Jochen Rindt - Looking back after 50 years
09/05/2020
Today is September 5, 2020, a historic day, because exactly 50 years ago, the German-Austrian Jochen Rindt had a fatal accident in a Lotus 72 during the final training session for the Italian GP in Monza. After the tragic death of his parents, Germany lost Jochen Rindt to Austria, who grew up as an orphan with his grandparents in Graz and from then on was considered a genuine Austrian with a German passport.
He was a completely different type to his racing driver colleagues, above all Jack Brabham, who looked like an accountant, or the fearless Jacky Ickx, who cared little for safety. Rindt looked like a pop star, drove beyond the realms of possibility and still made a strong case for safety in racing.
A broken brake shaft on the Lotus stole his life. When braking for the Parabolica corner, the car turned left and crashed into the guard rails. Fearing that he would not be able to escape from the car in time in the event of a fire, Rindt drove without both thigh straps, causing him to dive under the straps on impact and later stretch his legs out of the wreckage.
In 1970, Jochen had a substantial points cushion after five consecutive victories and could no longer be caught by Ickx. The German-Austrian became world champion posthumously after all. Count Berghe von Trips died just 50 meters away nine years earlier, also on his way to the world title.
Rindt's beautiful Finnish widow Nina accepted the World Championship trophy on her husband's behalf in December and continued to be involved in the "Jochen Rindt Show", one of the first racing car exhibitions in the German-speaking world at the time, for many years.
