Egbert “Eppie” Wietzes (born 28 May 1938 in Assen – died 10 June 2020) was are a former racing driver from Canada.
Wietzes emigrated with his family to Canada when he was 12 years old. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 27 August 1967 in the inaugural Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport. He retired on lap 69 with wet electrics and was subsequently disqualified for receiving outside assistance. Wietzes also participated in the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix with a rented Brabham BT42 but again retired with a transmission problem. He scored no championship points. Wietzes later experienced success in the F5000 class and won the 1981 Trans-Am Series. In 1993, he was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Although born in Asssen, in the Netherlands, Eppie Wietze’s family moved to Canada when he was 12 years old.
He began racing a Morris Minor in 1958 (as Norman & Wietzes Motors) and did a number of races in it up to 1960, followed by one race in 1961 in a Mini Minor at the LASC Green Acres Lodge Trophy. He became a regular in North America’s sports car racing, winning two races in 1962 in a Sunbeam Alpine, followed by several wins in an AC Cobra in 1963.
Unfortunately he broke his leg while practising at Westwood in 1964 but the following year he took two wins and a second place finish in a Comstock Racing Shelby GT350. 1966 and 1967 saw him racing a Ford GT40 for Comstock Racing, his best results coming in 1967 with victories at Davidson and MacDonald Airport, seconds at Mosport, Shepard, Mont Tremblant, Harewood Acres and Westwood plus third place finishes at Mont Tremblant and Mosport.
1967 saw a Formula One debut, when he drove a third works Lotus 49, for Comstock Racing, in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport. This was also his first ever race in an open-wheel car as he had always driven sports and closed cars and had never been in a Formula One car, not even a Formula Ford.
A deal had been arranged for Lotus to field a third car for Eppie as the organisers wanted a Canadian to compete in their first Grand Prix; Al Pease also competed in it with an Eagle. In practice on the Friday Jim Clark crashed and Eppie’s third Lotus was handed over to him and by Saturday Eppie still hadn’t done a single lap of practice. He was eventually able to get in the car for qualifying and did 5 laps, and qualified sixteenth though was told by Chapman to stay out of everybody’s way and not to crash the car. However this was in contrast to Jim Clark, who Eppie himself said he got along with and was good to him. At the start he managed to gain some positions and settle into a pace with the Lotus but on lap 68, Jim Clark stopped with an ignition failure from wet electrical components due to the damp conditions. Eppie himself told how a spectator gave Clark his his t-shirt and he started wiping the ignition and other parts and the car
started again.’
Two laps later, Eppie’s’ car suffered exactly the same problem, in exactly the same spot, but though the spectator didn’t have a shirt to give he shouted instructions to him about what Clark had done and he managed to re-start the car. He rejoined the race but when his car failed again the Lotus mechanics came to his aid and pushed him to the pits but he was aically disqualified for receiving outside assistance.
1969’s Canadian Road Racing Championship saw a strong battle for the title and started as a three-way battle between himself, Bill Brack and George Eaton. Eppie suffered a rear wing problem at the first race, at Mosport Park, and had to pit to have a broken rear wing removed but without it the car was not competitive and at the following race at Mont-Tremblant, he suffered another rear wing failure and dropped out of contention. He eventually obtained a new wing to try prevent further problems and at Edmonton he dominated by being fastest qualifier and led the entire race, finishing 59 seconds ahead of the second placed finisher. The next race was at Westwood Racing Circuit in Conquitlam, British Columbia, and he again dominated by leading from start to finish. At the MacDonald Airport race in Manitoba, he took the lead on lap two and led to the flag then a victory at Harewood Acres saw him go into the last race with 40 points, with Horst Kroll second on 32 points and Bill Brack third with 28 points. The season’s final race was at Mosport Park, and Eppie won, and his 49 points saw him deservedly become that year’s Canadian Road Racing Champion.
It was in F5000 that he enjoyed his greatest success and driving McLaren Chevrolets he was fourth in the North American Championship in 1970 and 1971. A switch to a Lola T300 saw victory at Brainerd in 1972 and he would finish in the top six of the series each year from 1970 to 1975.
He returned to F1 to compete in 1974’s Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, with a Brabham BT42 rented from Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham Team. The car was to be entered as Team Canada Racing and had a red-and-white maple leaf livery. However, while testing the car the engine failed and there were various other problems but after working on it they eventually had it running well and the team were confident of a good showing as they arrived for the GP. But on the morning of the race he experienced gearbox problems, and qualified last on the grid, though the Brabham retired after thirty three laps due to transmission problems.
During this period he had also raced a Ferrari 512M at Mosport in 1974 then in 1975 he and Milt Minter drove a Ferrari 365GT4 to sixth place at the Sebring 12 Hours. The final year of F5000 came was in 1976 but he continued on in sports cars and saloons. His Bob Garretson-Chevrolet Corvette won 1981’s Trans-Am Championship, taking wins at Charlotte and Trois Rivieres, plus he finished second that year in a World Sportscar Championship race at Mosport Park when sharing a Cooke-Woods Racing Lola T600 with Brian Redman. In 1982 he took second place in a Huffaker Racing Pontiac Firebird at Trois Rivieres plus fifth at Sears Point and the following year finished fourth in a Firebird in the 500 mile Road America race with Paul Canary Racing.
He retired from racing in 1987 and in 1993 was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. He also holds the distinction of being the driver of the first safety car in F1, driving a Porsche 914 on to the track after a collision involving François Cevert and Jody Scheckter in the 1973 Canadian GP. In 2017, Eppie (and Joann Villeneuve) were invited to be Grand Marshals at the 38th Annual Vintage Racing Festival.
Of his time in F1, whether they were good or bad memories, Eppie stated they were “the kind you never forget.”
Gallery F1 F5000/ F A Other
