Bob Wollek, 20 years old already

His friends liked to say about him that due to his character, he could not deny his Alsatian origins. A colorful character, Bob left his mark on everyone who had the chance to meet him, directly or indirectly.

He would have, more than many others, deserved to include his name in the list of 24 Hours of Le Mans, an event in which he took part 30 times between 1968 and 2000, for four 2nd places, two 3rd, not forgetting three class victories, in GT in 1977, in WSC in 1995 and in GT1 in 1996.

But winning in Sarthe requires bringing together a good number of ingredients, including the right car, the right team, the right teammates and a dose of luck allowing you to complete the double clock tour without major problems. Matra, Jaguar, Porsche, Toyota or Courage, he often had great hopes of victory... rarely faded through his fault.

Bob Wollek with Norbert Singer, historic Porsche engineer. © DPPI

But the career of “Brilliant Bob” is not limited to the Le Mans classic alone. And for good reason, the great friend of Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Louis Ricci is credited with a total of 76 career victories, 71 at the wheel of Porsche.

Among them, we count no less than four victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1983 on a Porsche 935, in 1985 and 1989 on a 962 and in 1991 on a 962C shared notably with Pesca and Hurley Haywood.

In 1985, Bob also won the 12 Hours of Sebring in a 962, alongside another great driver: AJ Foyt. But apart from his international successes, one of Bob's greatest achievements is perhaps to have given the Germans across the Rhine a hard time in the German Gr.5 championship, which seen wearing the crown three times.

University ski champion, Bob passed away on February 16, 2001. While he was going to the Sebring Raceway by bike, the Alsatian was hit by a camper van. Since then, Bob has never been forgotten…