Racing for BMW

I started my racing career with BMW in a touring car in the middle of the1960s. It was a BMW 1,800-cc Ti SA; I used it to drive in the Austrian Touring Car Championship, a series that I won, which led to my being supported by the factory for many years. In that time, I have had many good races in various cars, both saloon and formula. I would say that, ultimately, my best times were racing in the Formula 2 car. I competed with some of the best drivers in the world, like Emerson Fittipaldi and Françoise Cevert. It was great racing, wheel-to-wheel stuff. At Hockenheim, particularly, Regazzoni and I had a major tussle. It was the last lap of what had been a very exciting race. I was in 2nd place behind Regazzoni. In front of us was a back marker, Vittorio Brambilla. My aim, of course, as with all racing drivers, was to consider what I could do to win. We entered the Motodrome or infield part of the circuit. The entry corner is a right-hander; this was my chance. I drove to the inside of Regazzoni, and we came to the corner together; as we did, he went over my front wheel. We both spun out of control. I flew into the air, eventually ending on the grass. While airborne, I quickly thought, I put my foot hard on the clutch to stop the engine from stalling. I, fortunately, regained control of the car and was able to complete the race. More importantly, I won! There were a few words, not very nice ones, both from Clay and from his mechanics at Tecno. However, that was my first race win and no one was going to take it from me. It was a very important moment for me.

Following my success in F2, I was offered a drive with John Surtees in the 1974 Austrian Grand Prix. Surtees needed a replacement for Jochen Mass, who had left the team after the German GP due to sponsorship problems. This was a deviation not only from F2, but from BMW as well. However, I went with their blessing. I was able to get support and sponsorship from the Austrian tobacco company Memphis. I found the deal to be a typical Surtees deal. Initially, I was told that he would only enter two cars for the race, one for me, and one for Derek Bell. So, it came as a surprise to see that Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Leo Kinnunen had also been entered for the Surtees team! I drove the Surtees TS16. There were a few crazy moments in practice, due to the heat. I qualified last on the grid of 25. Not too good. However, the other Surtees drivers had failed to qualify, so I was their only representative in the race. The race itself was good. I managed to finished 9th; all in all, I was pleased with the result.