Wilfried Edgar Barth (26 January 1917 in Herold – 20 May 1965 in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

) was a German (

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

until 1957, then

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

)

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

driver.

Racing career

Barth was born in Herold. He began his career as a

DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...

motorcycle racer and later switched to BMW sportscars. The East German factory of BMW would become the

Eisenacher Motorenwerk Eisenacher Motorenwerk (EMW) was an East German manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles based in Eisenach. EMW also entered Formula One as a constructor in 1953, but participated in only one race, the 1953 German Grand Prix. The car retired ...

(EMW) after the war. He drove the factory team car in the East German Formula 2 Championship, which he won in both 1952 and 1953. He was allowed to participate in three events in the West in 1953, including his first appearance in the Formula One World Championship. He finished fifth in the non-championship

Eifelrennen The Eifelrennen was an annual motor race, organised by ADAC Automobile Club from 1922 to 2003, held in Germany's Eifel mountain region even before the Nürburgring was built there. History Starting from 1922, the first races were held on a 33 ...

, but retired from the

Avusrennen The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

and the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...

. In 1957, he emigrated to the West and drove sporadically for the works Porsche team in Formula One until 1961. He drove in the F2 sections at his home race in 1956 and 1957, finishing outside the points both times. He drove a Formula 1 car in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix, finishing seventh. He was entered into his home race in 1961 but was later withdrawn and was entered as a substitute at Monza that year. His final F1 appearance came at the 1964 German Grand Prix driving a Cooper-Climax for Rob Walker Racing, failing to make the flag. Barth participated in the 500 kilometers of the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, in 1960 in a

BMW 700 The BMW 700 is a small rear-engined car which was produced by BMW in various models from August 1959 to November 1965. It was the first BMW automobile with a monocoque structure. The 700 was a sales success at a time when BMW was close to finan ...

, finishing fifth. Barth won the 1959, 1963 and 1964 European Mountain Championships ( Hillclimb) for Porsche and also the 1959

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

. Apart from

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

races with

Porsche 718 The Porsche 718 is a series of one- or two-seat sports-racing cars built by Porsche from 1957 to 1962. An open-wheel single-seat model was developed for Formula racing. Details The 718 was a development of the successful Porsche 550A with impr ...

, he also took part in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

on numerous occasions. He began to suffer from cancer at the end of 1964, and succumbed to the disease in May 1965. His son

Jürgen Barth Jürgen Barth (born 10 December 1947 in Thum, Saxony) is a German former racecar driver. He is the son of Formula One driver and sports car racer Edgar Barth. Barth started out as an engineer but became one of the most successful drivers in ...

became an engineer at Porsche and also went into motorsport, winning the

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

in 1977.

Career results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

External links

1917 births 1965 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers German Formula One drivers EMW Formula One drivers Porsche Formula One drivers Rob Walker Racing Team Formula One drivers German racing drivers People from Thum Racing drivers from Saxony German motorcycle racers World Sportscar Championship drivers East German Formula One drivers {{Germany-autoracing-bio-stub 12 Hours of Reims drivers