Volker Hermann Weidler (born 18 March 1962) is a retired racing driver from

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 ...

, best known for winning 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 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 ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Career

Formula racing

In 1985, he became German Formula Three champion. In the

1989 Formula One season The 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 43rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It began on 26 March and ended on 5 November. Alain Prost won his third Drivers' Championship, and McLaren won the Constructors' Championship ...

, Weidler entered 10

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, ...

Grands Prix, racing for the Rial team, but failed to qualify the uncompetitive car on every occasion. After Formula One, he moved to Japan and raced in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and the

All Japan Sports Prototype Championship The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japan Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier y ...

. He often fought over the title with

Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Motorsport career Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan facto ...

Ross Cheever Ross Cheever (born April 12, 1964 in Rome, Italy) is an American race car driver and is the younger brother of former Formula One driver and Indianapolis 500 champion Eddie Cheever. Born in Rome, Ross never completed a full season in elite level mo ...

and others in the Japanese Formula 3000, and became popular in Japan.

GT / Sportscars

In 1991, Weidler teamed with

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

and Bertrand Gachot to win Le Mans behind the wheel of the

Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...

-powered

Mazda 787B The Mazda 787 and its derivative 787B are Group C sports prototype racing cars that were developed by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda for use in the World Sportscar Championship, All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, and the 24 Hours of ...

, marking also the first win of the legendary French race by both a Japanese manufacturer and engine supplier. This

-powered car was noted for being very loud. Possibly related to the hours spent in the noisy Mazda, Weidler began to suffer from an ear problem ( sensorineural hearing loss) which eventually forced him to retire prematurely from the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship during the

1992 season Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

though Weidler was leading the championship at that time. When Weidler left the Japanese team, Nova Engineering, he recommended

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. ...

as his successor.

Post-racing career

Weidler now works as a managing director for Weidler, a building cleaning company owned by his family, based in Weinheim.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results

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

Complete Formula One results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

References

;Footnotes ;Sources
Profile at F1 RejectsDriver Database Profile
1962 births Living people German racing drivers German Formula One drivers Rial Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Sportspeople from Heidelberg Racing drivers from Baden-Württemberg World Sportscar Championship drivers {{Germany-autoracing-bio-stub Oreca drivers RSM Marko drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers Team Joest drivers