- Helmut Marko
Former F1 driver
Name = Helmut Marko
Caption = Marko in 1970
Nationality = flagicon|Austria Austrian
Years = F1|1971-F1|1972
Team(s) =BRM , non-worksMcLaren
Races = 10 (9 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 0
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race =1971 German Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race =1972 French Grand Prix Dr. Helmut Marko (born
April 27 ,1943 inGraz ) is a formerracing driver fromAustria .A friend of
Jochen Rindt , he entered racing, and eventually participated in 10Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on15 August 1971 . He scored no championship points.However, he had more success in
endurance racing , winning the1971 24 Hours of Le Mans , driving aMartini -Porsche 917 K withGijs van Lennep . During that year, they set a new overall distance record which is still unbeaten (5,335.313 km, at an average of 222.304 km/h)).Despite being concerned about the lack of safety at the
Targa Florio , he drove the fastest laps the mountains of Sicily in order to catch up several minutes, eventually losing by a mere seconds. On21 May 1972 , Helmut Marko set the all-time race lap record of the 720km event in an Alfa Romeo 33 at 33 min 41 sec, at an average of 128.253 km/h.A few weeks later on
2 July , during the1972 French Grand Prix , a stone thrown fromRonnie Peterson 's March, due to "cutting the corners" at theCharade Circuit which had no curbs at the time, hit Marko in the eye as his visor got pierced. The injury damaged his eye, leaving him partially blind, ending his racing career.Marko is also a
barrister , and opened two hotels nearGraz after his racing career ended. Later, he returned to motor sport to become a manager forGerhard Berger andKarl Wendlinger , before running his ownFormula 3 andFormula 3000 team,RSM Marko . After being in chargeRed Bull driver training programme (one of the participating drivers wasJuan Pablo Montoya ), since 2005 he has been involved with theFormula One Red Bull Racing Team.Complete Formula One World Championship results
()
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.