Rudolf "Rudi" Fischer (19 April 1912 – 30 December 1976) was a Swiss racing driver, who competed in Formula One at seven Grands Prix from 1951 to 1952.[a]
Rudi Fischer | |
|---|---|
 Fischer in 1951 | |
| Born | Rudolf Fischer 19 April 1912 |
| Died | 30 December 1976 (aged 64) Lucerne, Switzerland |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Active years | 1950–1952 |
| Teams | Privateer SVA, privateer Ferrari |
| Entries | 8 (7 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Career points | 10 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1950 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1952 Italian Grand Prix |
Fischer debuted in Formula One at the Swiss Grand Prix in 1951. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored a total of 10 championship points. He also participated in numerous non-championship Formula One and Formula Two races.
Career
editFischer finished third in a race which marked the reopening of the AVUS, a German motor racing circuit. It had been closed for a 14-year period and was damaged during World War II. A crowd of 350,000 watched Paul Greifzu of Suhl, Thuringia, win in a car he built himself. Fischer drove a Ferrari to third place over a distance of 207.5 kilometres. His time was 1 hour, 10 minutes, 27.5 seconds.[1] In the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, in Bern, Fischer finished second to Piero Taruffi; both drivers were in Ferraris.[2]
Écurie Espadon/Scuderia Espadon
editFischer was the leader of the "Écurie Espadon",[3] the entrant name for most of his racing career.
Écurie Espadon was composed of a group of Swiss amateur gentleman racers. The word "Écurie" was used at the beginning as most of the team's cars were French, generally Gordinis. Later the team's equipment changed to Ferraris and other Italian vehicles, thus the name of the team changed to use the equivalent Italian word "Scuderia".
The team was involved in several races all over Europe, as the presentation document described.[4]
The team was composed of:
- Rudolf Fischer: a successful restaurant owner.
- Rudolf Schoeller
- Peter Hirt: a wealthy businessman from Küssnacht, near Zürich, involved in precision tool manufacturing.
- Peter (Pierre) Staechelin from Basel.
- Max de Terra
- Paul Glauser
Racing record
editPost WWII Grandes Épreuves results
edit(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Écurie Espadon | Simca Gordini T11 | Simca-Gordini 1.4 L4 | GBR | BEL | SUI 15 |
FRA | ITA |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
edit(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Écurie Espadon | SVA 1500 | Fiat 1.5 L4s | GBR | MON | 500 | SUI DNA |
BEL | FRA | ITA | NC | 0 | |
| 1951 | Écurie Espadon | Ferrari 212 | Ferrari 212 2.5 V12 | SUI 11 |
500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER 6 |
ITA DNS |
ESP | NC | 0 |
| 1952 | Écurie Espadon | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 | SUI 2 |
500 | BEL | FRA DNS |
GBR 13 |
GER 3 |
NED | ITA Ret |
4th | 10 |
| Ferrari 212 | Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 | FRA 11† |
|||||||||||
Source:[7]
| |||||||||||||
† Entered and practiced in his Ferrari 500, but engine failure meant that he reverted to the previous season's 212 model for the race.[8] Drive shared with Peter Hirt.
Notes
edit- ^ Fischer was also entered into the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix in a privateer SVA 1500, but did not complete a competitive session.
References
edit- ^ 350,000 See Reopening of Motor RaceWay In Berlin After an Interval of 14 Years, The New York Times, July 2, 1951, Page 31.
- ^ Swiss Auto Race to Taruffi, Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1952, Page 24.
- ^ "Presentation document Ecurie Espadon". Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Scuderia Espadon and its background". forums.autosport.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Rudolf Fischer – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "Grosser Preis der Schweiz - Bremgarten, 3 Jul 1949". OldRacingCars. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "Rudi Fischer - Involvement". StatsF1. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Diepraam, M (June 2001). "German F2 specials taking on Ferrari". 8W. Retrieved 30 April 2008.