Helmuth Koinigg (3 November 1948 – 6 October 1974) was an Austrian racing driver who died in a crash in the 1974 United States Grand Prix, only his second Grand Prix start. From Wiki
Bio from Stephen Latham
Helmuth Koinigg was born in Vienna, Austria on the 3rd November 1948 and spent most of his childhood in the Styrian mountains, where he became so proficient at skiing that he was selected as a member of the Austrian national junior B team. He studied engineering and journalism and in 1966 lived and worked for several months in Sweden.
After acquiring a taste for speed, he racing started after purchasing an ex-Niki Lauda Mini Cooper S and was tenth in a round of the European Touring Car Championship at Aspern in 1969. He eventually came to the attention of Helmut Marko, who at the time was involved with the McNamara Formula Vee team, and he was invited to test a Formula Vee car. Despite it being his first ever outing in a single-seater, his times were not much slower than Marko’s. This led to a race drive at the Nurburgring though his debut ended in retirement while in a later outing he even out-qualified Marko at Zeltweg.
He continued with the team the following season and won several European races plus at the end of 1970 drove a Kaimann Super Vee to second place in a support race at an F2 meeting in Israel. By then Helmuth was attracting more interest and Robin Herd tried to sign him to race a March F2 in 1971 but he he missed out due to being unable to raise sufficient funds or sponsorship. The drive eventually went to Niki Lauda.
For 1971 he continued in Super Vee and raced Kurt Bergmann’s Kaimann in the European Formula Super Vee Championship. The Kaimann team was founded in 1966 and it was successful in all major Formula Vee championships and in 1971 won the annual USA-Europe competition at Daytona Speedway. From 1968 he began building the Kaimann Mk III for private drivers and over 200 Kaimann cars were used on international race tracks. Formula Vee was brought to Europe from the USA by Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein in 1964 and in the following year it was part of the supporting program for the German GP. Bergmann was an Opel dealer and kart driver and, impressed by the format, formed a team and built two racing cars with units from the VW Beetle 1200. Dieter Quester was an early driver and achieved his first victory on a Kaimann in a race at the Aspern airfield. In 1968 there was an important change in the regulations and engines came from the more powerful VW 1300 and a Kaimann Mark III was produced, with support from the Technical University of Vienna. Helmut Marko later raced for them, winning several races and took the Austrian championship for the team. Following this, a new, slimline car was produced and raced by a young Niki Lauda, and though the team took several victories, his team mate Breinsberg won the championship. 1970 turned out to be a successful year, with Harald Ertl being one of his three drivers then in 1971 Volkswagen created a stronger and faster series, Formula Super V 1600. They also announced the Super V Gold Cup, an international championship with ten European races and Helmuth raced alongside Werner Riedl and Erich Breinsberg. Though the Bergmann team won their first Constructor’s Trophy and Helmuth finished third in the standings, it had been a frustrating season as although he took two victories at Zolder and Zandvoort he retired from seven other races in which he was leading. During the year he raised enough funds to buy a used FFord Lotus 69 and he contested a number of races in England. He came fourth in the Race of Champions meeting at Brands Hatch and won the Victory meeting at the circuit, beating Tony Brise, who had dominated British FFord that season.
Continuing with Kaimann in 1972, he was second in the Gold Cup and in the Castrol GTX Formula Super Vee European Championships and won six races during the season. The year should have seen a debut in the World Sports Car Championship with Guy Edwards’ Lola T290 but did not arrive for the race at Zeltweg and he was only in the entry list at Nurburgring.
At the end of the year he was invited to a test drive by Ford, which led to drives for 1973 and he also continued with Bergmann for a further season in Formula Super Vee. Racing a works Ford Capri 2600 RS with Hans Heyer at the Spa 24 Hours, they retired due to engine problems and he, Gerry Birrel and Jean Vinatier did not finish with a Capri at Le Mans. Suspension issues in the Nurburgring 6 Hours ended an outing in a Zakspeed Escort alongside Werner Schommers but in a solo drive with the Escort, Helmuth won a DRM race at Diepholz Airfield. Contesting Super Vee with Bergmann, alongside Swedes Kennerth Persson and Tommy Brorsson, he won the European Formula Super Vee Gold Cup plus again was second in the Castrol GTX series. By now he was attracting further interest and Porsche offered a contract to race in the World Sportscar Championship. In a shared drive with former Formula Super Vee rival Manfred Schurti, they were fourth in a Martini Porsche 911 at the Le Mans 4 Hours, seventh in the Nurburgring 1000kms and ninth in the Zeltweg 1000kms.
While trying to raise a budget to race in F2, Helmuth was hired by the Ford Cologne touring car team in 1974 and by Porsche. In Martini Porsche outings with Manfred Schurti they retired from the Le Mans 4 Hours after four laps, at the Imola 1000kms due to turbo problems and engine problems ended their Le Mans 24 Hours after eighty seven laps. They were seventh at the Nurburgring 750kms though there was a disqualification for receiving a push start at the Osterreichring 1000kms. He retired a privately entered 911 Carrera (alongside Jean Louis Haxhe) at an ETCC round at Nurburgring and in two BMW outings he and Harald Ertl retired an Alpina BMW 3.0CSL due to an accident while there was retirement in a Team Europa Mobel GS BMW 2002 with Dieter Basche at Salzburgring. He bought an F2 Surtees TS10 from Italian driver ‘Shangri-La’ (Romano Martini) and racing at Hockenheim in April he was eleventh in his heat and fourteenth in the final, in a 31 car field. Finally making the move up to F1, he raised the funds to secure a drive with Scuderia Finotto’s Brabham BT42 at his home GP at Osterreichring in August but in qualifying he was thirty first and did not start the race. However, his efforts were noted by John Surtees and following a test at Goodwood he signed him to drive a TS16-Ford at the Canadian GP at Mosport Park. Both Jose Dolhem and Derek Bell had failed to qualify at the preceding race at Monza and after replacing Dolhem at Mosport Helmuth came home in eleventh place. By now he was beginning to establish himself as a good prospect and there were talks of a seat with a number of teams for the 1975 season.
Sadly, then came the US GP at Watkins Glen on the 6th October. Derek Bell was replaced by Dolhem for this race and Helmuth qualified twenty third and ahead of Graham Hill, Vittorio Brambilla, and team mate Dolhem in twenty sixth place. After his tenth place finish at Mosport two weeks earlier, Helmuth was buoyed by the performance and at the start he took two spots in the opening laps. But on lap ten a deflating tyre pitched his car out of control and he went off at the hairpin; Clay Regazzoni, Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Mario Andretti had had similar accidents at the corner during practice, though emerged relatively unscathed. The Surtees went head-on into the Armco but though the speed at which it crashed was relatively minor, the Armco was insecurely installed. The bottom portion buckled but the upper section remained rigid and poor Helmuth was decapitated as he passed under it. Shamefully, a tarpaulin sheet was placed over Helmuth’s car and body and the race continued. The news took time to filter back to the paddock but when news eventually reached the Surtees team, Dolhem was called in to the pits on the twenty sixth lap and they withdrew.
Helmuth was survived by his young wife whom he had only married in May, just five months prior to his death.
John Dennie from FB At Watkins Glen in74 (I was an F1 mechanic with Williams),I attended a dinner Wednesday nite of Grand Prix week and sat beside Helmuth.He was wonderful,modest and gracious.Just a nice guy,with a lot of talent.I will never forget his death 4 days later. In June 1973 I shook hands with Roger Williamson in the Williams workshop in Reading UK, had a nice conversation with him. Two weeks later he had his accident at Zandvoort… In October 1973 I had a nice conversation with Francois Cevert(see story on my Facebook timeline) 30 minutes before his accident. And then one year later I have dinner with Helmuth and 4 days later he’s gone to. In 1974 I was 23. Those days had a big impact on me. I never forget. During my time working in Formula One 13 F1 drivers were killed.
Scott Delong from FB
I was as close as a spectator could get on the outside of the tightest and slowest corner of the track- the Toe of the Boot. This recollection is, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. Although this happened a long time ago,the event was so vivid that it is seared into my memory. Surrounding the turn were several layers of the catch fencing that was used at the time, which consisted of multiple layers of wide wire mesh affixed to wooden posts which were sawed part way through, These were intended to entangle the cars, slowing them before they reached the Aramco barrier which lined the track. Inside the turn was a wide expanse of grass.
Quite early in the race, in what was to be Denny Hulme’s last GP, the motor in his McLaren blew, leaving a quantity of oil on the turn. Quite a few drivers spun in the oil, I remember that one of them was Andretti. It was fascinating to see how they reacted to the situation; all (save one) responded similarly and with what appeared to be contemptuous ease. Since the turn was so slow the drivers appeared to have little difficulty coping. A slide onto the grass, a quick flick of the wheel, a low speed 360, and then a quick blast back out on the track. Only a few seconds were lost, save for one driver…
I remember watching the wheels of Koinigg’s car as he slid onto the grass inside the turn. He did not appear to brake as the wheels didn’t lock. There was no steering input; I don’t believe he even got off the throttle as the engine note was unchanged and the car did not appear to lose speed as it went through the catch fences. These did nothing to slow the car as the low nose and small front wheels merely parted the layers of fencing. When the front of the car went under the Aramco it bowed upward, allowing the cockpit to pass underneath. The car was stopped by the huge rear wheels. I;ll never forget the sound it made- a quick dull THUD, not as loud as expected.
The corner workers rushed over to the car but once they arrived everything slowed down. It was obvious the driver had been decapitated although accounts of a helmet on the track are bullshit. A tarp was placed over the cockpit of the car, which remained in situ for the rest of the race.
I am not qualified to speculate as to the causes of the tragedy. I have read accounts of a tire puncture or suspension failure but I saw no evidence of either of these. The tires were intact when the car went under the Aramco and as I saw the car go onto the infield grass all four wheels were at the proper angle. Also, a technical failure would be unlikely to cause such a complete loss of control as the car was going so slowly when it entered the turn.
RIP Helmuth Koinigg
