Willy Rampf (born 20 June 1953) is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant for
Williams Racing
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...
and was the former technical director of the
Sauber 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, ...
team.
Career
Rampf was born in
Maria Thalheim, studied Automotive Engineering at the
Munich University of Applied Sciences
The Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM) (german: Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften München) was founded in 1971 and is the largest university of applied sciences in Bavaria with about 17,800 students.
The Munich University of Appl ...
, and has worked as a development engineer for
BMW since 1979. From 1989 to 1993, Rampf worked for BMW in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, where he discovered
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, ...
.
The
Sauber team made its debut in Formula One at the
South African Grand Prix
The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...
in 1993. Rampf was invited to the race, and half a year later he signed a contract to become
race engineer for the Sauber team.
Rampf was the engineer of Sauber driver
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three.
...
for three years. In the 1997 season, he worked for drivers
Nicola Larini
Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...
,
Norberto Fontana
Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in four Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 June 1997 but scoring no championship points.
His opportunity to race came as a result of two separat ...
and
Gianni Morbidelli. At the end of the 1997 season, Rampf returned to BMW, where he would lead the motorcycle project for the
Dakar Rally. BMW motorcyclist
Richard Sainct
Richard Sainct (14 April 1970 – 29 September 2004) was a French rally raid motorcycle rider, best known for his three victories on Dakar Rally, The Paris-Dakar rally in 1999, 2000 and 2003.
Biography
His other notable achievements include winni ...
would win that race.
At the end of 1999, Rampf returned to Sauber, where he became technical director on 1 April 2000. He remained in that position when Sauber was taken over by BMW in 2005, and when the company withdrew its backing in 2009.
Rampf left his position at Sauber in April 2010, and was replaced by
James Key.
He joined
Volkswagen Motorsport as technical director in August 2011, overseeing the design of the
Polo R WRC.
References
Willy Rampf: the unknown technical director Joe Saward. ''grandprix.com'', 26 January 2002. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
''Formula1.com'' 20 February 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rampf, Willy
1953 births
Living people
BMW people
Formula One people
German automotive engineers
German motorsport people
People from Erding (district)
Engineers from Bavaria
Sauber Motorsport
Williams Grand Prix Engineering
Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria