Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951 in

Arisdorf Arisdorf is a municipality in the district of Liestal in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Arisdorf is first mentioned in 1154 as ''Arnolstorf''. Geography Arisdorf has an area, , of . Of this area, or 56.3% is used for agr ...

) is a former racing driver from Switzerland currently working as TV commentator and racing school instructor. He participated in 88

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, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 9 September 1979. He scored a total of 17 championship points.

Racing career

Surer started his career in karting in 1972. Due to the racing ban established in Switzerland after the

1955 Le Mans disaster The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...

, he moved to

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 ...

in 1974, where he finished second in the local Formula Vee Championship. In 1976, he switched to European Formula 3, where he was noticed by Jochen Neerpasch, who hired him as a member of the BMW Junior Team alongside

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 ...

and Manfred Winkelhock. In 1978, he finished second in the Formula 2 Championship, eventually winning the series the following year in a works March-BMW. Surer's debut in Formula 1 took place at the end of 1979 and was somewhat troubled. He broke his legs in qualifying 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, R ...

in an ATS at Kyalami in 1980 and again racing there in 1981 for

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. He recovered to give Ensign their best result with a 4th-place finish at the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix, also setting the fastest lap of the race. He later drove for Theodore before establishing himself at Arrows for a couple of seasons, until BMW's support earned him a seat at Brabham for 1985. Surer returned to Arrows in 1986 but eventually retired from Formula One halfway through the season due to serious accident at the 1986 ADAC Hessen-Rallye in his

Ford RS200 The Ford RS200 is a mid-engined, four-wheel drive sports car that was produced by Ford Motorsport in Boreham, UK, from 1984 to 1986. The road-going RS200 was the basis for Ford's Group B rally car and was designed to comply with FIA homologati ...

severely injured him and killed his co-driver and friend

Michel Wyder Michel Wyder (1 March 1950 – 31 May 1986) was a Swiss rally co-driver, who served as the co-driver of ex-Formula One driver Marc Surer until his death at the 1986 ADAC Rallye Hessen. Death Wyder was killed at the 1986 ADAC Rallye Hessen after ...

. BMW retained him as a driver, coach and later director of motorsport activities. In 1994 and 1995, Surer, alongside

Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the you ...

and

Jo Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German motor racing driver. The younger brother of the late Manfred Winkelhock, Winkelhock was born in Waiblingen, near Stuttgart. The youngest brother, Thomas Winkelhock, and Manfred's son Markus ...

, won the German Super Touring Car Championship. In 1996, Surer began working as a television commentator at all Formula 1 events for

Sky Sport (Germany) Sky Sport is a group of sports satellite TV channels in the German language produced and broadcast by Sky Deutschland. History Digitales Sport Fernsehen (Digital Sport Television) Sky Sport can trace its roots back to the sports channels on the ...

(formerly known as ''DF1'' and ''Premiere'') next to the lead commentator

Jacques Schulz Jacques Arno Schulz (born 1 April 1967 in Heidelberg, West Germany) is a German sports commentator and journalist who commentated on Formula One in Germany between 1996 and 2012. Formula One In 1993, Schulz began his Formula One commentating car ...

. After Schulz's withdrawal prior to the 2013 season, he has remained commentator alongside Sascha Roos.

Formula One all-time ranking

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Surer was ranked the 17th best Formula One driver of all time.

Personal life

Surer has been married twice to former

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models, first to

Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...

Jolanda Egger Jolanda or Jolande is a feminine given name. It is a Dutch, Italian, and Swiss German cognate of Yolanda. Notable people with the name include: ;Jolanda Jolanda Adams, Actress *Jolanda Benvenuti, Italian film editor * Jolanda Čeplak (born 197 ...

, and then to Christina Surer between 1997 and 2000. On 3 December 2011 he married his longtime partner Silvia Renée Arias.http://marcsurer.com/news/2011/verheiratet.html

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Surer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Sources

Profile at www.grandprix.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surer, Marc 1951 births Living people Swiss racing drivers Swiss Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Ensign Formula One drivers ATS Wheels Formula One drivers Theodore Formula One drivers Arrows Formula One drivers Brabham Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Porsche Supercup drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Formula One journalists and reporters Sportspeople from Basel-Landschaft Swiss motorsport people Schnitzer Motorsport drivers