Franz Wittmann (born 7 April 1950 in Ramsau) is an Austrian rally driver, who won the 1987 Rally New Zealand, a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
 Wittmann driving an Audi Quattro in 1984 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Austrian |
| Born | April 7, 1950 Ramsau |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1973 – 1989 |
| Co-driver | Hans Siebert Helmut Deimel Traude Schatzl Hans Fennes John Morgan Kurt Nestinger Rudolf Stohl Peter Diekmann Ferdinand Hinterleitner Max Ogrisek Matthias Feltz Jörg Pattermann |
| Teams | Audi, Volkswagen |
| Rallies | 33 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Stage wins | 27 |
| Total points | 66 |
| First rally | 1973 Austrian Alpine Rally |
| First win | 1987 Rally New Zealand |
| Last rally | 1989 Rally Australia |
Career
editWittmann began rallying in 1970. He competed mainly on a national level during his career, winning the Austrian championship 12 times between 1976 and 2001.[1] He also won 32 rounds of the European Rally Championship, finishing second in the standings in 1978.[1] As a test driver for Audi, he debuted the revolutionary Audi Quattro in 1981. He also competed as a factory Volkswagen driver in 1985 and 1986. In 1987 he won Rally New Zealand in a privately entered Lancia Delta HF 4WD. He competed on his final WRC event at the 1989 Rally Australia.
Wittmann was involved in a severe accident at the 1981 Rally Finland. He failed to spot the finish sign at the end of the Ehikki stage and crashed into race officials. One of those hit was Raul Falin, the president of AKK-Motorsport and the Finnish delegate at FISA, who died in the crash.[2] Wittmann was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but was acquitted by Finnish courts.[3]
Wittmann's son Franz Jr. also competes in rallying.
WRC victories
edit# Event Season Co-driver Car 1 
18th Rally New Zealand
1987 Jörg Pattermann Lancia Delta HF 4WD
References
edit- ^ a b "RallyBase". www.rallybase.nl. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ^ "Suru avasi Suurajot" (PDF). Keskisuomalainen (in Finnish). 29 August 1981. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ Salomaa, Tomi (2018-11-03). ""Istu alas, nyt on huonoja uutisia" - Raul Falin kuoli vuonna 1981 järkyttävässä turmassa, jonka aiheuttaja vaikenee edelleen oudoista yksityiskohdista" ["Sit down, there's bad news" - Raul Falin died in a shocking 1981 accident, strange details of the cause remain unknown]. Iltalehti (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2018-12-24.
External links
edit- Official website (in German)
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