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Marc Surer | |
|---|---|
 Surer at the1982 Dutch Grand Prix | |
| Born | (1951-09-18)18 September 1951 (age 74) Arisdorf, Switzerland |
| Spouses | |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Active years | 1979–1986 |
| Teams | Ensign,ATS,Theodore,Arrows,Brabham |
| Entries | 88 (82 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 17 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1979 Italian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1986 Belgian Grand Prix |
Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951) is a Swiss formerracing driver andbroadcaster, who competed inFormula One from1979 to1986.
Born inArisdorf, Surer begankart racing aged 20. He moved to Germany in 1974 to compete inFormula Vee, as motor racing was banned in Switzerland following the1955 Le Mans disaster. After finishing runner-up in the1976 German Formula Three Championship, Surer progressed toEuropean Formula Two, winning the title in1979 with theBMW Junior Team. Making his Formula One debut at theItalian Grand Prix that year withEnsign, Surer signed forATS in1980. He participated in 88Formula One Grands Prix, scoring 17 championship points.
Surer started his career in karting in 1972. Due to the racing ban established in Switzerland after the1955 Le Mans disaster, he moved toGermany in 1974, where he finished second in the local Formula Vee Championship. In 1976, he switched to European Formula 3, where he was noticed byJochen Neerpasch, who hired him as a member of theBMW Junior Team alongsideEddie Cheever andManfred Winkelhock. In 1978, he finished second in the Formula 2 Championship, eventually winning the series the following year in a works March-BMW.
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Surer's debut in Formula 1 took place at the end of 1979 and was somewhat troubled. He broke his legs in qualifying at theSouth African Grand Prix in anATS at Kyalami in 1980 and again racing there in 1981 forEnsign. He recovered to give Ensign their best result with a 4th-place finish at the1981 Brazilian Grand Prix, also setting the fastest lap of the race. He later drove forTheodore before establishing himself atArrows for a couple of seasons, untilBMW's support earned him a seat atBrabham for 1985. Surer returned to Arrows in 1986 but eventually retired from Formula One halfway through the season due to a serious accident at the 1986 ADAC Hessen-Rallye in hisFord RS200 that severely injured him and killed his co-driver and friendMichel Wyder. BMW retained him as a driver, coach and later director of motorsport activities. In 1994 and 1995, Surer, alongsideJohnny Cecotto andJo Winkelhock, won the German Super Touring Car Championship.
In 1996, Surer began working as a television commentator at all Formula 1 events forSky Sport (Germany) (formerly known asDF1 andPremiere) next to the lead commentatorJacques Schulz. After Schulz's withdrawal prior to the2013 season, he remained as a commentator alongsideSascha Roos until 2017.
In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Surer was ranked the 17th best Formula One driver of all time.[1]
Surer has been married twice to formerPlayboy models, first toPlaymateJolanda Egger, and then toChristina Surer between 1997 and 2000. On 3 December 2011 he married his longtime partner Silvia Renée Arias.[2]
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† As Surer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
(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 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Hohmann Racing | Chevron B35 | BMW | HOC | THR | VLL | SAL | PAU | HOC | ROU | MUG | PER | EST | NOG | HOC DNQ | NC | 0 | |
| 1977 | Hohmann Auto Technik | March 762 | BMW | SIL 9 | THR 7 | HOC Ret | NÜR | VLL 7 | PAU | MUG 5 | ROU Ret | NOG 7 | PER | MIS | EST | 13th | 5 | |
| March Engineering | March 772P | DON 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1978 | Polifac BMW Junior Team | March 782 | BMW | THR 2 | HOC 2 | NÜR 4 | PAU 3 | MUG 2 | VLL 9 | ROU 3 | DON 3 | NOG 2 | PER Ret | MIS 2 | HOC 2 | 2nd | 51 | |
| 1979 | Polifac BMW Junior Team | March 792 | BMW | SIL DNS | HOC Ret | THR 9 | NÜR 1 | VLL 1 | MUG Ret | PAU 3 | HOC 5 | ZAN 3 | PER Ret | MIS 3 | DON 2 | 1st | 38 | |
| 1981 | Marcus Hotz Racing | March 812 | BMW | SIL | HOC Ret | THR 12 | NÜR | VLL | MUG | PAU | PER | SPA | DON | MIS | MAN | NC | 0 | |
(key) (races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Artos FrancySauber PP AG | Eugen Straehl Harry Blumer | Sauber C 5 | S 2.0 | 257 | NC | NC |
| 1981 | Würth-Lubrifilm TeamSauber |  David Deacon Dieter Quester | BMW M1 | Gr.5 | 207 | DNF | DNF |
| 1982 |  Ford GermanyZakspeed | Klaus LudwigManfred Winkelhock | Ford C100 | C | 67 | DNF | DNF |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | European Formula Two Champion 1979 | Succeeded by |