Rikky von Opel | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick von Opel (1947-10-14)14 October 1947 (age 78) New York City, U.S. |
| Parent | Fritz von Opel (father) |
| Relatives |
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| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Liechtensteiner |
| Active years | 1973–1974 |
| Teams | Ensign,Brabham |
| Entries | 14 (10 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1973 French Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1974 French Grand Prix |
Frederick "Rikky"von Opel (born 14 October 1947) is a formerracing driver, who competed under the Liechtenstein flag inFormula One from1973 to1974. Von Opel remains the only driver to represent Liechtenstein in Formula One.
Born inNew York City and raised inSt. Moritz, von Opel was born into thenoble Opel family as the son ofFritz von Opel and the great-grandson ofAdam Opel, founder ofOpel. He won the Lombard NorthBritish Formula 3 Championship in 1972. Von Opel participated in 14Formula One Grands Prix forEnsign andBrabham, debuting with the former at the1973 French Grand Prix. He finished a career-best ninth at theSwedish andDutch Grands Prix in1974 with Brabham, driving theBrabham BT44.
Upon retiring from motor racing, von Opel moved to aBuddhist monastery inThailand, becoming amonk.
Von Opel started out racing inFormula Ford in 1970, under the pseudonym "Antonio Branco".[1] After his year in Formula Ford, he moved on toFormula 3, where he competed for two years.[1] He raced aLotus 69 in 1971 in the BRSCC Shell British Formula 3 series (six starts, one pole position, eight points), but changed over toEnsign Racing in 1972 and followed the team into Formula One.[2] He won the1972 Lombard North Formula 3 championship, one of three concurrent regional championships (along with theJohn Player, andForward Trust) in the United Kingdom.
Opel's Formula One debut coincided with that of the team that provided him with his big break,Ensign. Both began atPaul Ricard inFrance, the eighth race of the1973 season, with Opel qualifying hisN173 25th and finishing 15th, three laps down.Great Britain was next, while Opel finished 13th, six laps down, after starting from 21st.
More promising signs appeared to be on the horizon atZandvoort for theDutch Grand Prix where he qualified a very creditable 14th, ahead of former World Drivers' ChampionsEmerson Fittipaldi andGraham Hill. However, on the morning of the race, cracks were found in the chassis. With too little time to make repairs, Opel was unable to start and the same issues prevented the team from starting inGermany too. Fuel system issues curtailed Opel'sAustrian Grand Prix where he qualified 19th, and an overheating engine ended hisItalian Grand Prix, after qualifying 17th.
The North American climax offered little better; he qualified 26th and last inCanada and was unclassified in the race, finishing 12 laps down, whilst in that year'sUnited States Grand Prix he once again qualified dead last, 27th, and retired on the opening lap with his throttle jammed open. Opel's debut season produced no points, and he was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.
Ensign's car for the new season, theN174, was much like theN173, but at the opening round of1974 inArgentina, Opel discovered how little progress had really been made. He qualified 26th, again dead last, more than seven seconds slower than pole-sitterRonnie Peterson and almost one and a half seconds slower thanGuy Edwards, who qualified 25th. The handling of the car was so flawed that he chose to withdraw from the meeting.[3] Shortly afterwards Opel quit the team.
He sat out the races in theBrazilian Grand Prix andSouth Africa until he took over the secondBrabham seat fromRichard Robarts, starting with theSpanish Grand Prix. TheirBT44 was powered by the sameCosworth DFVV8 as the Ensign, but the chassis was far superior, so hopes were raised.However, Opel could not make the most of it and he struggled to match the performance of new teammate, ArgentineCarlos Reutemann.
Retiring with an oil leak inSpain, after qualifying 24th, and again a fortnight later inBelgium with a blown engine, from which he started 22nd, were not the lift in performance Opel wished for.Monaco was worse still, where he was the only driver that failed to qualify. Brief respite was found inSweden and theNetherlands with his first top-10 finishes, 9th on both occasions (after qualifying 20th and 23rd respectively).
The promise was short-lived though, as failure to qualify next time out inFrance was the final straw for Brabham bossBernie Ecclestone, and Opel was replaced byCarlos Pace. For the second year running he was unclassified in the Driver's Championship with no points. A little over a year after his debut, the career of Liechtenstein's only Formula One driver was over.
He is the son ofFritz von Opel and a great-grandson ofAdam Opel, the founder of the German car-makerOpel. His mother is von Opel's second wife, Emita Herrán Olozaga, the daughter of aColombian diplomat. He was born in theUnited States and lived inSt. Moritz,Switzerland during his youth - often secretly challenging his cousinGunter Sachs and friendAlexander Onassis to flat-out midnightbobsled runs at theSt. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun. He chose to representLiechtenstein in racing despite having no connection to the country, and proclaimed before one of his Grands Prix that "When I win, I want to hear theGerman national anthem".[4]
After his stint in Formula One, von Opel retired to aBuddhist monastery in ruralThailand and became amonk. His exact whereabouts are unknown and his only contact with the outside world comes in the form of apost office box, the location of which is known by only a select few of his acquaintances.[1]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Team Ensign | EnsignN173 | CosworthV8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | FRA 15 | GBR 13 | NED DNS | GER | AUT Ret | ITA Ret | CAN NC | USA Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1974 | Team Ensign | EnsignN174 | CosworthV8 | ARG DNS | BRA | RSA | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Motor Racing Developments | BrabhamBT44 | ESP Ret | BEL Ret | MON DNQ | SWE 9 | NED 9 | FRA DNQ | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | |||||||
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| Preceded by | British Formula 3 Championship BRSCC North Central Lombard Series Champion 1972 | Succeeded by |
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