Marc Surer

Interesting facts

Because motor racing had been banned in Switzerland since the 1955 Le Mans disaster, he moved to Germany in 1974 to race Formula Vee. He was recruited into the BMW Junior Team alongside Eddie Cheever and Manfred Winkelhock on the strength of his Formula Three results, then won the European Formula Two Championship with the same team in 1979. He broke his legs in qualifying crashes at Kyalami in both the 1980 and 1981 South African Grands Prix, first for ATS, then for Ensign. His best F1 result, fourth place for Ensign at the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix, also included the fastest lap of the race, the best finish the team ever achieved. In 1986 he crashed a Ford RS200 at the Hessen Rally, an accident that killed his co-driver and friend Michel Wyder and ended his F1 career mid-season. After retiring from driving he became a Formula One commentator for Sky Sport Germany from 1996 to 2017. Marc Surer made his Formula 1 debut in 1979 and raced until 1986, 8 seasons in total as a Swiss driver. He scored a total of 17 championship points over his career.