Bob Wollek

Bob Wollek was a champion many times over before he even got  into motor racing. He won no fewer than three gold and two silver medals in the World University Games—second only to the Olympics—in downhill, slalom and combined skiing events in 1966 and 1968.

When he exploded onto the motor sport scene it looked like he was going to do the same thing or better. He started his motor sport career in a rally car and promptly won France’s 8th Rallye National in a Renault 8 Gordini. But disaster was just around the corner and in 1968 Wollek was badly injured in a skiing accident that meant he had to retire from the sport. So, after a lengthy recovery period, he decided to become a full-time racing driver. His first event after hospitalization was the Volant Shell Scholarship race on the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit, which uses part of the 24 Hours track and a purpose-built section, on which he came 2nd in an Alpine A210 to winner François Migault. There soon followed another victory in the Alpine Trophy Le Mans race at the Sarthe in the A210, co-driven by Christian Ethuin. That gave Bob an automatic entry into the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which he and co-driver Ethuin put up a remarkable performance for virtual novices by coming 2nd in class and 11th overall driving a works Société des Automobiles Alpine A210. The following year, he was not so lucky at Le Mans, in which he competed with famous French skier and glamour boy Jean-Claude Killy as his co-driver. The pair managed to cover 242 laps before an engine problem meant they had to retire their little Alpine.