Kurt Ahrens

Kurt Karl-Heinrich Ahrens (born 19 April 1940), also known as Kurt Ahrens Jr., is a German former racing driver who occasionally appeared in German Grand Prix races, mostly in Formula 2 cars.

His father, Kurt Ahrens Sr., was a German speedway champion who competed against his son for five years.

Career

Kurt Ahrens Jr. started in 1958 with a Cooper-Norton Formula 3 and won the German Formula Junior title in 1961 and 1963, when his father retired.

Ahrens then raced Formula 2 and was present when Jim Clark was killed at the Hockenheimring in 1968. Due to the long Nürburgring track, it was possible to take part in the German Grand Prix in Formula 2 cars. He participated mostly with Brabhams for the Caltex Racing team, and was invited to drive the Brabham-Repco F1 in the wet 1968 German Grand Prix.

In 1968, Ahrens joined the Porsche factory sports car team and shared victory with Jo Siffert in the 1969 Austrian 1000 km event. He co-drove the pole-setting Porsche 917 "long tail" at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, but neither car finished. In 1970, he partnered with Vic Elford to win the 1000km Nürburgring in a Porsche 908.

Ahrens retired after 1970, taking pride in never crashing in a race. He had suffered a high speed shunt in April 1970 while testing a long tail Porsche on a wet Ehra-Lessien, with the car disintegrating badly- the car went under the Armco barrier and broke in half (as they were known to do), leaving Ahrens strapped in the back.

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 WDC Points 1966 Caltex Racing Team Brabham BT18 (F2) Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 1967 Ron Harris Racing Team Protos (F2) Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0 1968 Caltex Racing Team Brabham BT24 Repco 740 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0 1969 Ahrens Racing Team Brabham BT30 (F2) Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results