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Volker Weidler

{{Short description|German racing driver (born 1962)}}

{{stack|{{Infobox F1 driver

| name = Volker Weidler

| nationality = {{flagicon|FRG}} German

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|03|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany

| Years = {{F1|1989}}

| Team(s) = Rial

| Races = 10 (0 starts)

| Championships = 0

| Wins = 0

| Podiums = 0

| Points = 0

| Poles = 0

| Fastest laps = 0

| First race = 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix

| First win =

| Last win =

| Last race = 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix

}}

{{Infobox Le Mans driver

| Years = 1987, 1989–1992

| Team(s) = Porsche Kremer Racing, Mazdaspeed (Mazdaspeed/Oreca)

| Best Finish = 1st (1991)

| Class Wins = 1 (1991)

}}

}}

Volker Hermann Weidler (born 18 March 1962) is a retired racing driver from Germany, best known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.

Career

=Formula racing=

In 1985, he became German Formula Three champion.

In the 1989 Formula One season, Weidler entered 10 Formula One Grands Prix, racing for the Rial team, but failed to qualify the uncompetitive car on every occasion.

After Formula One, he moved to Japan and raced in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. He often fought over the title with Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Ross Cheever and others in the Japanese Formula 3000, and became popular in Japan.

=GT / Sportscars=

In 1991, Weidler teamed with Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot to win Le Mans behind the wheel of the Wankel engine-powered Mazda 787B, marking also the first win of the legendary French race by both a Japanese manufacturer and engine supplier. This Wankel engine-powered car was noted for being very loud.

Possibly related to the hours spent in the noisy Mazda,{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} Weidler began to suffer from an ear problem (sensorineural hearing loss) which eventually forced him to retire prematurely from the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship during the 1992 season though Weidler was leading the championship at that time.

When Weidler left the Japanese team, Nova Engineering, he recommended Heinz-Harald Frentzen as his successor.

Post-racing career

Weidler now works as a managing director for Weidler, a building cleaning company owned by his family, based in Weinheim.

Racing record

=Complete International Formula 3000 results=

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Championship position}}

! Pts

1986

! nowrap| Bromley Motorsport with Rial

! nowrap| Ralt RT20

! Cosworth

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SIL
{{small|10}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| VAL
{{small|7}}

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| PAU
{{small|Ret}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| SPA
{{small|DNQ}}

| IMO

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MUG
{{small|16}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| PER
{{small|DNQ}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ÖST
{{small|9}}

| BIR

| BUG

| JAR

! NC

! 0

1988

! nowrap| Onyx Race Engineering

! nowrap| March 88B

! Cosworth

|style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff"| JER
{{small|DSQ}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| VAL
{{small|12}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| PAU
{{small|DNQ}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SIL
{{small|14}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MNZ
{{small|9}}

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| PER
{{small|Ret}}

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH
{{small|6}}

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BIR
{{small|4}}

|style="background:#FFFFFF;"| BUG
{{small|DNS}}

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ZOL
{{small|Ret}}

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| DIJ
{{small|6}}

! 15th

! 5

colspan="17"|{{center|{{small|Sources:{{cite web|title=Volker Weidler Results|url=https://motorsportstats.com/driver/volker-weidler/results|publisher=Motorsport Stats|access-date=30 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=Volker Weidler|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/volker-weidler/|work=Motor Sport|access-date=30 December 2023}}}}}}

=Complete Formula One results=

(key)

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! {{Tooltip|WDC|World Drivers' Championship}}

! Pts

{{F1|1989}}

! nowrap| Rial Racing

! nowrap| Rial ARC2

! nowrap| Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| BRA
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| SMR
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MON
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MEX
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| USA
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CAN
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| FRA
{{small|DNPQ}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| GBR
{{small|DNPQ}}

| GER
{{small|EX}}

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| HUN
{{small|DNQ}}

| BEL

| ITA

| POR

| ESP

| JPN

| AUS

! NC

! 0

colspan="22"|{{center|{{small|Source:{{cite book|last=Small|first=Steve|title=The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who|date=1994|publisher=Guinness|page=415|isbn=0851127029}}}}}}

=Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results=

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Team

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! DC

! Pts

1990

! nowrap| Team Take One

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUZ
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FSW
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MIN
11

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SUZ
5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUG
21

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FSW
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FSW
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ
20

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FSW
1

|style="background:#000000; color:#FFFFFF"| SUZ
DSQ

|

!6th

!15

1991

! nowrap| Team Nova

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | SUZ
15

| style="background:#FFCFCF;" | AUT
DNQ

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | FSW
19

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | MIN
3

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | SUZ
3

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | SUG
8

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | FSW
3

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | SUZ
10

| style="background:#FFFFFF;" | FSW
C

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | SUZ
3

| style="background:#FFFFBF;" | FSW
1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|25

1992

! nowrap| Team Nova

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| SUZ
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FSW
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MIN
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| SUZ
1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| AUT
3

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| SUG
1

| FSW

| FSW

| SUZ

| FSW

| FSW

!4th

!26

colspan="15"|{{center|{{small|Source:}}}}

=Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans Results=

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"

! Year

! Team

! Co-Drivers

! Car

! Class

! Laps

! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}}

! {{Tooltip|Class
Pos.|Class Position}}

{{24hLM|1987}}

|nowrap| {{flagicon|DEU}} Porsche Kremer Racing

|nowrap| {{flagicon|DNK}} Kris Nissen
{{flagicon|JPN}} Kunimitsu Takahashi

|nowrap| Porsche 962C

| C1

| 6

| DNF

| DNF

{{24hLM|1989}}

|nowrap| {{flagicon|JPN}} Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd

|nowrap| {{flagicon|JPN}} Yojiro Terada
{{flagicon|BEL}} Marc Duez

|nowrap| Mazda 767

| GTP

| 339

| 12th

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

{{24hLM|1990}}

|nowrap| {{flagicon|JPN}} Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.

|nowrap| {{flagicon|BEL}} Bertrand Gachot
{{flagicon|GBR}} Johnny Herbert

|nowrap| Mazda 787

| GTP

| 148

| DNF

| DNF

{{24hLM|1991}}

| {{flagicon|JPN}} Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.

| {{flagicon|GBR}} Johnny Herbert
{{flagicon|BEL}} Bertrand Gachot

| Mazda 787B

| C2

| 362

|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| 1st

|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| 1st

{{24hLM|1992}}

| {{flagicon|JPN}} Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.
{{flagicon|FRA}} Oreca

| {{flagicon|GBR}} Johnny Herbert
{{flagicon|BEL}} Bertrand Gachot
{{flagicon|BRA}} Maurizio Sandro Sala

| Mazda MXR-01

| C1

| 336

| 4th

| 4th

colspan="8"|{{center|{{small|Sources:{{cite web|title=Volker Weidler|url=https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/track-record/driver/volkert-weidler-5390|publisher=Automobile Club de l'Ouest|access-date=3 January 2024}}}}}}

References

;Footnotes

{{reflist}}

;Sources

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120531104407/http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/weidler/index.html Profile at F1 Rejects]
  • {{DriverDB driver|volker-weidler}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box|title=German Formula Three champion|before=Kurt Thiim|after=Kris Nissen|years=1985}}

{{succession box|title= Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans|before= John Nielsen
Price Cobb
Martin Brundle|after= Derek Warwick
Yannick Dalmas
Mark Blundell|years= 1991|with=Johnny Herbert & Bertrand Gachot}}

{{S-end}}

{{German F3 champions}}

{{24 Hours of Le Mans winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidler, Volker}}

Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

Category:German racing drivers

Category:German Formula One drivers

Category:Rial Formula One drivers

Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers

Category:24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers

Category:German Formula Three Championship drivers

Category:Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers

Category:International Formula 3000 drivers

Category:Sportspeople from Heidelberg

Category:Racing drivers from Karlsruhe (region)

Category:World Sportscar Championship drivers

Category:Oreca drivers

Category:RSM Marko drivers

Category:Walter Lechner Racing drivers

Category:Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers

Category:Team Joest drivers