 | |
| Born | (1943-03-16)16 March 1943 (age 82) Mönchengladbach,Rhine Province,Free State of Prussia,Nazi Germany |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  German |
| Active years | 1977 |
| Teams | ATS |
| Entries | 1 (no legal starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1977 German Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1977 German Grand Prix |
Hans Heyer (German pronunciation:[hansˈhaɪ̯ɐ]; born 16 March 1943) is a German retiredracing driver who mainly racedtouring cars. He is most commonly known for starting oneFormula One World Championship race, the1977 German Grand Prix, despite failing to qualify.
Heyer's trademark during his racing days was aTirolerhut, a hat fromTyrol orBavaria.[citation needed]
Heyer was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany to parents who ran a bitumen and a concrete mixing company. Heyer developed his passion for motor racing and engineering when he was at boarding school atAdenau, which is near theNürburgring. He later started an apprenticeship withDaimler-Benz as a mechanic which was completed in 1962.[1]
Living close to theNetherlands and not yet allowed to race in Germany at the age of 16, he started his career there in 1959 withkarts and won the 1962 Dutch Championship in the 100cc category which he followed up by winning the 125cc class in 1963. In an attempt to race in his native Germany, he initially encountered problems with his racing license but managed to compete in the Formula K class in 1965 finishing 3rd in the next two years and backed up with the German and European Formula K titles in 1968 to 1971 driving in a Taifun/BM. Heyer also raced in France by competing in the Brignoles 24 Hour Classic in 1969 to 1971 winning twice and finished 2nd in 1970.[1]
For many years, Heyer was associated withZakspeed, racing theirGroup 2Ford Escorts in theEuropean Touring Car Championship (champion 1974) and theDeutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (champion 1975 and 1976). Heyer attempted two European F2 races in 1976, finishing sixth at the first Hockenheim race. He failed to qualify for the second Hockenheim race and made no further attempts in F2.
In his single attempt atFormula One, he entered the1977 German Grand Prix on 31 July 1977 with the secondPenske car of the new German teamATS. With little experience in single seaters and a bad car, he did not qualify. He was the third reserve driver, meaning that he would get the chance to race if three drivers dropped out. But since Frank Williams chose not to prepare his driverPatrick Nève, who was the first reserve, for the race, and sinceEmilio de Villota, who was the second reserve, had a last-moment engine failure before the race, Heyer had effectively became the first reserve driver.[2] Because of the crash and commotion on the starting grid at the start of the race, Heyer chose to start the race anyway, slipping out of the pits and joining the pack.[2] Only when his gearbox failed after 9 laps[3] was it realised that Heyer should not have been competing, whereupon he was disqualified.[dubious –discuss][citation needed] He never attempted another race in Formula One. He is the only driver to be credited with aDNQ (did not qualify),DNF (did not finish), andDSQ (disqualified) in the same race,[4] technically being banned from 5 Formula One races afterwards (which effectively became a lifetime ban because he had no intention to compete any further in Formula One).[2]
In 1980 he won the DRM again, this time forLancia in aGroup 5Lancia Monte CarloTurbo, a car he also helped develop. He crashed his 480 hp car badly at theNorisring inNuremberg, rolling several times. Heyer switched to continuations cooling when control of the water supply failed when the brake light switch failed which had not worked resulting in the left front brake caliper failing which destroyed the tyre rod and a burst affected the front left tyre.[5] He escaped unhurt, but returned immediately to the wreck to recover his famous hat. In the following medical exam, the doctor was said to have been more nervous than Hans was.
Heyer won the12 Hours of Sebring race in 1984 driving alongsideStefan Johansson and Mauricio de Narvaez in aPorsche 935.[6]
During the years that theSpa 24 Hours was run as part of theEuropean Touring Car Championship and the inauguralWorld Touring Car Championship (1982–1988), Heyer won the race three times in succession. He won in 1982 driving aBMW 528i withArmin Hahne andEddy Joosen, 1983 in aBMW 635 CSi with Hahne andThierry Tassin, and finally in 1984 driving aTWRJaguar XJS withTom Walkinshaw andWin Percy.Heyer retired in 1989 after 999 races in 30 years.
Between 1990 and 1991 Heyer worked at his family concrete works business but came out of retirement to test Mercedes-Benz's truck racing vehicles and competed in the Nürburgring Truck Grand Prix in 1992. Heyer returned to the same track in 1994 to compete in theNürburgring 24 Hours alongside Heiner Weiss, Rainer Braun driving aBMW M3 and returned to compete in the same race in 1995 albeit in a BMW veterans 'Dream Team'. Heyer also competed in the Nürburgring 500 km race in 1997.[1]
In 2004,Volkswagen directorKris Nissen found out Hans Heyer's next race would be his 1000th and invited Hans Heyer to race in theADACVolkswagen Polo Cup at theNorisring against youngsters.[5]
His son Kenneth Heyer is also a racing driver, currently involved in theBlancpain GT Series Endurance Cup driving aMercedes-AMG GT3 for MANN-FILTERHTP Motorsport.[citation needed]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Team Warsteiner Eurorace | Toj F201 | BMW | HOC 7 | THR | VAL | SAL | PAU | HOC DNQ | ROU | MUG | PER | EST | NOG | HOC | 17th | 1 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | ATS Racing Team | PenskePC4 | CosworthV8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER DSQ‡ | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | NC | 0 |
‡ Started illegally after failing to qualify and did not finish.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | European Touring Car Championship champion 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Champion 1975–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Champion 1980 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
