Austrian racing driver and journalist (1948?1982)
Harald Ertl
(31 August 1948 ? 7 April 1982) was an
Austrian
racing driver and
motorsport
journalist
. He was born in
Zell am See
and attended the same school as Grand Prix drivers
Jochen Rindt
,
Helmut Marko
and
Niki Lauda
.
Ertl sported an 'Imperial'-style moustache and full beard. He worked his way through the German
Formula Vee
and Super Vee, and then on to
Formula Three
, before a successful switch to Touring Cars. During this period, he gained sufficient sponsorship to enter
Formula One
, where he drove with various outfits between 1975 and 1980. Ertl was one of the four drivers who helped to get
Niki Lauda
out of his burning Ferrari in the
1976 German Grand Prix
.
[1]
[2]
Ertl was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1982, when the small plane he was travelling in suffered from engine failure.
Early racing career
[
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]
In 1969, he bought a Formula V car (Austro Vau), won six races, but also rolled it at the
Nurburgring
. He was second in the European Cup with a
Kaimann
chassis in 1970, and started also in a round of the
Championnat de France
with a
March-Ford
703, at
Aeroport Dijon-Longvic
circuit. He continued with
F3
the following season, undertaking a selection of races in England, best result being ninth at
Brands Hatch
.
[3]
[4]
In 1971, he also moved to the
European Touring Car Championship
, driving an
Alfa Romeo
, gaining a third place at
Monza
in the Monza 4 hours. For 1972, he switched to the
BMW-Alpina
team in the
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft
. The best result of the season, with a fourth place in the first race, Internationale ADAC-Eifelrennen, held on the
Nurburgring Nordschleife
.
[5]
[6]
1973 saw Ertl continue to mix Formula Three and Touring Cars, with little success, until the September, when at the side of
Derek Bell
, they would win the
RAC Tourist Trophy
, with both drivers each winning their respective heat, to take an aggregate victory.
[7]
[8]
For 1974, his main target was the
Deutsche Formel 3 Polifac Trophy
. Once again, his best result came at the Nurburgring, where finished fourth. Meanwhile, he also raced in the Formal Super Vee Gold Pokal, taking 19th in the final standings. During this season, Ertl made his
F2
debut, racing at both the
European Championship for F2 Drivers
events at
Hockenheim
.
[9]
[10]
In 1975 Ertl signed for
Fred Opert Racing
to continue racing in F2. By the third race for the team he was on the podium. A third place in the Internationales ADAC-Eifelrennen, held on the Nurburgring Nordschleife enabled him gather enough money together, including sponsorship from
Warsteiner
to start racing in F1.
[8]
[11]
F1 career
[
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]
In 1975, sponsorship obtained from
Warsteiner
had allowed him to drive a
Hesketh 308
in Formula One, prepared by
Hesketh Racing
in Warsteiner's golden livery. In his debut at the
German Grand Prix
, he finished 8th. He went on to retire in his home GP, then finished ninth at Monza.
[12]
Encouraged by these results, a full season with Hesketh was planned for 1976. In the
South African Grand Prix
he qualified in the last row and finished 15th. The next races saw him either not qualify at all, or at the back of the grid, with early retirements due to mechanical failures. Despite not being satisfied with the value the team gave him for the money, he almost scored a point when coming in seventh at the
1976 British Grand Prix
, albeit three laps down.
[13]
Two weeks later at the
1976 German Grand Prix
, Ertl was one of the four drivers who helped pull
Niki Lauda
from his burning
Ferrari
after Lauda's infamous crash during the second lap of the race. The rest of the season saw two more eighth places finishes as highlights, at home and at the wet
Japanese Grand Prix
.
[13]
Ertl continued with Hesketh for a third season, taking in some European races, finishing 9th at the
1977 Belgian Grand Prix
. He left Hesketh after the
1977 French Grand Prix
where he again failed to qualify for the race.
For a few races in 1978, Ertl entered with
Ensign
, but things were even worse there, with the cars failing to finish or even worst, when he did not survive prequalifying at Monza. At the same event, he got another chance with the spare car of German-language
ATS
team, as regular driver
Jochen Mass
injured himself in the pre-Monza test a few days prior. He still failed to make the cut.
[8]
Two years later, Ertl tried once again with ATS in the
1980 German Grand Prix
with the same result. The last Formula One Grand Prix he took part in was the
1978 Austrian Grand Prix
, in his home country.
While not racing F1, Ertl was still racing in F2 albeit with very little success. In these three seasons, he finished just once in the top six.
DRM years
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Away from single-seaters, Ertl returned to Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) in 1977, now that the series had switched to
Group 5
.
[14]
Based on experience with their BMW,
Schnitzer Motorsport
developed a
Toyota Celica LB Turbo
for Ertl in 1977. Schnitzer switched back to BMW for the 1978 season, retaining the services for Ertl. This move made him one of the main contenders for the title. With the
Kremer Racing
Porsche of
Bob Wollek
being bit off the pace, while the Ford entrant,
Zakspeed
’s
Escort
being outdated, and their
Ford Capri Turbo
was unreliable. Ertl would win five of the 11 races during the season, with a second place at the season finale, a Super Sprint event at the
Nurburgring
, he would win the championship.
[15]
Despite taking the title with Schnitzer, Ertl switched to Zakspeed for the next two seasons. 1979 started off promising with a win in the opening round at
Zolder
, then followed it up with a third in Hockenheim in the next race. Although he would win once more at Mainz-Finthen, the season turned miserable with six non-finishes or non-starts out of 11 races, in Zakspeed’s Ford Capri Turbo. Meanwhile, Zakspeed also developed a mid-engined
Lotus Europa
for the
1000km Nurburgring
. That also did not finish the race. The following season was like the previous one, when Ertl continued to be unlucky: 8 poles, 4 wins and 6 retirements.
[16]
[17]
[18]
Death
[
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Ertl did not race internationally at all in 1981, but planned a return for the 1982
Renault 5 Turbo
Cup. However before these plans came through, he was killed in an aircraft accident at the age of 33. He was travelling in a
Beechcraft Bonanza
flown by his brother-in-law Jorg Becker-Hohensee from Mannheim to their holiday home in
Sylt
in Northern Germany for an Easter vacation. Less than a quarter of the way through the intended flight distance engine failure caused the plane to crash at Hohenahr near
Giessen
. Ertl's wife Vera and son Sebastian were injured but Becker-Hohensee, Ertl and his niece were killed.
Racing record
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Career highlights
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]
Complete Formula One World Championship results
[
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]
(
key
)
- * Ertl had failed to pre-qualify for this race in his Ensign, then took part in qualifying sessions in the ATS, and again failed to qualify.
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
[
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]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete British Saloon Car Championship results
[
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]
(
key
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
External links
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]
References
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]