Vern Schuppan

Schuppan was disqualified in both Sweden and the Netherlands; in Sweden because he started illegally from 26th place on the grid and in the Netherlands for receiving a tyre change outside of the pits.

Schuppan failed to qualify in France or Britain.

He retired in Germany on lap four because of gearbox problems.

Vernon John Schuppan (born 19 March 1943) is a retired Australian motor racing driver.

Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.

He also won the 1971 British Formula Atlantic Championship and the Singapore Grand Prix in 1973.

As BRM's test driver he qualified for the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix at Nivelles-Baulers, but he did not start the race because teammate Helmut Marko commandeered his car, though he did compete in some non-championship races with BRM.

He was second in 1972 and also second in the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1972.

He raced Formula 5000 in Europe between 1974 and 1975 and in North America 1974-1976 with some success.

He had a number of other podium finishes in the World Sports Car Championship, including second in the 1973 and 1982 Spa 1000 km, third in the 1983 and 1984 Fuji 1000 km and third in the 1985 Selangor 800 km race.

In 1974 Schuppan went to Team Ensign, débuting again in the Belgian Grand Prix where he finished in 15th position.

In Monaco he retired on lap four because of an accident.

He won the 1974 and 1976 Macau Grand Prix races, dominating the 1974 race, winning by four laps.

In 1975 he raced in one race in Sweden for Embassy Racing With Graham Hill team, retiring from the race with transmission problems.

He also finished third in 1975 with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in a Mirage GR8-Ford Cosworth DFV.

These were 1976 (where he won the Rookie of the Year award), 1979 and 1981, with a best result of third in 1981 driving a McLaren-Ford.

In all, he started 32 CART and USAC Championship races.

In 1977 Schuppan raced for Surtees, finishing 12th in Britain and a career best seventh in Germany.

Schuppan also finished second at Le Mans in 1977 driving a Mirage GR8-Renault turbo with French F1 driver Jean-Pierre Jarier, and second in 1982 in a Rothmans Porsche 956 with Jochen Mass.

Although he considers himself to be a single-seater driver, Schuppan's biggest career victory was with the factory-backed Rothmans Porsche team when he partnered Americans Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert to win the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the Porsche 956.

Schuppan has had a very successful sports car career, winning the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche's official factory team with Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood in a Rothmans Porsche 956 (#3).

Holbert drove the final lap of the race with an overheating (and steaming) engine caused by an airflow blockage to the radiator that cooled the heads, it seized as he crossed the finish line.

The second placed car, the #1 Rothmans Porsche of defending winners Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell (driving) was only 17 seconds behind their teammates at the end of 24 hours of racing.

By winning Le Mans in 1983, Schuppan became only the second Australian to win the French classic, following in the footsteps of 1928 winner Bernard Rubin.

Although Rubin was born in Australia, Schuppan is often mistaken for being the first Aussie winner.

After winning at Le Mans, Schuppan went on to win the 1983 Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship.

In 1984 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to the sport of motor racing".

After a successful karting career in which he won numerous Australian state and national titles, Schuppan made the decision to pursue a career in motor racing.

He and his wife Jennifer ventured to Great Britain (with a self-imposed 2-year limit of making it big) to allow him to participate in the British Formula Atlantic Championship, which he won, leading to a test with BRM.

He finished sixth at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans driving with Jarier and fellow Australian, World Champion Alan Jones making his Le Mans début (and indeed his only start), in a Kremer Racing Porsche 956B after the factory backed Rothmans team boycotted the event over the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's new fuel restriction rules.

Initially Porsche were not going to release their drivers for the race, but finally relented less than two weeks before the race and Manfred and Erwin Kremer were more than happy for the defending race winner to join them.

Schuppan and Jones fought for the lead in the first few hours of the race with the Lancia LC2 of Bob Wollek and Alessandro Nannini, until the nose of the 956 was damaged by a spinning Roger Dorchy at Mulsanne Corner, losing the team a few laps in repairs.

The Kenwood sponsored 956 fought back to be again fighting for the lead, and near the end of the race Jarier was 2 laps down but catching the leading Joest Racing Porsche driven by Klaus Ludwig and Henri Pescarolo (the eventual winners) by over 10 seconds per lap.

He then pitted for Schuppan to run the car to the flag.

Schuppan got in only one and a half laps before the car broke a conrod with just 90 minutes left to run.

As Automobile Club de l'Ouest rules state that for a car to be classified as a finisher it must finish the last lap within a certain time, Schuppan fired up the Porsche and headed out for one last lap and a 6th-place finish.

Schuppan also placed third in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1984, 1985 and 1986.

Schuppan competed in three Indianapolis 500 races.

He finished 16th in Austria, but failed to qualify for his final Formula One race in the Netherlands.

Schuppan would later describe Surtees team boss, World Champion John Surtees, as an autocratic owner who "always knew best and wouldn't listen to his drivers" and believes his time with the team was hampered by not being given equal equipment to his teammate Vittorio Brambilla.