Willy Rampf | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1953-06-20)June 20, 1953 (age 72) |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Willy Rampf (born 20 June 1953) is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant forWilliams Racing and was the former technical director of theSauberFormula One team.
Rampf was born inMaria Thalheim, studied Automotive Engineering at theMunich University of Applied Sciences, and has worked as a development engineer forBMW since 1979. From 1989 to 1993, Rampf worked for BMW inSouth Africa, where he discoveredFormula One.
TheSauber team made its debut in Formula One at theSouth African Grand Prix in 1993. Rampf was invited to the race, and half a year later he signed a contract to becomerace engineer for the Sauber team.
Rampf was the engineer of Sauber driverHeinz-Harald Frentzen for three years. In the 1997 season, he worked for driversNicola Larini,Norberto Fontana andGianni Morbidelli. At the end of the 1997 season, Rampf returned to BMW, where he would lead the motorcycle project for theDakar Rally. BMW motorcyclistRichard Sainct would win that race.
At the end of 1999, Rampf returned to Sauber, where he became technical director on 1 April 2000. He remained in that position when Sauber was taken over by BMW in 2005, and when the company withdrew its backing in 2009.
Rampf left his position at Sauber in April 2010, and was replaced byJames Key.[1]
He joinedVolkswagen Motorsport as technical director in August 2011, overseeing the design of thePolo R WRC.[2]
