After more than 20 years behind the
wheel of a variety of four-wheeled machines, Austrian driver
Alexander Wurz will retire from competitive racing at the end
of the 2015 season, once the last FIA World Endurance Championship
event, the 6 Hours of Bahrain, receives the chequered flag.
Wurz was and important part of the
current Toyota Gazoo Racing program, achieving five wins in
four seasons as a Toyota factory driver, with the highlight being the
first season, in 2012, where the Japanese got three wins. Wurz
entered the Japanese program as not only a endurance racing
specialist, as well as a Le Mans 24 Hours expert, winning the famous
French race two times, first with Joest Racing in 1996 and
with Peugeot Sport in 2009, one of the rare moments in the
last decade where Audi’s dominance was broken.
Outside of the sportscar world, he had
also a good spell in Formula 1, driving for Benetton, and then
being the test driver for McLaren, Williams, Honda and Brawn GP. In
F1 he was also known by becoming competitive in a short time, as in
his rookie year in Benetton he achieved a third place finish as his
best position, as well in his comeback to competition with McLaren
in a one-off San Marino GP podium, also finishing in third.
The 41-year old Austrian had his share
of GT racing too, being part of the innaugural season of
Mercedes AMG in the FIA GT Championship, where he achieved a
victory at Donington Park and two second place finishes, at
Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
Below is the statement about the
retirement of Alexander Wurz:
“After 12 years as a race and
third driver in F1, I was lucky to indulge a passion for Le Mans
Prototype racing for a further 8 seasons. That means I’ve enjoyed
half of my lifetime competing at the top of motorsport and another
quarter of it working my way up there, so I feel the time is right to
call it a day and bring my career as a professional racing driver to
a close.
I’ve a lot to be grateful for and
a lot I’m proud of. My two Le Mans wins will always be the most
special and unforgettable, along with the Silverstone podium in my
3rd Formula 1 race. In F1, I feel hugely privileged to have driven
for top F1 teams like Benetton, McLaren and Williams, and added a bit
of silverware to their trophy cabinets. I loved the testing and
development work, collaborating with the engineers to find ever more
performance.
LMP1 brought some epic battles and
crushing retirements. Nothing beats the Le Mans podiums, but the
Sebring 12h, Petit Le Mans and securing Toyotas first WEC victory
were pretty special too.
Endurance racing, especially Le
Mans, has to be one of the harshest sports. I’ve lead most of the
Le Mans 24h races I have raced in. But it was our 15 hour lead in
last year’s race that ended with retirement that had to be the
hardest. I’d put so much effort into 2014 and into the race
preparation that I found it very difficult to move on after the DNF.
In previous years, such a defeat
made me come back stronger, ready to launch into the fight again, but
not that time. This was the moment I knew that my time at the sharp
end was coming to a natural end. The WEC Bahrain 6 hrs will mark this
end.
So a big thanks to the racing
community for the challenges, the battles and the victories, and to
the fans, the teams, the competitors, the organisers, the volunteers
and especially to my family!
My future will still evolve around
racing, it’s in my blood after all. Anyone who knows me, knows that
I always have lots of projects on the go which includes growing my
road safety and race track design business.
You will still see me around, just
without the overalls.
Alex”
We wish you luck in everything you may
do in the future Alex!
PHOTOS: Toyota Gazoo Racing, Peugeot Sport, Grandprix.com
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