Peter Sauber: History of racing success
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It was more chance than an overriding passion for motor
racing which culminated in Peter Sauber entering his own
team in the Formula One World Championship.

The first step on this road to the very top level of
motorsport took place in 1967. Zurich-born Sauber made the
acquaintance of Swiss racing driver, Arthur Blank, buying a
Volkswagen Beetle from him and racing it in club-level
events. He went to work for the successful Hegglin tuning
company the following year, and soon came to realise that
it was not the driving, but the technology of racing cars
which fascinated him.

The trained electrician had thus discovered in himself what
would turn out to be an enduring love for things technical.
With his interest fired, Sauber was soon designing an
outrageous Beetle-based racing buggy which fellow
competitors fondly came to refer to as the "Cheese
Sandwich". Ignoring the good-natured jibes, Sauber
eventually had the last laugh by winning the 1969 Formula
Racing Car Club Championship in his self-built machine.

The following year, Sauber became self-employed and
designed his own sports car in the cellar of the parental
home. Based on the suspension, engine and transmission of
an old Brabham, Sauber named his creation the C1, after his
wife Christlane. He immediately won the Swiss Championship
with it.

There followed the C2, C3, C4 and C5 designs, the latter
providing Sauber with his breakthrough into international
racing. In 1976, Herbie Muller took the neat little sports
car to a win in the still-important Interseries.

During 1979 and 1980, Sauber turned his talents to building
a pair of BMW M1 Group 5 cars, Hans Stuck and Nelson Piquet
using one of these potent machines to take victory in the
Nurburgring 1000 Kilometers race.

In 1982, Sauber's motorsport career took a great step
forward when he was retained to design a new sports car to
comply with the latest Group C regulations. The result was
the dramatic-looking, Ford-powered Sauber C6. During this
time, Peter Sauber also had his first encounters with
Mercedes engineers, including Leo Ress, who would later
come to play a key role in his company.

In retrospect, though, it was 1984 which turned out to be
the most decisive year in Sauber's career. When he
abandoned the BMW engine of his C7 design in favour of a
twin turbocharged Metcedes V8 engine for the new C8, it
signalled the start of a highly successful partnership with
the Stuttgart-based manufacturer which would culminate in
back-to-back World Sportscar Championship titles in 1989
and 1990, as well as consecutive wins in the gruelling Le
Mans 24-hour race.

By 1991, the World Sportscar Championship was in decline
and Peter Sauber was eyeing other challenges. As a
footnote, it is interesting to realise that in 1990 and
1991, Sauber's "Junior Team" drivers were none other than
Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald
Frentzen, all of whom used theix sportscar racing
experience as a springboard to jump into Formula One.

The next step for Sauber was clear enough: it had to be
Formula One. When the board of Mercedes-Benz AG announced
in November 1991 that it would not participate in Formula
One, Peter Sauber was at ftrst reluctant to take the step
off the high-diving board into Grand Prix racing.

"In December, it was clear to me that without a strong
partner we would not eneter Formula One," he recalls. "It
was only after long discussions and careful consideration
that I eventually decided to go ahead. I wanted to keep the
team together and make use of the knowhow gained with
Mercedes in sportscar racing to realise the project."

On February 4, 1992, Peter Sauber officially announced his
team's entry into Grand Prix racing. The year was entirely
devoted to the task of developing Sauber's first Formula
One car, the C12, which would make its debut in 1993.

Continuing with Sauber's policy of entrusting young drivers
with important responsibilities, the team chose Austrian,
Karl Wendlinger, and Finn, JJ Lehto, to debut its new car.
On March 14, 1993, Sauber participated in its first Grand
Prix, Lehto adding to the team's joy on the day by
finishing fifth and scoring two World Championship points.
Team Sauber eventually finished a very creditable seventh
in the final Constructors' World Championship standings.

In 1994, Heinz-Harald Frentzen replaced Lehto at Sauber.
The year was marked by important successes, but also by the
setback of Karl Wendlinger's accident in Monaco from which,
happily, the young Austrian has now fully recovered.
Frentzen then confumed that Sauber was back on course by
qualifying his car on the second row of the grid in two of
the last three Formula One races of 1994. He finished sixth
in the final round, in Adelaide, giving his team a total of
12 points and eighth position in the Championship standings
after what had been a difficult year.

This season sees the opening of a new chapter in Sauber's
racing history as the team joins forces with Ford. The
motor manufacturing giant has chosen the promising young
team as its official "factory" entry in the 1995 Formula
One World Championship. As such, it will have sole use of
the latest version of Ford's Zetec-R VS, the engine which
powered Michael Schumacher to the 1994 Formula One Drivers'
World Championship.

"No one on the Formula One scene in 1994 can have failed to
be impressed by the performance of Ford's Zetec-R engine,"
says Peter Sauber. "Quite simply, it proved itself to be
the best engine. I'm overjoyed at the prospect of my team
having the exclusive use of the engine this year.
I honestly believe that the Sauber-Fords will be able to
fight for top places in 1995."


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Source: PP Sauber AG
Scan & ocr by Tero Virta
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