Willibert "Willi" Kauhsen (born 19 May 1939) is a German former racing driver and racing team owner from

Eschweiler Eschweiler (, Ripuarian: ) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch border, and about east of Aachen and west of Cologne. History * Celts (fi ...

in Aachen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Driving career

Willi Kauhsen was a freight forwarder who went into racing in the 1960s. He regularly participated in touring and sports car races in the period 1963-1974. He became a

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

winner driving an

Abarth Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and Car tuning, performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy, Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a ...

1000TC in 1967. He became a Porsche factory driver and won the 84-hour-long Marathon de la Route in 1968 on a 170 hp Porsche 911S shared with

Herbert Linge Herbert Linge (born 11 June 1928, in Weissach) is a German former racing and rally driver. As an employee of Porsche, he was involved in many events, and later also in motorsport safety. He took part in many 24 Hours of Le Mans races in the 1960 ...

and

Dieter Glemser Dieter Glemser (born 1938 in Stuttgart) is a former touring car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany. He started his career in the early 1960s in rallying with a Porsche 356 and In 1963 he won the Rally Poland with a Mercedes-Benz 220SE. Overv ...

. He also won Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours in the same year, with Erwin Kremer and

Helmut Kelleners Helmut Franz Kelleners (born 29 December 1939 in Moers) is a former race driver from Germany. He has won the Spa 24 Hours (1968 and 1970) and the 24 Hours Nürburgring (1972). From 1980 to 1981, Kelleners formed a successful partnership with Ital ...

. In the late 1960s, he was a regular in long distance races. Porsche917PinkPig

He drove a

Porsche 908 The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906- Porsche 910- Porsche 907 series of models designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand P ...

L with Rudi Lins for

Porsche System Engineering Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races. Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the ...

( Porsche factory team) in

1969 24 Hours of Le Mans This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and retired after 317 laps. In 1970, he drove a Porsche 917LH for

Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1958 as Martini Internat ...

with

Gérard Larrousse Gérard Gilles Marie Armand Larrousse (born 23 May 1940) is a former sports car racing, rallying and Formula One driver from France. His greatest success as a driver was winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973 and 1974, driving a Matra-Simca MS670. ...

at Le Mans, which finished second with 338 laps, 5 laps behind the winning 917KH of

Hans Herrmann Hans Herrmann (born 23 February 1928) is a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany. In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a ...

and

Richard Attwood Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood (born 4 April 1940, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Champions ...

. For

1971 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 39th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1971. It was the ninth round of the 1971 International Championship for Makes. This year would be the swansong of the mighty engines – the inc ...

, he co-drove the famous Porsche 917/20 "Pink Pig" with

Reinhold Joest Reinhold Joest (also spelt Reinhold Jöst; born 24 April 1937) is a former German race car driver and current team owner. During the last 25 years, Joest Racing has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans fifteen times. Driving career Joest's driving career ...

, but failed to finish. Kauhsen started his own team, Willi Kauhsen Racing Team, for the 1972 season to participate in

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...

and Can-Am as a driver. In 1971,

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

was popular in the Can-Am series driving a

Group 7 Group 7 may refer to: * G7, an international group of finance minister *Group 7 element, chemical element classification *Halogens (alternative name) *Group 7 Rugby League, rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia *Group 7 (racing) G ...

Porsche 917/10, and Porsche competition director Rico Steinemann decided to update this car into 1972 spec. for Willi Kauhsen to drive, which produced 1000 hp on the dyno, 900 hp in racing trim with twin turbo chargers. He won the

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

Interserie event in 1972, and finished second in

Zeltweg Zeltweg is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf. History Some farms were recorded at Zeltweg in the Duchy ...

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...

Keimola The Keimola Motor Stadium ( fi, Keimolan moottorirata, sv, Käinby Motorstadion) was a dedicated race track located in Vantaa, Finland. It was founded by Finnish racing driver Curt Lincoln after the closure of the Eläintarha track in 1963. Cons ...

and

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

in the series. This car's Can-Am debut was at the 8th round (of 9 total) at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho ...

in 1972, in which Kauhsen qualified 8th and did not finish for a turbocharger trouble. For the last round at

Riverside Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and Road racing, road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits ...

, Kauhsen qualified 9th and finished 8th. In 1973, he won the first two races in Interserie at the Nürburgring and in

, second place at Silverstone, 4th place at Norisring, 6th at Hockenheim, 4th at Misano and 4th at Hockenheim. For Can-Am, he qualified 5th and did not finish at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...

, which was the only appearance in 1973. For 1974, he won at Interserie Silverstone, entered

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

for 6th at Nürburgring, 2nd place as the driver at Kassel Calden, 4th place at Casale, 4th at Hockenheim, and did not appear in Can-Am.

Team ownership

Willi Kauhsen Racing Team gained fame in 1975 World Sportscar Championship season when it represented

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

to become the winner of

World Championship for Makes The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and Nor ...

contested by

Group 5 Sports Cars Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to ...

(2-seater racing prototypes) of under 3L displacement. Kauhsen made a deal for the team with

Autodelta Autodelta SpA was the name of Alfa Romeo's competition department. Established in 1961 as Auto-Delta, the company was started by Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola, former Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineers. The team was officially made a departm ...

, who competed the previous 1974 season with Alfa Romeo 33TT12 somewhat unsuccessfully against

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...

, to act as the on-track contingent for the Alfa Romeo racing division, starting with two Tipo 33TT12 for

Arturo Merzario Arturo Francesco "Art" Merzario (born 11 March 1943 in Civenna, Como) (erroneously registered as Arturio on his birth certificate) is a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 85 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the ...

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

and

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the 2 ...

/ Derek Bell for the second round at

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

on March 3. The #1 Merzario duo finished the 1000 km race in second place behind an

Alpine-Renault The Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS, commonly known as Alpine (), is a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars established in 1955. The Alpine car marque was created in 1954. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally ...

A441 Turbo of Jabouille/

Larrousse Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...

, and the #2 Pescarolo car finished in the 4th place behind a turbocharged 6 cylinder

/3 of Müller/ van Lennep. The team dominated the rest of the season as follows: 800 km

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, April 5 :Car #2 Merzario/ Laffite, 1st :Car #1 Pescarolo/Bell, 4th

1000 km Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Desp ...

, April 20 :Car #2 Merzario/Laffite, 1st :Car #1 Pescarolo/Bell, retired (classified 18th, oil pressure)

1000 km Spa The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races f ...

, May 4 :Car #2 Pescarolo/Bell, 1st :Car #1 Ickx/Merzario, 2nd 1000 km

Pergusa Pergusa is an Italian village of Sicily. It is a ''frazione'' of Enna, the administrative seat of the same-named province. Geography Pergusa lies in hills about 10 km south of Enna. Pergusa is reached by the '' Enna- Gela Road'', which all ...

(

Coppa Florio The Coppa Florio (or Florio Cup) was a motorsport race for automobiles first held in Italy in 1900. It was renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50,000 Lira prize money and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The cup was to be aw ...

), May 18 :Car #1 Merzario/

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

, 1st :Car #2 Bell/Pescarolo, 2nd

1000 km Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, June 1 :Car #1 Merzario/Laffite, 1st :Car #3 Mass/ Scheckter, 6th :Car #2 Pescarolo/Bell, retired (accident)

1000 km Zeltweg The 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (originally known as the 500 km Zeltweg) was an endurance sports car event held near Spielberg, Austria. Originally based at the Zeltweg Airfield, the race moved to the Österreichring and was lengthened to a ...

, June 29 :Car #2 Bell/Pescarolo, 1st :Car #1 Merzario/ Brambilla, 2nd

6 Hours of Watkins Glen The Six Hours of Watkins Glen (currently sponsored as the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the ...

, July 13 :Car #4 Pescarolo/Bell, 1st :Car #1 Merzario/

Andretti Andretti is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Mario Andretti (born 1940), Italian-born American father of the prominent Andretti racing family: ** Michael Andretti (born 1962), son of Mario *** Marco A ...

, 2nd The team did not participate in

1975 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 43rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1975. Colloquially called the “Le Mans Economy Run”,Spurring 2011, p.171Clausager 1982, p.167-9Clarke 1997, p.10: Motorsport July 1975 stringen ...

held on June 14–15, which did not count toward World Championship for Makes due to the conflict between

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

and ACO. Arturo Merzario, paired with

Nino Vaccarella Nino Vaccarella (4 March 1933 – 23 September 2021) was an Italian sports car racing and Formula One driver. His principal achievements include having won the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Targa Florio in 1965, 1971 and 1975, the latter y ...

, did win the 1975

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 ...

on July 20 driving an Alfa Romeo 33TT12, but the event no longer counted for the championship and the entry was made by Autodelta directly without involvement by the team. The Kauhsen team started in Formula Two in 1976, purchasing Renault cars, and raced with an assortment of drivers with limited success. Kauhsen then entered the

1979 Formula One season The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 ''World Championship of F1 Drivers''FIA Yearbook 1980, Grey Section, page 84 and the 1979 ''International Cup for F1 Constructors''FIA Yearb ...

, spending 1978 designing their own chassis with Cosworth engines. They participated in two World Championship Grands Prix with

Gianfranco Brancatelli Gianfranco Brancatelli (born 18 January 1950 in Turin, Piedmont) is a former racing driver from Italy. Career His racing career began in 1973, in the Formula Abarth series. In 1975, he advanced to Italian Formula 3 racing. Brancatelli entered 3 ...

, failing to qualify on both occasions, before the team was shut down.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kauhsen, Willi German racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers 1939 births Living people Formula One team owners People from Eschweiler Sportspeople from Cologne (region) Racing drivers from North Rhine-Westphalia Porsche Motorsports drivers