Jochen Mass

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Jochen Mass
Nationality	German
World Championship Career
Active years	1973-1982
Team(s)	Surtees,McLaren, ATS, Arrows, March Engineering
Races	138
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podium finishes	8
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1973 Argentine Grand Prix
First win	1975 Spanish Grand Prix
Last race	1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Jochen Mass (born September 30, 1946) is a former Formula One driver from Germany.

Born in Dorfen, Bavaria, Germany, he participated in 112 grands prix, debuting on July 14, 1973. He won one GP race (1975 Spanish Grand Prix), secured no pole positions, achieved 8 podiums, and scored a total of 71 championship points.

Mass, is perhaps most infamously known for his blameless part in the death of Gilles Villeneuve, a big star of the day. During Friday practice, for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, Villeneuve collided with Mass whilst attempting to overtake him. Just as the pair rounded a flat out left kink, (Mass ahead, Villeneuve trailling) Jochen moved to the right hand side of the track to let Villeneuve through. Unfortunately, Villeneve had already committed himself to the right hand side, and the two cars touched wheels, in turn launching the hapless Canadian skyward. In the violent 'barrel rolls' which ensued, Villeneuve was flung from his car, landing heavily amongst catch fencing at the side of the track. Villeneuve was pronounced dead some time later.

After leaving the Formula One circuit, Mass enjoyed great success in sports car racing, gaining international prominence with his performance during the European Touring Car Championship in the early 1970s. In 1972, he teamed up with Hans-Joachim Stuck to drive a Ford Capri RS2600 to victory at the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Belgium. He went on to win that year's World Sportscar Championship. Among his many victories, in 1985 he won the Circuito del Mugello 1000 km race in Italy driving a Porsche 962C and in 1987 partnered with Bobby Rahal to claim victory at the 1987 12 Hours of Sebring race. In 1989, he won the most prestigious endurance race of all, the 24 hours of Le Mans, with the Sauber-entered Mercedes-Benz.

Jochen Mass now drives the Mercedes-Benz museum's historic cars. In the 2004 Mille Miglia, he drove the original Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR that Stirling Moss had driven to victory in the 1955 race. To raise money for charity, the passenger seat next to him was auctioned off to the highest bidder.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1973	Surtees	ARG	BRA	SAF	SPA	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR Ret	DUT	DEU 7	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA Ret			Surtees	24th	0
1974	Surtees	ARG Ret	BRA 17	SAF Ret	SPA Ret	BEL Ret	MON	SWE Ret	DUT Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 14	DEU Ret	AUT	ITA	CAN 16	USA 7			McLaren	23rd	0
1975	McLaren	ARG 14	BRA 3	SAF 6	SPA 1	MON 6	BEL Ret	SWE Ret	DUT Ret	FRA 3	GBR 7	DEU Ret	AUT 4	ITA Ret	USA 3				McLaren	8th	20
1976	McLaren	BRA 6	SAF 3	USAW 5	SPA Ret	BEL 6	MON 5	SWE 11	FRA 15	GBR Ret	DEU 3	AUT 7	DUT 9	ITA Ret	CAN 5	USA 4	JPN Ret		McLaren	9th	19
1977	McLaren	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	SAF 5	USAW Ret	SPA 4	MON 4	BEL Ret	SWE 2	FRA 9	GBR 4	DEU Ret	AUT 6	DUT Ret	ITA 4	USA Ret	CAN 3	JPN Ret	McLaren	6th	25
1978	ATS	ARG 11	BRA 7	SAF Ret	USAW Ret	MON DNQ	BEL 11	SPA 9	SWE 13	FRA 13	GBR NC	DEU Ret	AUT DNQ	DUT DNQ	ITA	USA	CAN		ATS	24th	0
1979	Arrows	ARG 8	BRA 7	SAF 12	USAW 9	SPA 8	BEL Ret	MON 6	FRA 15	GBR Ret	DEU 6	AUT Ret	DUT 6	ITA Ret	CAN DNQ	USA DNQ			Arrows	18th	3
1980	Arrows	ARG Ret	BRA 10	SAF 6	USAW 7	BEL Ret	MON 4	FRA 10	GBR 13	DEU 8	AUT DNQ	DUT	ITA	CAN 11	USA Ret				Arrows	17th	4
1982	March	SAF 12	BRA 8	USAW 8	SAN DNP	BEL Ret	MON DNQ	USAE 7	CAN 11	DUT Ret	GBR 10	FRA Ret	DEU	AUT	SWI	ITA	LAS		March	28th	0

Preceded by Dieter Glemser	European Touring Car Champion 1972	Succeeded by Toine Hezemans
Preceded by Jan Lammers Johnny Dumfries Andy Wallace	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1989 Jochen Mass Manuel Reuter Stanley Dickens	Succeeded by John Nielsen Price Cobb Martin Brundle

[edit] References