24h Le Mans
It took only five years for Red Bull to reach the top of Formula 1. This rapid success, for the energy drink created by Dietrich Mateschitz, was also due to Helmut Marko, his motorsport advisor, and a former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The early driving efforts of Helmut Marko were not trivial: a wild night of racing on the roads around his home town of Graz in Austria. This group of young people from the best families of that region, emulating James Dean and Sal Mineo in "Rebel Without a Cause," included Jochen Rindt, who in 1965 gave Ferrari its last overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
After making his competitive debut in the more orthodox Formula Super Vee in 1968, Helmut Marko was enlisted by Porsche to race his first 24 hours in 1970 along with Rudi Lins in a 908/2, he finished third after a race run under an apocalyptic deluge of rain, which saw only seven cars take the chequered flag.
In 1971 he made both his Formula 1 debut, but more significantly, his win at Le Mans. Driving the 917K of Martini Racing, with Gijs van Lennep. The Austrian-Dutch driver team set a distance record (5335 km driven at 222 km/h average speed) that would only be beaten in 2010 by the Audi R15 TDI Bernhard-Dumas-Rockenfeller. After a final participation in the 24 hours in 1972 with Alfa Romeo accompanied by Vic Elford but failed to finish. Helmut Marko's career ended abruptly in Clermont-Ferrand, at the F1 Grand Prix of France. A stone thrown up by the Lotus of Emerson Fittipaldi pierced the visor of his helmet, and he lost sight in one eye.
After founding the Marko RSM team in Formula 3000, he made his return to F1 in coordinating the stable of young drivers set up by Red Bull, including Sebastian Vettel who on the 14th of November became the youngest World Champion in the history of the discipline. A second accolade for Helmut Marko, after thirty-nine years after winning the fastest 24 Hours of Le Mans in history.
Jean-Philippe Doret - Translated by Dave Davies
Photos: 24 HOURS OF LE MANS (France), 12 & 13 June 1971. Qualified fifth in the 917 at the wheel of this magnesium chassis, Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep took the lead at the 13th hour. In this photo, the car has not yet received the blue and red Martini Racing stickers it carried for the race.
