Rolf Johann Stommelen (11 July 1943 – 24 April 1983) was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany.
He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.
One of the best endurance sports car racing drivers of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Stommelen won the 24 Hours of Daytona 4 times; in 1968, 1978, 1980 and 1982 and the Targa Florio in 1967 in a Porsche 910. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in Siegen, Germany, Rolf Johann Stommelen would compete in 63 World Championship Grands Prix, scoring one podium, though achieved considerable success in endurance racing by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona four times (in 1968, 1978, 1980 and 1982) and the Targa Florio in 1967. Rolf was in his element racing in the wet, especially at the Nurburgring and said you needed to treat the throttle pedal as if it were an eggshell.
In 1964-65 he campaigned his own Porsche 904 GTS (a present from his father) in national events and his record in airfield races and hillclimbs eventually brought him to the attention of Huschke von Hanstein, Porsche’s race director. He was invited to join the works team and shared a Porsche with Robert Poirot at Le Mans in 1965 though they retired due to gearbox issues. He soon became a key team member and the following year raced a 906 with Gunther Klass at Le Mans, winning the 2-litre category and finishing seventh overall. There were podiums at the 6 Hour Nurbrurgring (in a 911 with Dau) and Hockenheim and besides the Porsche there were races with a Fiat Abarth 1000tc and a Lotus Elite. He won 1967’s Targa Florio with Paul Hawkins after a spirited race in blistering heat and finished second in the European Hillclimb Championship after being involved in a tough battle with team mate Gerhard Mitter. He and Gerhard would finish the championship with four victories each but the championship had come down to the last round, at Gaisberg in Austria. The were nearly equal in points and Rolf needed to win to be champion while G.Mitter needed to have at least the second best time to retain the title. After practice Mitter led with 3:55.8 while Rolf had a 4:00.2 though in the first heat on race day he beat G.Mitter by just 0.37 sec. Then came the final heat, where Mitter ran three seconds slower than his first run while Rolf came through in 3:42.16, making him the winner by 1.14 sec. Rolf won the race but Gerhard’s second place saw him again crowned champion.
1968 saw him enjoy further success by finishing first, second and third in the 1000km Paris, Nurburgring and Spa races (with Hans Hermann) plus third at Le Mans with Neerspach. In 1969 he raced a single-seater for the first time, in the German GP, and finished spectacularly in fourth place in the Fla 2 class with his Roy Winkelmann Racing Lotus ablaze after his fuel tank split. At Le Mans, although he put the car on pole position he and Kurt Ahrens jr. retired their Porsche 917 LH with clutch problems after 148 laps. At the Sebring 12 Hours, he co-drove a Porsche 908/02 KH with Joe Buzzetta and Kurt Ahrens and despite suffering from a cracked chassis they finished third. The year would also see podium finishes at the Nurburgring (with H.Hermann), the 200 mile Norisring and in the Targa Florio.
From this, with sponsorship from Auto Motor und Sport magazine he contested a full F1 season in 1970 with a Brabham. Despite early disappointment he went on to take points with three fifth place finishes plus a brilliant drive in Austria saw him progress from eighteenth to finish third. Although he had a good relationship with Jack Brabham, after he handed the team over to Ron Tauranac Rolf lost his seat when they signed Tim Schenken. In sportscars, he turned to Autodelta and although the Alfa T33 proved unreliable in the early days, he stayed loyal to the marque. He joked “We’re slow but we’re fun” and with fellow Alfa drivers Masten Gregory and Andrea de Adamich also glasses wearers like himself, the team was known as the three blind men.
For 1971 he joined Surtees though it would be a disappointing time and although he started the season well with a pole position in a non-championship Argentinian GP his best results were sixth at Monaco, fifth at Silverstone and seventh in Austria. In sports cars he and Nanni Galli took podiums with the Alfa T33 at Sebring, the 1000km Buenos Aires and Zeltweg races plus was second in a Ford Capri with Gerry Birrell in a 12Hr Paul Ricard race.
He contested F1 in 1972 with a March-based Eiffelland, sponsored by Günther Hennerici, but it would be a disappointing period and Rolf himself stated “My grandmother would have been faster.” He missed the 1973 season, apart from four Brabham BT42 drives in Germany, Austria, Italy and Canada, and was then called up to replace Guy Edwards in the Embassy Hill Lola in mid-1974. During this time he also proved fast in production cars, winning 1972’s 6 Hour Nurburgring with John Fitzpatrick and Hans Heyer in a BMW 2800 CS, a Diepholz DRM race in 1973 with Kremer’s 911 Carrera and several convincing wins in the ‘Cologne’ Ford Capri in 1974.
He secured a seat for 1975 with Graham Hill’s Embassy backed team but after early races at Argentina, Brazil and South Africa (finishing seventh) the Spanish GP ended in disaster when his rear aerofoil came off while he was leading the race. The car was pitched into the crowd, sadly killing a fire-marshal and four others plus seriously injuring Rolf. His wife Marlene slept at his bedside in hospital for two weeks and it was only then that he was well enough to be told his accident had caused fatalities. He returned later in the year to race in Austria and Italy but sadly, the team would later disband after Graham Hill’s fatal plane crash. There were sporadic F1 drives following this, in 1976 with a Hesketh at Zandvoort plus a Martini Brabham in Italy and Germany (taking sixth place) but he ended his F1 career after a disappointing 1978 season with the Arrows team (best results being ninth in Kyalami and Long Beach) and returned to sports car and GT racing.
Alongside his racing, Rolf kept himself very fit, running and cycling and some felt he was even good enough to be a professional cyclist. He never took his public for granted and he would take the time to sign autographs carefully and make his signature legible.
In 1976 Porsche entered their 935 in Group 5 though Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx raced the sole works entry. However, when they had grand prix commitments Rolf drove at the Nurburgring 300km and took fifth place and second in class in difficult conditions. He had been leading at the Nurburgring but his throttle stuck open. However, although the pit crew could not repair it, rather than retire he rejoined the race, turning the ignition off for curves and finished fifth. Following this came victories at Watkins Glen (after a storming drive with with Manfred Schurti) and the Coppa Florio at Enna in Italy with Jochen Mass though in the Nurburgring 1000km he and M.Schurti were disqualified for receiving outside assistance.
1977 would be his best year and he took the German national touring car title in a Gelo Racing 935 with victories at the Nurburgring (twice), Mainz-Finthen, Norisring, Diepholz, Mugello (with Schurti) and podium finishes at the Nurburgring, Kassel-Calden, Norisring, Hockenheim and Zolder. He, Tim Schenken and Toine Hezemans drove their Porsche 935 to victory in the Nurburgring 1000 Km, with Rolf once again recording the fastest race lap while away from Germany there was also a podium finish in the 6 Hour Silverstone with T.Hezemans. In 1978 he won in a Brumos Porsche at Daytona (with T.Hezemans and P.Gregg), was second in the Watkins Glen Six Hours with Dick Barbour’s 935 (with D.Barbour and M.Schurti) while at Le Mans he and Manfred Schurti took the 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ to eighth place.
1979 saw four victories with a 935 and a 908 at the Norisring, Nurburgring, Ulm and Kassel-Calden plus second place finishes at Zolder, Nurburgring, Mainz-Finthen and Diepholz. He was teamed with Dick Barbour and Paul Newman at Le Mans and while there they stayed in a castle called Malicorne but were forced to hire gendarmes to provide security as the paparazzi were climbing walls to take photos of Paul Newman. During the race, at the Cafe Hunaudieres on the Mulsanne Straight, whenever Rolf, Dick or Paul went past the French girls would flash them; Paul Newman jokingly commented that if they break down to make sure they broke down at the cafe. The team qualified sixteenth and were running strongly but during a tyre change a wheel nut jammed, causing them to replace the entire suspension upright, which included a new hub, brake, wheel and tyre. After a 22 minute pit stop they re-entered the race but 20 minutes from the finish the car, with Rolf at the wheel, began to slow after suffering a blown head gasket. It came to rest near the finish line but due to Le Mans rules, the last lap of the race must completed within a maximum time of fifteen minutes. Rolf had stopped with less than ten minutes remaining but needed to keep the engine running. A marshall watched to make sure the car was still running and, at 2pm, Rolf edged the car over the line to take second place and first in the IMSA category. He, D.Barbour and P.Newman later teamed again at the Watkins Glen 6 Hours, with Rolf taking pole and fastest lap, and they went on to finish first in class and second overall.
Following this he completed three more seasons, winning at Daytona each year and taking a number of other Porsche wins for JPL, Andial and Kremer. In 1980 with a Liquid Moly Equipe Porsche he won the 1000km and Interserie races at the Nurburgring, a DRM round at Zolder and the 24 Hour Daytona (with A.Jost and V.Merl). He and P.Grohs won 1981’s 6 Hour Mosport and 500 Mile Road America races plus he teamed with Derek Bell to win the 500km Mid-Ohio for Andial. There were DRM victories at Wunstorf and Hockenheim with Kremer Racing the following year plus a win at Daytona with J.Paul and J.Paul Jr for JPL Racing. There were podium placings at Zolder, Hockenheim (twice), Monza, Nurburgring (twice), Mainz-Finthen and Wunstorf. Away from Porsches, there were podium placings in a Schnitzer BMW M1 at Avus and at the 1000Km Nurburgring with H.Pescarolo with a Rondeau M832.
1983 started well with a third place in the Monza 1000km with Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz and two weeks later he travelled to California to race for John Fitzpatrick in a Riverside IMSA race (substituting for Jochen Mass, who had gone on honeymoon). While running in second position the engine cover and rear wing flew off and the car was sent into a roll and he had no chance when it hit a concrete retaining wall. Rolf was pulled from the wreckage and taken to Riverside Community Hospital where he sadly passed away.
