Jo Siffert

Joseph "Jo" Siffert (French pronunciation: [ʒo(zɛf) sifɛʁ]; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1962 to 1971. Siffert won two Formula One Grands Prix across 10 seasons.

Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing on two wheels, winning the Swiss 350 cc motorcycle championship in 1959, before switching to four wheels with a Formula Junior Stanguellini. Siffert graduated to Formula One as a privateer in 1962, with a four-cylinder Lotus-Climax. He later moved to Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti, and in 1964 joined Rob Walker's private British Rob Walker Racing Team. Early successes included victories in the 1964 and 1965 Mediterranean Grands Prix non-Championship Formula One races, both times beating Jim Clark by a very narrow margin. He won two World Championship races, one for the Rob Walker Racing Team and one for BRM.

He died at the 1971 World Championship Victory Race, a non-Championship Formula One race, having his car roll over after a crash caused by a mechanical failure and being caught under the burning vehicle. Siffert was married twice and to his second wife Simone during the height of his career in the late 1960s and at the time of his death. They had two children together, Véronique and Philippe.

Siffert was born in 1936 in the town of Fribourg, Switzerland, 35 km (22 mi) from Bern to a poor family. Aged 12, Siffert and his father went to Bern to see the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix at the Bremgarten circuit, and it was at this event where Siffert wanted to be a racing driver.

In 1968, Siffert drove into the F1 history books by winning the 1968 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in Rob Walker Racing Team's Lotus 49B, beating Chris Amon's Ferrari into second place after a race-long battle. This is regarded as the last GP victory by a genuine privateer. In 1971 as a BRM team driver he scored his second Formula One Championship race victory at the Austrian Grand Prix held at the Österreichring.

While Siffert's status in F1 grew slowly, his fame came as a leading driver for the factory Porsche effort in its quest for the World Sportscar Championship. In 1968, Siffert and Hans Herrmann won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 907, marking the first major outright wins for the company, apart from a few earlier victories on twisty tracks.

Later on, Siffert's driving displays in the Porsche 917 earned him several major wins in Europe. In addition, Siffert was chosen by Porsche to help launch its CanAm development programme, driving a Porsche 917PA spyder in 1969 and finishing fourth in the championship despite few entries.

In 1970, Siffert teamed up with Brian Redman to drive a Porsche 908/3 to victory at the Targa Florio. That same year, Porsche bankrolled Siffert's seat in a works March Engineering F1 since the German company did not wish to lose one of their prize drivers to rival Ferrari. His association with March in F1 was disastrous, so he was pleased to join rival Porsche racer Pedro Rodriguez at BRM the following season.