Manfred Winkelhock

Who was Manfred Winkelhock?

Manfred Winkelhock was a German racing driver. Born in Waiblingen, he was the brother of Joachim Winkelhock and father of Markus Winkelhock, also both racing drivers.

Manfred Winkelhock flipped his F2 March at the very steep rise-and-fall Flugplatz corner on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in 1980. Winkelhock's first attempt at qualifying for a Formula One Grand Prix race was in Italy, when he stood in for the injured Jochen Mass at Arrows. He was able to land a drive with ATS in 1982. As BMW became the team's engine supplier in 1983, he qualified well on several occasions in 1983 and 1984, but the car was rarely reliable, so there were few results and a lot of accidents. At the same time he was a regular sports car and touring car driver, winning the 1000km Monza with Marc Surer in 1985.

He was killed in the summer when he crashed heavily at turn 2 at Mosport Park of Bowmanville near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during the Budweiser 1000 km World Endurance Championship event, driving a Porsche 962C for Kremer Racing with co-driver Marc Surer.

At the time of Winkelhock's death, he was a driver for the Skoal Bandit sponsored RAM Racing team in Formula One, though it had been a frustrating season with a best finish of 12th in the 1985 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. His death saw him replaced by Northern Irish driver Kenny Acheson, though lack of money saw the team fold before the end of the 1985 season.