A different take on Wilson Fittipaldi Junior

I suppose it is a bit hard to be a 2-time world champion’s brother, specially if you are a race car driver yourself. In addition to being a champion, Emerson was also a pioneer, but in that respect, Wilson pulls a lot of weight himself – he was the first Brazilian to race in quite a few categories.  It is easy to dismiss Wilson’s achievements in motor sport, specially not paying attention to a lot he did in Brazil. So this article will not stress so much Wilson’s short official formula 1 career, but rather, his achievements elsewhere. If even the excellent book Grand Prix Driver’s Who’s Who, by Steve Small, makes several blunders concerning Wilson’s career, what can be expected of other lesser sources?

Emerson’s older brother began racing in 1962, and was quickly hired by the Willys works team. Willys produced Renault cars under license in Brazil, which included the Dauphine (called Gordini there) and the Interlagos, which was a version of the French Alpine sports car. Wilson won many races in both, and also drove a Fiat-Abarth on occasion. By 1965, Luis Greco, Willy’s boss, had dreamed of a Brazilian single seater series powered by Renault engines, and thus was born the Gavea. 

Modeled on the French Alpine Formula 3 car, the Gavea’s competition debut was on the fast Interlagos 500 km race, which was run on the shorter and faster external circuit. Against Corvette powered Maserati 250Fs and Simca-Abarths, Wilson did well to finish 2nd. However, there was no category for the car in Brazil, the Brazilian single seater series never took off, so the Gavea only raced again in the 1966 Formula 3 Temporada in Argentina. The enterprising Brazilian team raced against some of the best Formula 3 drivers of the day, and in one occasion, Wilson actually qualified better than Clay Regazzoni. His best finish was 9th in the 2nd round of the four-race series. But the dreams of taking the Gavea to Europe never took off. For one thing, the Brazilian economy was in dire straits, recessive policies were implemented to reduce the high inflations, and the weaker carmakers, including Willys-Overland, all hit trouble. Willys was sold to Ford, and although the team continued in the new guise, a lot of the drivers left.

Jean Redele, Alpine’s boss, had “invited” talented and ambitious Wilson to drive in Europe, and off he went in 1966, as the local racing scene looked doomed. Unfortunately, the invitation was either overstated at a spur of the moment,  or Mr Redele had second thoughts, so once he arrived in Europe Wilson did not find the support he expected. Eventually he attempted to qualify at Coupe de Vitesse in Reims, in one of Marius dal Bo’s Pygmee team and got a huge lesson. But there you go, Emerson was not the first Brazilian to drive in Formula 3 in Europe, Wilson was.

Upon returning to Brazil, Wilson and brother Emerson created three important race cars: the Fitti-Vê, a Formula Vee car (the category was being introduced in 1967) which took Emerson to the Brazilian title that year. Several units of the car were built and sold, some sources claiming an exaggerated 50 units (!!). Hyperbole aside, he Fitti was a commercial success. Then they also built a prototype called Fitti-Porsche, a Porsche engine car that was very fast, but also tended to be fragile. There was also a 2-engined VW Beetle designed by Richard Divila, which was fast, a novelty, but not a race winner. 

The more humble Fittipaldi prepared VW Beetle 1600 won the 12 Hours of Porto Alegre, with the brothers driving. This is a milestone, for it was the VW Beetle’s first major overall win in Brazil.

Wilson also drove other cars before travelling to Europe, including Jolly’s Alfa GTA and the VW powered AC prototype, winning occasionally. He took part in the BUA Formula Ford tournament before flying to Europe, and then had a full season of Formula 3, driving a Lotus like his brother. Although he did not win a championship, he won as many races as Carlos Pace, the other Brazilian hot shoe, including a race in the continent, the Coupe du Salon in Monthlery, against the likes of Jarier, Salvati, Jaussaud, Birrel and Migault.

Brazil also held a Sports Car series called Copa Brazil at the end of 1970, and Wilson drove a Lola T70 to great effect, winning a race in Interlagos. Among the participants in this series were brother Emerson in a Lola T210, Jorge de Bragation, Alex Soler Roig and Gianpiero Moretti. Then, there was a Formula 3 tournament. Wilson  won the first two rounds, against strong international competition, including Pace, Salvati, Walker, Trimmer, Migault, Palm and even future World Champion Alan Jones.

It is easy to downplay Wilson’s achievements in Formula 2, for his brother Emerson won six races between 1971 and 72, but because Emerson was a graded driver, Wilson ended up the highest scoring Brazilian in the European Formula 2 championship in 1971  (16 points, 6th), 1972 (10 points, 12th) and 1973 (6 points, 12th). He also won a non-championship Formula 2 race at Misano in 1973, in the highly unused but pretty Brabham BT 40. In the Brazilian year-end tournaments of 1971 and 1972 Wilson got a couple of 3rds and a 4th in 1971, and a 3rd, a 4th and a 6th in 1972.

Wilson actually raced in Formula 1 before going to Formula 2, another detail about his career that is mostly overlooked. He raced a Lotus 49 in the Non-Championship Argentine Grand Prix of 1971, retiring. Another achievement was the fact that the first driver to lead a lap in a Brazilian Grand Prix was not Emerson, but rather Wilson, who jumped in front in the  1972 trial race from the second row. His car was an older BT33, not sufficiently strong to hold Emerson, Reutemann (the eventual winner in a newer Brabham) and Peterson, but a point had been made and he was the best placed Brazilian in 3rd.

I suppose that Wilson, more so than Emerson, was interested in projects, designing, making things, not so much driving for other people. The fact that he was fast in F1 car was proven in Monaco, 1973, of all places, where he was 3rd before retiring (some sources claim he was second, but I remember him being 3rd). It is interesting to note that he went that far up against the most competitive drivers of the season, not because people dropped out. After all, the top 6 finishers in the race were the top 6 in the championship, in the right order (Stewart-Emerson-Peterson-Cevert-Revson-Hulme). And in his final race for Brabham, the 1974 non-championship Brasilia race he did better in the second car than all other drivers used by the team in the early season (Robarts, Larrousse, Von Opel). But the will to make a Brazilian f1 car was stronger than trying to win races in other people’s cars, like his brother.

Wilson did a little sports car racing between 1971 and 1973. He raced in the 1971 European 2 Liter Championship round at Hockenheim, driving an Abarth (retired). Later in the year, he also raced a Ford GT40 in local Brazilian races. The Greco team’s Lola T210 shared with Tite Catapani retired in the early stages of the 1000 km of Buenos Aires of 1972. Later in the year, Wilson drove a Porsche 917 in the second Copa Brazil, against the likes of Andrea de Adamich, Willy Kauhsen and Georg Loos, and won a race and the title. Then in 1973, Wilson drove a Kauhsen 917-30 in the Interseries race at, scoring pole position but failing to finish in the Hockenheim closing round.

After the demise of the Fittipaldi Formula 1 team, Wilson drove in the Brazilian Stockcar championship, winning a few rounds. And he also managed to score a great victory with son Christian Fittipaldi driving a Porsche 993 in the traditional Brazilian 1000 mile race’s 1995 edition, well into his 50s.

So there is a quite a bit you might not know about Wilson’s racing activities, besides his two seasons at Brabham and one season driving his own car in F1. Although not quantitatively as successful as his brother Emerson, Wilson’s contribution to racing in and out of Brazil was quite impressive.

If you are really interested on 70s racing, you cannot miss my book Motor Racing in the 70s. It has 472 pages, 242 photos, and over 180,000 words. It covers racing in 85 countries during the decade, including year-by-year highlights, comprehensive lists of champions, venues, main drivers by country, race car manufacturers, and production cars that raced in the decade. A lot of the information is rare and published in English for the first time. You can have it for as little as US$ 9.99 (Kindle), while the paperback version costs only US$ 32,99. Buy at amazon.com/dp/1732674426

You can also buy it in local amazon shops in Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Australia. 

70s customers cars

Things have changed immensely for Formula 1 teams. Up until the early 70s, Formula 1 teams were basically forced to build cars for other formulas, racing them as works teams or selling them to customers. The extra income was necessary, until commercial sponsorship matured in the mid 70s, and Bernie Ecclestone expanded the Formula 1 concept into a more viable proposition.

Lotus, for instance, built Formula 3 and Formula 2 cars, selling them to customers in the early part of the decade. Lotus F3 cars were very common in 1970/71, rare by 1973, when Lotus had built the last non-Formula 1 car, the Formula 2 that became known as Texaco Star. There was some talk of a Formula Indy Lotus in the early 80's, but it never materialized.

Brabham was a major race car builder, in fact the cars were very common in F2, F3, Formula Atlantic, and even in Formula 5000. The Brabham BT40 was the last formula 2/formula 3 from that constructor, in 1973, and a Brabham BT43 Formula 5000 that briefly hit the race tracks.

The Henri Pescarolo Surtees, 1976. Sponsored by model manufacturer Norev.

McLaren was pretty much involved in F5000 in 1970, in fact, it was the most successful builder at the time. A McLaren M25 one off F-5000 car appeared in the mid 70s. McLaren also became involved in Formula Indy, winning two Indy 500 races (1974 and 1976) with the works team, and several other races. Among others, Penske used McLarens for a while. This involvement lasted until the end of the decade. McLaren also built a Formula 2 car for the 1972 season, winning the final race at Crystal Palace. McLaren was also involved in the Can Am series, staying as a works team until 1972, and winning the 1970 and 1971 titles.

It could be said that March was a race car builder who also happened to be in Formula 1. In fact, pretty much all F-1 Marches from 1972 on were based on the F-2 car, not the other way around. March was very successful in F-2, winning many titles between 1971 nd 1983, and in F-3, a category it left in 1981. It also built Formula Atlantic and Formula 5000 cars, in addition to sports cars.

Surtees had some success in F-5000 from the onset, winning a title in Europe (Van Lennep, 1972) and being competitive in USA (runner-up, Posey, 1971), also winning the 1972 F-2 championship (1972, Hailwood). It left F-2 in 1974, concentrating in Formula 1 with no great effect. It should be noted, however, that a Surtees F-1 won the British Group 8 championship of 1977, with Tony Trimmer.

Shadow began in F-1 in 1973, and it was active as a works team in Can Am, Formula 5000 and the revised Can Am, as of 1977.

Matra built F-1 cars until 1972, but it was concomitantly active in Sports-cars, in fact much more successful in the latter category, winning titles in 1973/74.

Ferrari had been in F-2 and Formula Tasman until 1969, but from 1970 until 1973 it built only Sports Cars out of Formula 1. In fact, it built more than 25 of the Ferrari 512, to meet Group 5 regulations. From 1974 on, it built only F-1, until the early 90's, when the Ferrari 333 was released.

Other constructors that were involved in F-1 in the 70's, but also built cars for other formulas or categories were Lola, Trojan, Ralt, Penske, Parnelli, Merzario, Martini, Ligier, Tecno, Bellasi, Alfa-Romeo.

Much more information about racing in the 70's can be found in my book MOTOR RACING IN THE 70'S - PIVOTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ORGANIZED. It is a 472-page book about racing in the period,  with 242 photos, covering Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 5000, other lower formulae, Formula Indy, NASCAR, Touring Cars, Sports Cars, Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, DRM, local racing scenes, main driver profiles, plus long lists of makes that raced in the period, main drivers and racing venues from 85 countries, year highlights, performance and financial analysis of the sport. It can be bought at Amazon shops in the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan, 

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ROLF STOMMELEN

 

7/11/1943, Siegen, Germany

Deceased Riverside, USA 4/24/1983

Starts: 54

Points: 14

Wins:0

Poles:0

Fastest Laps:0

 

Rarely is a driver’s first Formula 1 season his absolute best, especially when a driver hasa long GP career, as was Stommelen’s case. A sports car driver by excellence, who was drafted into the Porsche team after some useful hill climbing performances, Stommelen got a crack in the Formula 1 circus in the F2 section of the German Grand Prix, in 1969. He was 8th in the race and 9th in class, driving a Lotus for Roy Winkelmann. His Formula 1 debut proper took place in the South Africa GP of 1970. Aided by sponsorship from the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Rolf was retained by Brabham to run alongside team boss Jack. Rolf normally qualified poorly, save for a 7th place in Belgium, but ended up scoring points in four occasions. The first time was in Belgium, where he finished 5th. He placed 5th in Germany as well, and then had an excellent 3rd in Austria, followed by a third straight points paying position, in Italy. This gave Stommelen a total of 10 points for the year, showing he had some talent as a single seater driver as well. For 1971, Rolf took his magazine sponsorship to the Surtees team, but in spite of racing competitively in the non-championship Argentine race, the relationship with Surtees did not gell. Rolf did score points on two occasions, in Monaco, 6th place, and Silverstone, 5th, and his best qualifying performances were 10th in Holland and France. Not surprisingly, Rolf was not back at Surtees the following year, instead was lured to drive for the newly formed Eifelland team. The car was essentially a March 721 with a novel, if ineffective, body by Lurani. The car was never even close to competitive, however, Stommelen showed reliability finishing 6 races. By the end of the year the team folded, and Stommelen was out of a GP drive. An opportunity arose in 1973, when Andrea de Adamich got injured in the British GP, vacating the third Brabham entry. With the BT42 Rolf had a halfway decent car, in fact qualifying 9th in Monza, however, there were no points scored that year. Still Alfa Romeo’s fastest sports car driver in 1974, Stommelen was hired by Graham Hill’s team after the Austrian GP. He did qualify well for three of the races, certainly pleasing team boss Hill. As a result, Stommelen was retained for 1975. Still using the year old Lola, Rolf finished the first three GPs of the season, placing 7th place in South Africa. For Spain, the team’s car name was changed to Hill, and Stommelen was placed 9th in the grid. The race was very confusing, with an accident right at the start, and several lead changes. Merzario and the Fittipaldi brothers pretty much boycotted the race, retiring after a single, slow lap, on the grounds that the circuit was very dangerous. In the 17th lap of the race, Stommelen suddenly found himself in the lead, which he held for a few laps, until his car left the track, in the 25th lap, hitting the Armco barriers and killing spectators. Rolf himself was sufficiently injured to be out for most of the year, and another German ended up winning the first “half-race” of the year, Jochen Mass. Stommelen eventually came back, doing the Austrian and Italian races, but was not competitive. For 1976 Stommelen was back at Porsche, but certainly due to his Alfa Romeo contacts, got a ride in the Brabham Alfa Romeo at the Nurburgring, after practing in the hopeless RAM Brabham. Rolf did really well finishing the tragic race in 6th place, earning the last point of his Formula 1 career. He was called to race one of the Heskeths in Zandvoort, finishing 12th, and was given another crack at the Alfa engined Brabham, at the Italian GP, replacing the outgoing Reutemann. 1977 was a very successful season for Rolf, but there was no F1. He won the German Championship after a yearlong tussle with Bob Wollek, impressing enough to be hired by the Warsteiner sponsored Arrows for the 1978 season. Rolf was not competitive at Arrows, while teammate Patrese showed plenty of pace on occasion. By the latter part of the year Stommelen was not even qualifying for races, thus bringing to a close his Formula 1 career. Rolf continued to race sports cars for years, in fact meeting his death while driving one of his beloved Porsches in Riverside, in 1983.

OUTSIDE FORMULA 1

Formula 2: Brabham, March, Lotus, Surtees, Chevron

Sports cars: Porsche (904, 906, 907, 908, 910, 911, 917, 934, 935, 935 Mobydick, 936, ) Alfa-Romeo, Lotus Elite, Toyota Celica Group 5, Chevron BMW, TOJ, Rondeau, Lancia LC1

Touring cars: Ford Capri, Alfa-Romeo, BMW, Mercury(Ford NASCAR)

SCHENKEN, TIM

 

9/26/1943, Sydney, Australia

Starts: 34

Points: 7

Wins:0

Poles:0

Fastest Laps:0

Judging from the press Schenken got in 1968, one would expect him to be world champion by the early 70’s. In fact, Tim had swept every one before him in F-Ford and Formula 3, winning in one year more races than most people win in a career. Things started to get tougher in F-2 though. Needless to say, F-1 was no piece of cake either. Tim got his first break driving the De Tomaso for Frank Williams, replacing Brian Redman. To his credit he managed to qualify the car all four times he appeared, a better performance than Redman’s. This was sufficiently good to attract the Brabham team, which signed Tim to replace Jack Brabham. The early part of the year was a bit tough, but in Britain Schenken qualified 7th. This was followed by three other top ten starts, plus a good helping of points from 6th in Germany and a swell 3rd place and podium in Austria. By the end of the year Schenken was back to the bottom of the timesheets, and was not retained by Brabham. In F-2 he showed a good turn of speed, and was one of the top drivers in the category. Leaving Brabham seemed right, as the team was obviously on a downward spiral, while Team Surtees, which Tim joined, seemed to be on the way up. The beginning of the year was not bad: right on his first race, Schenken scored a 5th place in Argentina, followed by eighth place on the grid in South Africa and good placings in the British non championship races. Henceforth, Schenken’s performance dropped, in spite of two very “racy” 5th grid positions in England and France. The relationship between Schenken and Surtees, known for being difficult, did not gell, and by the end of the year Tim had been shown the door, qualifying 32nd and dead last in the USA. For 1973 Schenken was already out of a regular drive in F-1, although he remained in the limelight in Formula 2 and Sports Car racing with Ferrari. He was one of several drivers to have the displeasure of driving an Iso Marlboro that season, in his case in Canada, finishing 14th. For 1974, Tim was going to back on the frame, with an ambitious project. Rondel (Ron Dennis’ F-2 team) had been planning an entry in F-1, but wisely gave up along the way, the project being picked up by no other than Ron Tauranac, the Australian that ran Brabham in 1971, before selling to Bernie Ecclestone. The new team was going to be called Trojan and in spite of the principal’s credentials, seemed to be a little short on funding by the time it appeared in Spain. The car also looked somewhat bulky, and it soon became clear that this would not be the instrument to revitalize Schenken’s F-1 career. He did manage to finish 3 times, including two tenth places, but also failed to qualify a couple of times. The project would not survive beyond Monza, so for the North American races Tim was free. As usual, Lotus planned to field a 3rd car in Watkins Glen, and Schenken was named to drive it. Another lost opportunity this was. Schenken qualified only 27th out of 30 and was the first reserve. He ended up starting anyway, but was disqualified in what amounted to be his last GP. Schenken continued racing a few more years, mostly driving assorted Porsches and Sports cars for the Georg Loos team, finding some success at this level. Eventually he founded the Tiga Racing concern with Howden Ganley , and continues to be involved in the sport to this day, in a managerial role.

• Cars driven outside of Formula 1:

Formula 2: Brabham, Surtees, Motul, Alpine, March

Formula 3: Chevron, Brabham

Sports-cars: Ferrari, Porsche (935, 934, 911 Carrera), Mirage, Ford GT40, Chevron, Matra-Simca

Touring cars: Ford Escort

Can-Am/Interseries: Porsche 917