Dieter Stappert (October 13, 1942 - October 17, 2008) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n journalist and team manager in motorsport.

Motosport career

Stappert was born in

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

, Austria. By 1977 he was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the Swiss magazine ''Powerslide'', now known as ''Motorsport Aktuell''. From 1977 to 1985 he worked at the BMW Motorsport and one of his first programme was the

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

BMW Junior Team which promoted

Eddie Cheever Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...

Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver. He participated in 56 Formula One Grands Prix (with 47 starts) between 1980 and 1985, driving for Arrows, ATS, Brabham and RAM Racing, with a best finish of fi ...

and

Marc Surer Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951 in Arisdorf) is a former racing driver from Switzerland currently working as TV commentator and racing school instructor. He participated in 88 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 9 Septembe ...

through the ranks. In 1980 Stappert took the role of Sporting Director and became responsible for BMW F1 programme, resulting in

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

winning the 1983 F1 World Championship with the BMW-powered Brabham. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

Stappert became the motorsport manager for HB tobacco brand, acting also as team manager of the 250cc world championship motorcycle racing team. He created a highly competitive team signing former Anton Mang's mechanic Franz-Josef "Sepp" Schlögl as technical director and starting a long-term relationship with

Honda Racing Corporation Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is a division of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. The company combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of racing machines. Its racing activities are an important ...

to receive factory-spec NSR250s. Over the years the HB team won many races with riders like

Reinhold Roth Reinhold Roth (4 March 1953 – 15 October 2021) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Germany. His most successful years were in 1987 when he won the French Grand Prix, and finished the season in second place behind Anton Mang, and in ...

, Helmut Bradl and

Ralf Waldmann Ralf Waldmann (14 July 1966 – 10 March 2018) was a German Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. __TOC__ Motorcycle racing career In 1996, Waldmann finished second to Max Biaggi in the 250cc world championship.runner-up {{Short pages monitor