 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Volker Weidler" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Born | (1962-03-18)18 March 1962 (age 63) Heidelberg,Baden-Württemberg,West Germany |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  German |
| Active years | 1989 |
| Teams | Rial |
| Entries | 10 (0 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Years | 1987, 1989–1992 |
| Teams | PorscheKremer Racing,Mazdaspeed (Mazdaspeed/Oreca) |
| Best finish | 1st (1991) |
| Class wins | 1 (1991) |
Volker Hermann Weidler (born 18 March 1962) is a retired racing driver fromGermany, best known for winning the24 Hours of Le Mans in1991.
In 1985, he becameGerman Formula Three champion.
In the1989 Formula One season, Weidler entered 10Formula One Grands Prix, racing for theRial team, but failed to qualify the uncompetitive car on every occasion.
After Formula One, he moved to Japan and raced in theJapanese Formula 3000 Championship and theAll Japan Sports Prototype Championship. He often fought over the title withKazuyoshi Hoshino,Ross Cheever and others in the Japanese Formula 3000, and became popular in Japan.
In 1991, Weidler teamed withJohnny Herbert andBertrand Gachot to win Le Mans behind the wheel of theWankel engine-poweredMazda 787B, marking also the first win of the legendaryFrench race by both aJapanese manufacturer and engine supplier. ThisWankel engine-powered car was noted for being very loud.
Possibly related to the hours spent in the noisy Mazda,[citation needed] Weidler began to suffer from an ear problem (sensorineural hearing loss) which eventually forced him to retire prematurely from theJapanese Formula 3000 Championship during the1992 season though Weidler was leading the championship at that time.
When Weidler left the Japanese team, Nova Engineering, he recommendedHeinz-Harald Frentzen as his successor.
Weidler now works as a managing director for Weidler, a building cleaning company owned by his family, based in Weinheim.
(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 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Bromley Motorsport with Rial | Ralt RT20 | Cosworth | SIL 10 | VAL 7 | PAU Ret | SPA DNQ | IMO | MUG 16 | PER DNQ | ÖST 9 | BIR | BUG | JAR | NC | 0 |
| 1988 | Onyx Race Engineering | March 88B | Cosworth | JER DSQ | VAL 12 | PAU DNQ | SIL 14 | MNZ 9 | PER Ret | BRH 6 | BIR 4 | BUG DNS | ZOL Ret | DIJ 6 | 15th | 5 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Rial Racing | RialARC2 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5V8 | BRA DNPQ | SMR DNPQ | MON DNPQ | MEX DNPQ | USA DNPQ | CAN DNPQ | FRA DNPQ | GBR DNPQ | GER EX | HUN DNQ | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
Source:[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Team Take One | SUZ Ret | FSW Ret | MIN 11 | SUZ 5 | SUG 21 | FSW 3 | FSW Ret | SUZ 20 | FSW 1 | SUZ DSQ | 6th | 15 | |
| 1991 | Team Nova | SUZ 15 | AUT DNQ | FSW 19 | MIN 3 | SUZ 3 | SUG 8 | FSW 3 | SUZ 10 | FSW C | SUZ 3 | FSW 1 | 3rd | 25 |
| 1992 | Team Nova | SUZ 3 | FSW Ret | MIN Ret | SUZ 1 | AUT 3 | SUG 1 | FSW | FSW | SUZ | FSW | FSW | 4th | 26 |
Source:[2] | ||||||||||||||
Class winners inbold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | PorscheKremer Racing |  Kris Nissen Kunimitsu Takahashi | Porsche 962C | C1 | 6 | DNF | DNF |
| 1989 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd | Yojiro Terada Marc Duez | Mazda 767 | GTP | 339 | 12th | 3rd |
| 1990 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. | Bertrand Gachot Johnny Herbert | Mazda 787 | GTP | 148 | DNF | DNF |
| 1991 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. | Johnny HerbertBertrand Gachot | Mazda 787B | C2 | 362 | 1st | 1st |
| 1992 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Oreca | Johnny HerbertBertrand Gachot Maurizio Sandro Sala | Mazda MXR-01 | C1 | 336 | 4th | 4th |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | German Formula Three champion 1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1991 With:Johnny Herbert &Bertrand Gachot | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
