Vern Schuppan
Entries | 13 (9 starts) |
---|---|
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Career points | 0 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1972 Belgian Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1977 Dutch Grand Prix |
Vernon John Schuppan
Although he considers himself to be a
In 1984 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to the sport of motor racing".[1]
Early career and Formula One
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. 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.
In 1974 Schuppan went to
In 1975 he raced in one race in Sweden for Embassy Racing With Graham Hill team, retiring from the race with transmission problems. In 1977 Schuppan raced for Surtees, finishing 12th in Britain and a career best seventh in Germany. 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, 1964 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.
Sports cars
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.
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. He also finished third in 1975 with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in a Mirage GR8-Ford Cosworth DFV.
After winning at Le Mans, Schuppan went on to win the
He finished sixth at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans driving with Jarier and fellow Australian, 1980 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.
He had a number of other podium finishes in the
Other categories
Schuppan competed in three
He also won the 1971 British Formula Atlantic Championship[2] and the Singapore Grand Prix in 1973. 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[3] and in North America 1974-1976[4] with some success.
In his home country
When Schuppan was regularly returning home to Australia to race he was also a popular choice as a co-driver for top
Other activities
With Japanese backing, Schuppan produced minimally modified street legal 962 race cars. The first, known as the 962R and registered in the UK as H726 LDP, retained the original bodywork and honeycomb chassis from its racing career. Later a road going evolution of the Porsche 962 called the Schuppan 962CR was developed, using different bodywork than the 962R. At the then price of 195 million yen (US$1.5 million) only six were built.
Failure of payment for two of the cars shipped to Japan coupled with the high cost of the car's construction and worldwide economic recession, forced Schuppan to declare bankruptcy. Schuppan then also co-owned an
In May 2006, Schuppan was elected into the Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand Prix F1, an eminent organisation based in Monaco.[5]
Schuppan also played an important role in bringing Formula One to the city of Adelaide in his home state of South Australia. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had originally favoured the Australian Grand Prix to be held in Sydney. However, the Premier of South Australia, John Bannon, asked Schuppan (who knew Ecclestone personally) to come and take a look at Adelaide. Ultimately Ecclestone was so impressed the Grand Prix was held in Adelaide for eleven years from 1985 to 1995.
As of 2014, Schuppan lives in Adelaide with Jennifer, his wife of over 45 years. The couple live in a converted warehouse adjacent to the
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Marlboro BRM
|
BRM P153B | BRM P142 3.0 V12
|
ARG | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL DNS |
FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 | |||||
1974 | Team Ensign
|
N174
|
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL 15 |
MON Ret |
SWE DSQ |
NED DSQ |
FRA DNQ |
GBR DNQ |
GER Ret |
AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 | ||
1975 | Embassy Racing With Graham Hill
|
Hill GH1
|
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE Ret |
NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | USA | NC | 0 | |||
1977 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS19 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR 12 |
GER 7 |
AUT 16 |
NED DNQ |
ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | NC | 0 |
Source:[6]
|
Non-Championship Formula One results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Marlboro BRM
|
BRM P153 | BRM P142 3.0 V12
|
ROC | BRA | INT | OUL 5 |
REP | |
BRM P160C | VIC 4 | ||||||||
1973 | Marlboro BRM
|
BRM P160D | BRM P142 3.0 V12
|
ROC Ret |
|||||
BRM P160E | INT 9 |
||||||||
1974 | Sid Taylor | T101 (F5000)
|
Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | PRE
|
ROC DNS |
INT DNS |
|||
1975 | Sid Taylor/Theodore Racing | Lola T332 (F5000)
|
Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | ROC Ret |
INT | SUI | |||
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Malaysia Singapore Airlines | March 722 | Ford | MAL | THR | HOC | PAU | PAL
|
HOC | ROU | ÖST
|
IMO
|
MAN | PER | SAL | ALB | HOC NC |
NC | 0 | |||
1973 | Singapore Airlines | March 722 | Ford | MAL Ret |
HOC | THR | NÜR | PAU | KIN | NIV | HOC | ROU | MNZ
|
MAN | KAR | PER | SAL | NOR | ALB | VAL
|
NC | 0 |
Source:[6]
|
Complete European F5000 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | Sid Taylor | T101
|
Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | BRH Ret |
MAL | SIL Ret |
OUL Ret |
BRH 5 |
7th | 77 | |||||||||||||
Lola T332
|
ZOL Ret |
THR DNS |
ZAN DNS |
MUG | MNZ 6 |
MAL 5 |
MON 2 |
THR Ret |
BRH Ret |
OUL Ret |
SNE
|
MAL | |||||||||||
Chevron Racing Team V.D.S. | Chevron B24/B28
|
BRH 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1975 | Sid Taylor/Theodore Racing | Lola T332
|
Chevrolet 5.0 V8 | BRH Ret |
OUL 11 |
BRH Ret |
SIL 2 |
ZOL Ret |
ZAN
|
THR DNS |
SNE
|
MAL | THR Ret |
BRH | OUL 2 |
SIL | SNE
|
MAL | BRH | 10th | 30 | ||
Source:[6]
|
American open-wheel racing
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
USAC Championship Car
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Jorgensen Steel | Eagle 74 | Offy 159 ci turbo | PHX
|
TRE | INDY 18 |
MIL | POC | MCH | TWS | TRE | MIL | ONT | MCH | TWS | PHX
|
NC | 0 | |||||
1977 | Wildcat Racing | Wildcat Mk 1 | DGS 158 ci turbo | ONT 8 |
PHX 8 |
TWS 16 |
TRE 17 |
INDY DNQ |
19th | 575 | |||||||||||||
Morales Motorsports | Lightning Mk1/77 | Offy 159 ci turbo | INDY DNQ |
MIL | POC 21 |
ONT 6 |
MCH | PHX
|
|||||||||||||||
Jerry O'Connel Racing | Eagle 74 | Offy 159 ci turbo | MOS 19 |
MCH | TWS | MIL | |||||||||||||||||
1978 | Fletcher Racing Team | Lightning Mk1/77 | Cosworth DFX | PHX
|
ONT | TWS 18 |
TRE 16 |
INDY | MOS
|
MIL | POC | MCH | ATL | 38th | 26 | ||||||||
Patrick Santello | Offy 159 ci turbo | TWS 20 |
MIL | ONT | MCH | TRE | SIL | BRH | PHX
| ||||||||||||||
1979 | Wysard Motors | Wildcat Mk 2 | DGS 158 ci turbo | ONT | TWS | INDY 21 |
MIL | POC | TWS | MIL | NC | 0 | |||||||||||
1980 | Jerry O'Connel Racing | McLaren M24 | Cosworth DFX | ONT | INDY DNQ |
MIL | 9th | 650 | |||||||||||||||
Wysard Motors | Wildcat Mk 2 | DGS 158 ci turbo | POC 5 |
MDO 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||
1981–82 | Theodore Racing | McLaren M24B | Cosworth DFX | INDY 3 |
POC 17 |
ILL | DUQ | ISF | 10th | 720 | |||||||||||||
Kraco Enterprises
|
Penske PC9B
|
Cosworth DFX | INDY DNQ |
||||||||||||||||||||
Brayton Racing | Penske PC7
|
INDY DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||
PPG Indycar Series
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos. | Pts | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979
|
Wysard Motors | Wildcat Mk 2 | Offy 159 ci turbo | PHX 21 |
ATL 12 |
ATL 12 |
PHX 14 |
14th | 449 | [9] | ||||||||||
DGS 158 ci turbo | INDY 21 |
TRE | TRE | MCH 16 |
MCH
|
WGL 7 |
TRE DNS |
ONT 7 |
MCH DNS |
ATL | ||||||||||
1980
|
Jerry O'Connel Racing | McLaren M24 | Cosworth DFX | ONT | INDY DNQ |
MIL
|
10th | 806 | [10] | |||||||||||
Wysard Motors | Wildcat Mk 2 | DGS 158 ci turbo | POC 5 |
MDO 5 |
MCH
|
WGL 18 |
MIL
|
|||||||||||||
McLaren M24B | Cosworth DFX | ONT 10 |
MCH
|
MEX | PHX
|
|||||||||||||||
1981
|
Theodore Racing | McLaren M24B | Cosworth DFX | PHX
|
MIL
|
ATL | ATL | MCH 24 |
RIV DNQ |
MIL
|
MCH
|
WGL
|
MEX 21 |
PHX 15 |
36th | 4 | [11] | |||
March 81C | RIV 17 |
|||||||||||||||||||
1982
|
Kraco Enterprises
|
Penske PC9B
|
Cosworth DFX | PHX
|
ATL | MIL
|
CLE 7 |
MCH
|
MIL
|
POC
|
30th | 18 | [12] | |||||||
March 82C | RIV 27 |
ROA 24 |
MCH
|
PHX
|
||||||||||||||||
Indianapolis 500
Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Eagle 74 | Offy 159 ci turbo | 17 | 18 | Jorgensen Steel |
1977 | Wildcat Mk 1 | DGS 158 ci turbo | DNQ | Wildcat Racing | |
Lightning Mk1/77 | Offy 159 ci turbo | DNQ | Morales Motorsports | ||
1979 | Wildcat Mk 2 | DGS 158 ci turbo | 22 | 21 | Wysard Motors |
1980 | McLaren M24 | Cosworth DFX | DNQ | Jerry O'Connel Racing | |
1981 | McLaren M24B | Cosworth DFX | 18 | 3 | Theodore Racing |
1982 | Penske PC9B
|
Cosworth DFX | DNQ | Kraco Enterprises
| |
Penske PC7
|
DNQ | Brayton Racing |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Moffat Ford Dealers | Allan Moffat | Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop
|
3001cc – 6000cc | 87 | DNF | DNF |
1977 | Bryan Byrt Ford | Dick Johnson | Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop
|
3001cc – 6000cc | 124 | DNF | DNF |
1978 | Bryan Byrt Ford | Dick Johnson | Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop
|
Over 3000cc | 153 | 5th | 5th |
1981 | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
|
John Harvey | Holden VC Commodore
|
8 Cylinder & Over | 37 | DNF | DNF |
Complete British Saloon Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Pts | Class |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985
|
Mitsubishi Colt Racing | Mitsubishi Starion Turbo | A | SIL | OUL | THR | DON | THR | SIL | DON | SIL Ret |
SNE
|
BRH | BRH | SIL | NC | 0 | NC |
References
- ^ "Vernon John SCHUPPAN". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ^ http://www.oldracingcars.com/atlantic/uk/1971/ 1971 British Formula Atlantic Results, Retrieved 27 October 2011
- ^ http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/racelist.php?CategoryID=F5 European F5000 races, Retrieved 27 October 2011
- ^ http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/racelist.php?CategoryID=FA US F5000 races, Retrieved 27 October 2011
- John Fairfax Holdings. Australian Associated Press. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f "Vern Schuppan – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "OldRacingCars – Vern Schuppan". OldRacingCars. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ a b "OldRacingCars – Vern Schuppan". OldRacingCars. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Vern Schuppan – 1979 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "Vern Schuppan – 1980 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "Vern Schuppan – 1981 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "Vern Schuppan – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "All Results of Vern Schuppan". RacingSportCars. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- Vern Schuppan career summary at DriverDB.com
- Vern Schuppan driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Champcar Stats
- My F5000 Profile