70 years Mario Illien
10/07/2019
No Swiss driver has won more races than Mario Illien from Graubünden. Whether in Formula 1, Indycar or NASCAR, whether turbo or naturally aspirated, whether with Mercedes, Chevrolet or Honda, he brought them all to victory.
Between 1987 and 1993, the Ilmor-Chevrolet won a total of 86 IndyCar races, the Indy 500 six times and secured five IndyCar titles for the man from Graubünden. However, Illien describes the 1994 Indy 500 victory with Al Unser Junior at the wheel of the Penske Mercedes, with the specially developed Mercedes MB 500I, a pushrod V8 turbo engine, as a particular highlight of his career. Mario even received the Louis Schwitzer Award in the USA for this ingenious performance.
From 1991, his engines also powered Formula 1. After March, Tyrrell, Sauber and Pacific, Mercedes joined Ilmor and Mika Häkkinen won the world championship twice in 1998 and 1999. In 2005, Illien sold his company with its then 504 employees to Mercedes-Benz.
His help to Japan quickly bore fruit this season, as Max Verstappen, powered by the Honda engine cursed by Alonso, has thanked the Swiss with two Grand Prix victories so far.
Born on August 2, 1949, Mario Illien completed an apprenticeship as a mechanical draughtsman at Emser Werke, now Ems-Chemie. In 1973, he began studying mechanical engineering at the engineering school in Biel, after which he was involved in the development of diesel engines for Mowag in Kreuzlingen.
Mario came into contact with motor racing at an early age. Even before his studies, he worked in Hans Funda's garage business in Geneva, where he developed a Formula 2 racing engine based on a Simca two-liter engine, as well as a motorcycle racing engine. In 1971/72, Illien worked for Swedish GP driver Joakim Bonnier, who unfortunately died in an accident at Le Mans in 1972.
The son of a gardener from the canton of Graubünden, he scraped together all his savings and founded a company based on the fifty-fifty principle together with his friend and colleague at Cosworth, Paul Morgan. By adding the first syllables of their surnames, the "Ilmor" brand was born.
Last Saturday evening - two months late due to the Beijing-Paris Rally - "Super Mario" celebrated his 70th birthday with his family and many friends and companions.
We congratulate him warmly and wish him continued success and all the best.
