Congratulations dear Jochen Mass
09/30/2016
Jochen Mass, the trained sailor, was born on September 30, 1946 in Dorfen and celebrates his 70th birthday today.
Jochen was regarded as the great German motorsport hope after Graf Berghe von Trips and before Stefan Bellof and Michael Schumacher. After Trips' fatal accident in Monza in 1961, the Germans had to wait a full nine years until the trio, Stommelen, Mass and Stuck, conquered Formula 1. Jochen was the most successful in the end and the most promising of the trio right from the start.
After his Formula 2 European Championship runner-up title in a Surtees TS15 behind Jean Pierre Jarier, he made his debut in the premier class at Silverstone in 1973, naturally also in a Surtees. Unfortunately, the British driver's cars were not beyond reproach and his successes were limited, but at least he was able to convince McLaren of his talent.
Alongside Emerson Fittipaldi, he started the 1975 Formula 1 season as number two. He drove in the red and white cars for a whole three years, finishing on the podium eight times and scoring 64 world championship points. In 1976, he accompanied the then new No. 1 in the team, James Hunt, to the world championship title. It was the year in which Niki Lauda had his fire accident at the Nürburgring and Hunt won the title in the rain race at Fuji. Without Lauda's accident, Mass would probably have clinched his second GP victory in the green hell, as he was the only one to start the race on slicks in damp and wet conditions. On the rapidly drying track, he soon took the lead and was able to extend it thanks to his rivals' pit stops. But then, unfortunately, the race had to be stopped after Lauda's fire accident. After the restart, Mass was no longer able to defend his leading position and was waved off in third place.
He also took his only GP victory in a race that was overshadowed by a serious accident. The Spanish GP in 1975 was boycotted by the drivers, i.e. driven slowly, due to incorrectly installed crash barriers. However, the two Ferraris of Lauda and Regazzoni crashed into each other at the start and the race was on until Rolf Stommelen's rear wing broke at the fastest point on the track and he flew over the guard rails into the spectators. Five of the spectators were killed and the race was stopped immediately after 29 of 75 laps with Mass leading at the time.
After McLaren, Jochen drove for ATS, Arrows and finally March. He was able to scrape together a total of 7 championship points with the Arrows. After a long accident-free period, the number of accidents suddenly increased alarmingly:
In 1978, in a test accident at Silverstone after breaking the suspension with the ATS, he not only broke his legs but also sustained a lung injury. In 1980, he crushed his spine after a rollover in the Zeltweg cornfield and in 1982, he flew over Mauro Baldi's Arrows, the crash barriers and the safety fence into the spectator area with the March. As if by a miracle, Mass emerged from the total loss with minor burns and severe bruising. Twelve spectators were slightly injured by flying parts.
A story in passing: My colleague Ferdi Kräling was standing at this point in the Signe corner at the end of the long Mistral straight and was right on top of the accident with his camera, but unfortunately the film calmly rewound after a shutter release during Mass's rollover. He still recounts today what he could still see in the viewfinder.
After F1, Mass switched to sports cars and won nine endurance classics for Porsche with the 956 and 962 models.
From 1988 he drove a Sauber-Mercedes and in 1989 (after finishing 2nd in 1982 in a Porsche 956) he won the 24-hour classic at Le Mans with Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens on the track he hated the most.
Eberhard Reuß from SWR produced a sensational documentary about the life and career of Jochen Mass in Nice, Goodwood, Hockenheim and at the Nürburgring. The film, which is well worth seeing, tells the story of a time when racing drivers were still real knights and technology was anything but perfect. The film, which was broadcast on September 25, can be viewed at any time in the ARD or SWR media library.
Today, Jochen can be seen at almost all major historic events as an ambassador for Porsche or Mercedes Benz, sometimes in the W125 at the Grossglockner or in the 935 together with Brian Johnson (AC/DC) at Le Mans.
Dear Jochen, we have already spent many wonderful hours together and always laughed a lot. The whole "zwischengas team" and I wish you all the best for your birthday and continued good health, so that you can continue to drive the Mercedes star into my camera lens in the future.
