Jo Siffert, the exceptional Swiss talent
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Summary
Jo Siffert would have turned 75 exactly today - had he survived the accident at Brands Hatch on October 24, 1971. The man from Freiburg, born on July 7, 1936, was one of the most popular sportsmen in our country at the time. There was something incomparable about his rise from a coachbuilder to a top-class driver, and his modesty and iron will were exemplary, leading him to two victories in 99 GP races. His passion was also his destiny. And: Siffert was the idol of an entire generation in the 60s and 70s.
This article contains the following chapters
- Race of Champions
- A career as a dishwasher
- The dry spell
- Only one Le Mans victory missing
- The finest hour at Brands Hatch
- Racing was his everything
- Fourth place in the drivers' championship
- 50,000 friends at his farewell
Estimated reading time: 5min
Preview (beginning of the article)
Jo Siffert would have turned 75 exactly today - had he survived the accident at Brands Hatch on October 24, 1971 . The man from Fribourg was one of the most popular sportsmen in Switzerland at the time. There was something incomparable about his rise from a coachbuilder to a top-class driver , and his modesty and iron will, which led him to two victories in 99 GP races, were exemplary. His passion was also his destiny. And: Siffert was the idol of an entire generation in the 60s and 70s. Siffert's last race, which was not part of the World Championship and was held in honor of Jackie Stewart as a "season finale", went like so many others in Siffert's career: he was unable to take advantage of his front row starting position at the start and dropped back to 10th place. From there, as so often, he started a race to catch up. After 14 laps, he was already back in fourth place.
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