Volker Weidler

For a long time, this native of Heidelberg was considered one of the great hopes in German motorsport. His beginnings can be traced back to Formula Ford in 1982. He made headlines four years later when he won his first two DTM races ever, the race at the AVUS and the following one at the Nürburgring, in a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 racing touring car driven by Helmut Marko's team, and after three more second places he only just missed out on the championship title.

Weidler marched ahead at breakneck speed, completing stints in the Group C Porsche during his only DTM season, as he had done in 1985, and continued to focus on the World Sports Car Championship until the end of 1988. In 1989, he started in the same category as a works driver for Mazda, in 1990 again primarily in Porsche 962.

In 1989, Weidler tried out for the German Rial team in Formula 1 alongside Christian Danner, but always failed to clear the qualification hurdle. He achieved the most spectacular success of his career in 1991 when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with the Briton Johnny Herbert and the Belgian Bertrand Gachot in the Wankel-Mazda 787 B. The following year, he continued to race for Mazda and Nissan in Group C and was leading the standings in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship when he had to end his career abruptly due to an ear ailment.