Alex Soler-Roig

Born in Barcelona, Spain, on the 29 October 1932, Alex Soler-Roig entered nine Grands Prix (starting six of them) but found more success in sportscars, winning his national title in 1970, and touring cars, where he won the Spanish Touring Car Championship in 1971 and 1972. He was the son of surgeon Dr.Soler-Roig, who treated Jochen Rindt after his crash in the 1969 Spanish GP and began his career with motorcycles before entering car racing, participating in rallies with Fiats and Porsches. In 1958 he contested the Rally Automobilistico Internazionale del Sestriere in Italy with a Porsche 356 1500 GS while racing a Porsche 356 1500 GS he contested the Tour de France and Automobile Rallye du Rousssillon in France and won the Nuvolari Trophy race at Barcelona.

Continuing with a 356 in the following year he returned to the Rallye du Rousssillon, was second in the Rallye ACP Aveiro Estoril in Portugal and won the Rallye Catalunya and the Nuvolari Trophy at Barcelona (with a Porsche RS). This gained him some sponsorship to enter the Monte Carlo Rally in 1960 though he retired the 356. In 1963 he won a Juan Jover race at Barcelona with a 356 Carrera and in 1966 was second with a Mini Cooper S in the Rally de Espana at San Sebastian, Madrid, sixth in a Porsche 911S in the Trofeo Barcelona race and seventh in an International F3 Trofeo Juan Jover race at Barcelona with a Lotus 41.

He did not qualify a Lotus 41 in F3 races in 1967 at Barcelona, Monaco and Jarama though sports car drives with Escuderia Montjuic’s Porsche 906 saw victory (from pole and fastest lap) at Jarama and eighth in an Ollon-Villars Hill Climb. In outings in their Porsche 910 he was second, third and fourth at the 200 Mile Norisring, Wunstorf and Aspern Airfield but retired at Innsbruck.

Contesting European F2 and sports car races with Escuderia Nacional CS’s Lola T10 in 1968, it was a disappointing season and his only finishes were seventh and seventeenth at Pau and Hockenheim. He was third and sixth with a Porsche 910 at Wunstorf and Hockenheim but his Le Mans drive in a Porsche 907/6 alongside Rudi Lins ended in retirement after 145 laps.

The following year started in February at the Daytona 24 Hours, where he led his class with Escuderia National CS’s Porsche 907 until co-driver Rudy Lins had an accident. In the next month he was second at Jarama and he and Lins were fourth in the Sebring 12 Hours. There were victories in June and September at Jarama when racing solo though he and Eugenio Baturone did not start the 1000 km Monza with a Real Automovil Club Catalonia car. Racing Escuderia’s 908/02 he was fifth at the 200 Mile Norisring, fourth at Hockenheim and second in a Spanish CC Alcaniz race at the Guadalope Circuit. He and Jochen Rindt won the 6 Hour Jarama and he was seventh in the Barcelona 12 Hours alongside Jorge de Bagration with an Escuderia Calvo Sotelo car. In the ETCC there was a third place finish in BMW Auto Geishauser’s BMW 2002 third at the Jarama 3 Hours.

1970 saw a busy schedule and in outings with the 908/02 he and Jochen Rindt were second in the Buenos Aires 1000kms and there was victory (from pole) in the 6 Hour Jarama alongside Jurgen Neuhaus in a Gesipa Racing car. Alex dominated in Spanish G5/6 races with a Porsche 917 and took three victories at Jarama plus a Spanish SCC Alcaniz race at Guadalope circuit while in four Copa Brasil races at Interlagos with a 907 in December he was second, fourth (twice) and fifth. Contesting European touring car races with BMW Alpina’s 2800 CS he won the Austria-Trophäe at Salzburgring (from pole plus fastest lap), was fifth at the 4 Hours of Jarama with Helmut Marko (in a BMW 1600) but retired at Budapest, Monza (with Helmut Marko) and Brno (with Gerhard Koch) and did not start the 6 hour Nurburgring and the Tourist trophy (with Gunther Huber). In an F2 drive he was seventh in the Gran Premio de Barcelona with Jochen Rindt Racing’s Lotus 69. The year saw his first F1 race, at the Spanish GP at Jarama in April, where Lotus introduced their wedge shaped Lotus 72. Driven by Jochen Rindt and John Miles (despite Rindt not being 100% certain that the cars were ready to race) it continued the Gold Leaf cigarettes livery (first introduced with the Lotus 49) while Alex raced a Garvey Team Lotus 49C. Prior to the event, the organisers limited the race to 16 starters, which resulted in Alex failing to qualify, despite lapping only a tenth of a second slower than Mario Andretti. On the morning before the race, the matter seemed resolved and the organisers initially reversed their decision, and those who failed to qualify looked as if they would be allowed to start. However, the Commission Sportive Internationale intervened and forced the organisers to revert to the original limit of sixteen starters and the cars that failed to qualify were wheeled off the grid, including Alex, as well as the March and McLaren of Jo Siffert and Andrea de Adamich. Unfortunately, the race was marred by a serious accident on the first lap involving Jackie Oliver and Jacky Ickx. Both their cars burst into flames and Ickx was slightly burned after his race overalls became soaked in burning fuel. He missed Monaco and Zandvoort as the 49C was unavailable and his second GP start came in July at Spa with World Wide Racing’s Lotus 72C. Sadly, when the teams assembled on Friday for the first practice session, the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team had withdrawn, as Bruce McLaren had died on the previous Tuesday in a crash at Goodwood while testing his latest Can-Am car. Alex’s car was not ready for Friday´s practice and he only managed to complete three laps in Saturday’s qualifying and was therefore not allowed to start the race. His final F1 outing for the season came at the French GP, held at the Charade Circuit near Clermont-Ferrand and he raced a 49C, but he had never seen the track before and failed to qualify.

He started 1971 with the March team in the World Championship plus contested the Spanish and German Touring Car Championships with a Ford Capri. Racing a March 711 he retired on the fifth lap with engine problems in the season’s opening race in South Africa and retired in Spain due to a fuel leak after forty six laps. He did not qualify in Monaco then was eighth in a non championship race at Hockenheim plus retired at Zandvoort (engine after fifty seven laps) and France (fuel pump on lap four). There were retirements with a Ferrari 512M at the Zeltweg 1000km alongside Jose Juncadella (due to an accident) and a Chevron B19 (engine) after starting on pole in the Barcelona 1000kms with Toine Hezemans. In outings with the Ford Capri 2600 RS alongside Dieter Glemser they took victory at Spa and the 12 Hour Paul Ricard, were third in the Jarama 4 hours, eleventh (second in class) at Le Mans but retired at Monza (head gasket). An accident ended his and Rolf Stommelen’s race at Nurburgring though he and Hans-Joachim Stuck were eighth in the Nurburgring 1000kms. In solo drives he was third in the Monza Austria-Trophae race at Salzburgring but retired in the Zandvoort Trophy and went on to win the Spanish Championship and finished fourth in Germany.

Beginning in sportscar drives in 1972, he and Dieter Quester retired an Abarth 2000SP at the Buenos Aires 1000kms in January (ignition) though a week later he was fifth in two non championship races, the Gran Premio de Balcarce in an Abarth SE021 and the Carrera Sports de Balcarce with an Abarth 1000 at a meeting at the Autodromo Juan Manuel Fangio. Then came Alex’s first F1 drive with the Marlboro BRM team, who had entered five cars for Argentina in late January. Jean-Pierre Beltoise was scheduled to race alongside Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin but because of the possible repercussions following his incident in a sportscar race at the circuit in the previous year it was decided to postpone his debut with the team and Reine Wisell got the drive for this race. BRM brought two P160s from 1971 and a new car, which was to have been Beltoise’s early season car, plus a couple of P153s from 1970. While Gethin and Ganley were in P160s, Wisell was given a P153, and they were entered by Marlboro-BRM. A brand new P160B was given to Alex, who was being sponsored by Espana Marlboro and Helmut Marko, who drove the last four races for the team in 1971, was entered by Austria Marlboro BRM and had a P153. Alex qualified twenty first but unfortunately retired after an accident on the first lap. Two weeks later he and Arturo Merzario were teamed for the Daytona 6 hours but were disqualified due to their Abarth-Osella SE-021 having received a push start and in the following month there was a retirement due to gearbox problems in an ETCC drive alongside Dieter Glemser at the Monza 4 Hours with a Ford Capri 2600 RS. There was a further F1 drive at the end of March in a non championship Grande Premio do Brasil at Interlagos but he retired the P160 after eleven laps due to its electrics. His second World Championship race that year came at Jarama, where, in order to coincide with a Spanish national holiday and in the hope of attracting larger crowds, the race was to be held on the Monday, so practice was arranged for the Saturday and Sunday. The team consisted of Beltoise, Ganley, Gethin, Wisell and Alex (in a 160B) but after qualifying twenty second of the twenty five starters he retired due to an accident on lap seven. It proved a bad race for the team as all of their drivers retired; Wisell also due to an accident, Beltoise with a broken gearbox and Gethin and Ganley with engine problems. This would be Alex’s last race in F1 though as he left the team and, apart from two sportscar drives, he focused on touring car racing for the rest of the season. In May and June he had two World Sportscar drives in a Ford Capri 2600 RS and he and Hans-Joachim Stuck were eighth in the Nurburgring 1000kms then he was eleventh (second in class) at Le Mans with Glemser. Alternating between a factory Ford and a Bulova Capri Team Neerspach run Capri 2600 RS, in ETCC drives he and Glemser were third in the Spa 24 Hours and won the Zandvoort Trophy (joined by Jochen Mass). He and Gerard Larrousse won the Jarama 4 Hours and were third in the Paul Ricard 6 Hours (joined by Mass) while in DRM events he was second and third at Mainz-Finthen Airfield and Hockenheim and fifth in the Schauinsland Hill Climb but he, Claude Bourgoignie and Gerry Birrell retired due to accidents at Diepholz and the Nurburgring 6 Hours.

Alex hung up his helmet at the end of 1972 and ran the family’s private clinic plus he and his wife became involved in collecting art and his role as an art dealer saw him travelling between New York, Ibiza and Barcelona. The couple focused on twentieth century Spanish art, which inspired their son, Miguel, who would become a world-renowned artist. His nephew Daniel Juncadella competed in the DTM and in 2014 he joined Force India as a reserve driver, attending all races and taking part in Friday practice sessions.