Forty years ago, the Austrian Grand Prix was held in mid-August and local fans had it all figured out: they would come to the Österreichring to celebrate the second title for their favorite Niki Lauda, and at the same time see three local debutants in the World Championship, Hans Binder, Otto Stuppacher, and Karl Oppitzhauser. Two weeks before the race things took a nasty turn. Lauda had his terrible accident at the Nürburgring, and instead of celebrating the home success, was fighting just to stay alive. Oppitzhauser has no fond memories of August 1976 either. His (as he believed) meticulous preparations for entering the world of Grand Prix racing have unraveled in curious circumstances. Yet, the man who made a fortune as dealer for several passenger car manufacturers, is still racing today. At the onset of summer in Salzburg, he shared memories from those days with Roman Klemm.
R.K. In the mid-1970s you certainly were a known entity in touring cars. Your planned entry into Formula 1, however, had surprised many. To what extend were you a professional racing driver and what experience did you have with single seaters?
K.O. I had 14 seasons of successful racing behind me then, and was a complete professional under contract with the factory supported Schnitzer-BMW team. People forget that my career started in single seaters. Already in 1962 I was racing Formula V on all our hills and airstrip circuits like Aspern, Innsbruck, or Zeltweg. In 1973 I did an entire season in Formula 3 with Lotus. In my opinion, I did have plenty of experience
You have bought a March Ford outright. Why not take the path established by Niki Lauda and others, and buy a drive with an already established team?
None of the cars I ever drove were rented. I always own the cars I am racing with. At the Nürburgring, I was able to watch how the cars were being prepared, and saw nothing that my people could not handle. March gave me some assurances in regard to technical support.
Was it a brand new car?
Yes. Max Mosley sold me a new March 761 (British observers familiar with Mosley’s business practices assumed that Max sold him one of the chassis damaged by Vittorio Brambilla earlier). The F1 adventure had cost me 300000 schillings, paid from my own pocket. I could afford it, so why not to try? I got the necessary A-class license without any problems, based on my prior performance, and I still hold it today. Must be a world record…40 years
with A-class license (he pulls it out for proof). Today, drivers have to spend 100 times more to reach Formula 1, which is sort of funny.
How did you prepare? It was your home Grand Prix, after all.
After the Nürburgring and one week before our race, all the Formula 1 teams were testing at the Österreichring, because of the newly installed turn 1 chicane. I took part and all went very well. I had no problems with the car nor any other drivers, and my times were extremely competitive.
Everything unfolded quite differently a week later, though…
Of course. In addition to A-class license, one needed certain amount of ‘performance points’ and according to the gentlemen at the Austrian autoclub OSK, I did not have enough. So I told them that I could present a petition signed by all drivers, certifying that none of them had an issue with me participating in the race. All the GPDA stars have signed it, but OSK still would not let me have a go. Instead, they claimed that I was still short two (!) performance points! They simply did not want me to drive. I could have referred the whole thing to my attorney and I am confident that we would have won, but I did not want to smear that affair any further.
Wasn’t it strange for the autoclub to maneuver in this way against one of their own?
I knew that it was all about politics and of course money. Some timber salesman (Oppitzhauser does not refer to Binder in any other way) was there trying for a debut as well with Ensign Ford, and Raiffeisenbank paid the bill. I was clearly faster than him in testing and they were afraid that I would beat him in qualifying and get all the attention from local fans. So the Raiffeisen folks made sure to iron it out with the OSK in this way. I had no sponsors or any lobbying power on my side. At least I did not have to explain anything to some disappointed benefactor afterwards (Raiffeisenbank also were the title sponsor for the 1976 race).
Did you consider trying your luck in Formula 1 at one of the next events? There still were two more European races at Zandvoort and Monza. Your colleague Stuppacher, who too was excluded in Austria, successfully entered races in Italy, Canada, and the USA.
Frankly, after Lauda’s accident I became bit worried about safety. Terrible accidents were happening much too often and Formula 1 started to look quite dangerous to me. I still did about four races in the British Aurora series after that, but then was happy to go back to touring cars. The open wheel chapter of my career was closed.
What happened to your March 761?
I exchanged it for a touring car with some chap from Wörgl. Then the car just vanished from the face of the earth. Today, I am sorry that I did not keep it for my personal collection.
Presumably, Zeltweg 1976 should have been the high point of your career, but it never materialized. What do you consider to be your greatest success?
I have good memories of Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (1972-1985) with the turbo special Schnitzer-BMW 320, class 5. Those cars had well over 1000 horses already in the 1970s and ‘80s. Schnitzer has built tree of them before the DRM disappeared. I still have one of those monsters in my garage. During the 1990s I have won the Ferrari Challenge Cup six times, and I am proud of that.
And you are still racing…
Yes. I continued racing in the European Touring Car Championship with aces like Walter Lechner and Georg Pacher. Once at Spa-Francorchamps I even had Jean Paul Belmondo as my co-driver! I thought that I would stop at 70, but now I am 74 and still driving. So my new retirement age is set at 75…but something tells me that I might extend that a bit.
