won the “Trofeo Auto Italiana”, and unofficial European Formula Junior Championship backed by an Italian car magazine, tied on points with Tony Maggs.

Good intensions – working with Filipinetti

In 1961 the FSEA (Fédération suisse des ecuries automobiles) was created to oversee Swiss teams and help promote young Swiss drivers. In February 1962, FSEA president Georges Filipinetti (who was also president of the Geneva Rally and the Swiss Karting Association) founded the “Ecurie Nationale Suisse”. It was later renamed Scuderia (or Ecurie) Filipinetti, as the “Automobile Club de Suisse” didn’t find the title of national team appropriate for a privateer team.

Filipinetti was looking for drivers to put into cars and journalist Henri-Francois Berchet recommended Siffert. In March 1962 Siffert signed a three-year contract. He continued to competed in Formula Junior races under his own name in 1962. He won in Vienna, Cesenatico and Berlin and retired while leading at Lake Garda. He and Scuderia Filipinetti then made their Formula 1 debut in Brussels in early April. The Lotus 21 Climax they ordered wasn’t ready yet, so Colin Chapman gave them a 1.5-litre engine to use in Siffert’s Formula Junior-spec Lotus 22. The car was fitted with bigger rear wheels and lead ballast and Siffert was sixth outright after three laps…

“The best teammate I ever had”

Bob Wollek

When he was just three years old, Thierry Boutsen already knew he wanted to become a racing driver – and he later turned his boyhood dream into reality, competing in 163 Formula 1 grands prix between 1983 and 1993. The quiet, reserved Belgian might not have been as flashy or spectacular to watch as some of his colleagues, but he was precise and error-free and, thanks to his engineering studies, knew how to develop a car. Boutsen established a reputation as a reliable points-scorer and, at the peak of his F1 career in 1989 and 1990, won three races with Williams-Renault. He enjoyed success in touring and sports cars as well, including two second places at Le Mans and a win at Daytona. Today, the former racer lives in Monaco, where he runs his business Boutsen Group. And, starting with this issue, he will write exclusively for AUTOMOBILSPORT about his career and the people he got to know along the way.

When I think back on my racing career, the teammate I think about most often is Bob Wollek. I recently had to think about him on 16 March, which is the anniversary of his death. Bob tragically died in a needless bicycle accident in Sebring in 2001. On that sad day, motorsport lost one of its great talents – and I lost an extraordinary teammate and a true friend. I have very fond memories of Bob.

When I started racing back in 1977, I knew what an exceptional driver he was from what I’d read in magazines and seen on TV. The first time I met him in person was in 1983. It was purely by coincidence, but a very interesting story. A couple of days before the 1,000-kilometre race in Monza, the first round of the Group C World Sportscar Championship season, I received a call from Reinhold Joest who asked me if I wanted to join his team and share a Porsche 956 with Bob Wollek. I immediately jumped into my car and drove to Monza on Thursday evening to meet the team and Bob in time for the qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday…

Fast but unfortunate

Toyota GT-One TS020 (Chassis LM907)

‘If the world is unlucky, Toyota will finish first and second.’ That was Klaus Ludwig’s assessment of the scenario ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999. After finishing his career in 1998, the former Le Mans winner analysed pre-qualifying for German newspaper “auto motor und sport”. He conceded that the Toyotas were well primed for victory. ‘They are without question the outright favourites. They have prepared their Le Mans conquest as elaborately as a first ascent of Mount Everest with a 50-man group.’

Bad luck in 1998

Toyota first competed at Le Mans in 1985 and had tried for outright wins in the Group C era with little success until the early 1990s. After two unsuccessful years (1995/96) with the Supra a decision was taken to enter the GT1 class in 1997. Under the direction of Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) technical director André de Cortanze, a new car was built in Cologne at Toyota Team Europe (TTE). De Cortanze was a racing driver in the 1960s and raced for Alpine at Le Mans several times. The graduate aeronautical engineer then worked as a designer at Alpine, Renault and Sauber. TTE was headed up by Ove Andersson. The Swede had been associated with Toyota since the 1970s and had also enjoyed success in rallying with Lancia and Alpine.

The new car was the Toyota TS020, otherwise known as the GT-One. The aerodynamically-sophisticated two-seater was powered by a 3.6-litre V8 engine. ‘They were even accused that the futuristic concept pushed the limits of GT1 design and the GT-One was actually a pure Group C car straight out of 1990,’ wrote Adriano Cimarosti in “Automobil Revue”. A total of seven cars were made, one of which was a road-going version.

For Le Mans in 1998 Toyota had three GT-Ones. In pre-qualifying Martin Brundle and his Toyota were just one-hundredth of a second slower than pacesetter Allan McNish (Porsche). Thanks to better fuel efficiency, Toyota had a one-lap advantage over Porsche. The Boutsen/Kelleners/Lees (#29) Toyota led for the first nine hours and was back in the lead when it retired with transmission damage less than two hours from the end. The Brundle/Collard/Helary car (#28) crashed out and the Tsuchiya/Katayama/Suzuki car (#27) finished ninth…