Herbert Müller Rebmann (11 May 1940 – 24 May 1981) was a racing driver from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He was born in Reinach and was nicknamed ''Stumpen-Herbie''. Among other successes, he won the

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 ...

twice, in 1966 and 1973, both with

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...

. Driving a

Ferrari 512 Ferrari 512 S is the designation for 25 sports cars built in 1969–70, with five-litre 12-cylinder ("512") engines, related to the Ferrari P sports prototypes. The V12-powered cars were entered in the 1970 International Championship for Makes ...

in an

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 ...

race at the

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

, he survived a fiery start collision that ended in the pit lane next to a fire engine. Müller got out of the car and ran towards a fire fighter who put out the flames on his overall. He died in the 1981

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&nb ...

in his

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 ...

Turbo, racing with his longtime friend Siegfried Brunn. Before the event, Müller stated that he would retire from motorsports after the end of the race. On lap 17 of the race, Müller crashed while attempting to avoid another driver who had spun in front of him at Kesselchen. He collided heavily with an earth bank and then hit a previously retired car driven by

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal (born January 10, 1953) is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 a ...

, causing a large explosion and fire. He was dead by the time he was removed from the burning car; he had not been wearing his safety belts at the time of the crash, and was killed in the initial impact. The race was stopped after 17 laps and was not completed.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Non-championship Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Web siteAnother web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Herbert Swiss racing drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Germany Can-Am entrants 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 1940 births 1981 deaths World Sportscar Championship drivers Swiss Formula One drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers