Karl Foitek, a real racer (obituary)
01/08/2019
So it does exist, this strange intuition. On January 2, 2019, I was on my way to Schladming for the 23rd Planai Classic. On the mirror-smooth highway shortly after Munich, I noticed that Karl Foitek hadn't called me on time every year with his New Year's wishes.
I wanted to call him, but the ringtone went unanswered. I drove on without any bad thoughts. A day later, I received an email from Frank, his son, with the sad news that his father had passed away forever on January 1. I was overcome with deep sadness and many fond memories were awakened. Yes, Karl was a real racer, but always with his heart in the right place.
It was December 1, 1951, when the young Karl, just 20 years old and having completed his apprenticeship as a mechanic, traveled from Oberndorf an der Melk to Switzerland. Music as practiced by his father was not his thing. His instruments needed pistons and cylinders, and preferably twelve of them. He was therefore in good hands at Emil Frey's Jaguar dealership in Zurich, despite earning just CHF 2.70 an hour.
In 1953, he prepared Kurt Klaus' Jaguar XK120 for the frame race at the old Bremgartenring. Because the car had too long a gear ratio, Foitek had to return to Zurich during the night to fit a shorter rear axle. When he returned, Klaus asked him to drive a few test laps himself before the official practice session. "I was immediately faster than Klaus, who then finished second in the race. From those laps, I knew that I wanted to race too."
He then left Emil Frey AG in 1957, raced Alfa Romeo and Lotus cars and used this experience to build up his own customer base. Foitek opened his first own business on Brauerstrasse in Zurich and took over the representation of Jaguars and the sale of Alfa Romeos. His customer base continued to grow. He himself became a four-time Swiss champion. Soon Ferrari also came on board and a large Foitek Ferrari dealership was established in Urdorf, which was later expanded to include the Maserati brand.
I knew that he was not only really fast, but also a very good businessman. In my mind, however, he was above all a friend who also appreciated my work and always made this known wherever he went.
All the wonderful memories remain, for example when he entered Formula 1 with his son Gregor, then formed his own team with Peter Monteverdi and, above all, how he always liked to talk about old times.
On the 27-hour drive home from Schladming through snow and traffic, I remembered how he once had to drive back to Switzerland from Austria in the depths of winter in his Alfa Giulietta without a side window ...
But surely the craziest memory is the story with the Maserati MC12. We were in the Ländle on the old Bödele mountain racetrack, where we photographed the car in all situations. Then we drove to the "McDrive" and laughed heartily at the waitress, who didn't know what was happening to her. Then I fulfilled his wish to take a picture of the speedometer needle at over 300 km/h. We had to drive back and forth on the highway between Lindau and Memmingen three times until everything was right.
Born in Austria, he spent around 40 years of his life as a Swiss national and leaves behind five children: Carmen, Markus, Gregor, Reto and Frank.
We send our sincere condolences to the Foitek family.
