Vern Schuppan

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Vern Schuppan (born March 19, 1943) was a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. He drove in many categories, but his greatest fame was as a sports car driver and was heavily associated with Porsche till the end of his career.

He won the 1974 and 1976 Macau Grand Prix races (a prestigious non-championship event) - in 1974 by a remarkable four laps.

He participated in 12 Formula One Grands Prix, mostly for Ensign and Surtees, debuting on May 12, 1974. He scored no championship points.

He competed in three Indianapolis 500 races (1976, 1979, 1981), with a best result of third in 1981 driving a McLaren-Ford.

He was the 1983 Japanese Sports-Prototype Champion, and followed his 1976 5th place finish and 1977 & 1982 2nd place finishes of the 24 hours of Le Mans by winning in 1983 driving a Porsche 956 with Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood.

With Japanese backing, he also produced a road going evolution of the Porsche 962 called the Schuppan 962CR. At the then price of 195 million yen (1.5 million USD) only six were built

Payment failed to arrive for two of the vehicles after they were shipped to Japan. This, coupled with the high cost of the car's construction and the worldwide recession, forced Schuppan to declare bankruptcy. Schuppan then also co-owned an Indy Lights team with Stefan Johansson.

In May 2006, Schuppan was elected into the Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand Prix F1, an eminent organisation based in Monaco.^[1]

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC
1972	BRM	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL DNS	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA						BRM	-
1974	Ensign	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL 15	MON Ret	SWE DSQ	DUT DSQ	FRA DNQ	GBR DNQ	GER Ret	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			Ensign	-
1975	Hill	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE Ret	DUT	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				Hill	-
1977	Surtees	ARG	BRA	SAF	USAW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR 12	GER 7	AUT 16	DUT DNQ	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	Surtees	-