ARPIEM RACEMATIC TSR 2 "Bob WOLLEK"

What driver could better illustrate Arpiem's favorite theme of endurance racing than Bob Wollek, "Sportcars." He devoted almost his entire long career to it.

A competitor at heart, Bob first distinguished himself in alpine skiing, where he became the Military World Champion and the University World Champion. He seriously injured his ankle in the winter of 1967 and understood that he would not compete in the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, which had been his main objective.

No matter, he turned the page and turned to motorsport. Gifted, he got noticed and quickly climbed the ranks to compete in the European Formula 2 Championship between 1971 and 73 within the Rondel team, belonging to a certain Ron Dennis, former mechanic of Jack Brabham who would become owner of the Mc Laren team.

Here again he sees that the doors of Formula 1 will not open and he does not insist. He will return to the forefront, and for 25 years, at the wheel of our famous "Sports cars". He will become the undisputed specialist of the Porsche 935 and 956, winning at the wheel of them 71 of his 76 international victories. He will win 7 times the Porsche Cup which rewards the best driver representing the brand in a private team, will win 4 times the 24 hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Sebring, but never the 24 hours of Le Mans. He will participate 30 times, will climb on the podium 6 times, but not on the highest step. This will remain his great regret.

Bob had a strong character, a touchy personality. A "dirty" character, some would say. I think the reality is different: first of all, he was disarmingly frank. And then, he did not understand that everything was not done to win, which was his only goal. There remains a famous anecdote on the subject: in 1984, Bob ("Brilliant Bob" as the Americans called him) showed up at Daytona to compete in the 24 hours at the wheel of a Porsche 935 from Swap Shop Racing. He learned there that one of his teammates would be AJ Foyt, the living legend of American motorsport. But AJ was 49 years old at the time and was certainly not an endurance specialist. In short, Bob believed that, whatever the man's media value, he was not a good choice to aim for victory. Bob is furious, he will not speak to AJ for the rest of the week, who did not understand why he was being treated this way. He had nothing against Foyt, it was his way of showing his disapproval to the team managers! Foyt's presence (even if his stints were limited and he did not drive at night) will not prevent the crew from winning the 24 hours. Everything will be sorted out on the podium and AJ, not resentful and impressed by Bob's view, will invite the latter to test one of his Indy 500 single-seaters (which Bob will refuse, probably rightly believing that single-seaters were over for him). Ironically, the two friends will be reunited again at Daytona in 1985, for the best once again since they will win there again.

Bob Wollek was not looking for fame, but he was a well-known and highly respected driver in Germany, the birthplace of Porsche, and in the USA. It was there that he met his death in 2001, on the sidelines of the 12 Hours of Sebring that he was competing in, when he was fatally knocked down by a truck near the circuit while he was on his bike. So long Bob!