Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver.[1]
| Klaus Ludwig | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Klaus Ludwig in 2009 | |
| Nationality |  German |
| Born | 5 October 1949 Bonn, West Germany |
| Related to | Luca Ludwig (son) |
| Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | |
| Years active | 2000 |
| Former teams | HWA 2 |
| Starts | 16 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podiums | 7 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2000 |
| FIA GT Championship | |
| Years active | 1997–1998 |
| Former teams | AMG Mercedes Kremer Racing |
| Starts | 19 |
| Championships | 1 (1998) |
| Wins | 9 |
| Podiums | 14 |
| Poles | 6 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| International Touring Car Championship | |
| Years active | 1995–1996 |
| Former teams | Zakspeed Opel Opel Team Rosberg |
| Starts | 33 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 8 |
| Poles | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 7th in 1996 |
| Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft | |
| Years active | 1985–1995 |
| Former teams | Opel Team Rosberg AMG-Mercedes Ford-Grab Motorsport ABR Ringhausen Rennsport |
| Starts | 173 |
| Championships | 3 (1988, 1992, 1994) |
| Wins | 32 |
| Podiums | 67 |
| Poles | 23 |
| Fastest laps | 16 |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1978–1979, 1982–1986, 1988, 1998 |
| Teams | AMG-Mercedes Porsche AG Joest Racing Zakspeed Porsche Kremer Racing Weisberg Gelo Team |
| Best finish | 1st (1979, 1984, 1985) |
| Class wins | 3 (1979, 1984, 1985) |
Biography edit
He also known as König Ludwig ("King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car racing.
In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, winning in 1979 with a Kremer Racing-Porsche 935. With this car, based on the then 15-year-old Porsche 911 road car design, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall in the wet, an unprecedented win against the faster pure sports car racing prototypes (though it was subsequently matched in 1995 when a McLaren F1 GTR won the race at its first attempt).[2]
In 1984 and 1985, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing in their #7 Porsche 956. Considering Le Mans and sportcars too dangerous after the deaths of Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof, he was recruited for the 1987 World Touring Car Championship for Ford only to finish runner-up by a single point to BMW driver Roberto Ravaglia after a post-season disqualification (after Ludwig claimed the pole, he and fellow West German Klaus Niedzwiedz had finished second behind teammates Steve Soper and Pierre Dieudonné at the Bathurst 1000 in Australia, but both cars were disqualified due to illegal wheel arch size on their Ford Sierra RS500s). He then moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM), and became champion in 1988 in a Ford Sierra RS500. Ludwig also represented IMSA in the 1986 International Race of Champions, finishing 8th.
He repeated the success at Mercedes-Benz in 1992 and 1994, before moving back to sports cars racing for them in 1997 to become the 1998 FIA GT Champion. He retired when the series did not continue in the 1999 season.
He soon returned in June 1999, to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring on the Nordschleife for the third time driving a Zakspeed Viper.
When the DTM resumed as Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2000, he returned to the series, winning at the age of 50 years at the Sachsenring circuit, only to retire once again.
Ludwig returned as a "hobby pilot" to the Nürburgring Nordschleife when given the opportunity to drive a high power vehicle. The years 2004 and 2005 saw him enter the 24 Hours Nürburgring with Uwe Alzen on the Jürgen Alzen Porsche 996 GT2 Bi-Turbo. With a normally aspirated Porsche 997 GT3 of the Alzen brothers, Ludwig and Christian Abt managed to beat the old distance record in the 2006 edition of the 24h, yet finished only second, 1 lap behind the winners.
Ludwig has also worked as a TV commentator on DTM races.
Racing record edit
Achievements edit
- Winner 24 Hours of Le Mans: 1979, 1984, 1985
- Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft champion 1979, 1981
- Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft champion 1988, 1992, 1994
- FIA GT World Champion 1998
Complete European Formula Two Championship results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Willi Kauhsen Racing Team | March 762 | Hart | HOC Ret | THR | VAL 13 | SAL | PAU 7 | HOC 9 | ROU | MUG 9 | PER | EST | NOG 6 | HOC 10 | 12th | 4 | |
| 1977 | Willi Kauhsen Racing Team | Jabouille 2J | Renault | SIL Ret | THR Ret | HOC Ret | NÜR 8 | VAL DSQ | PAU 7 | MUG | ROU | NOG | PER | MIS | EST | NC | 0 | |
| KWS Autotechnik | Chevron B40 | Ford | DON Ret | |||||||||||||||
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results edit
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Weisberg Gelo Team |  John Fitzpatrick Toine Hezemans | Porsche 935/77 | Gr.5 +2.0 | 19 | DNF | DNF |
| 1979 | Porsche Kremer Racing |  Don Whittington Bill Whittington | Porsche 935 K3 | Gr.5 +2.0 | 307 | 1st | 1st |
| 1982 | Ford Germany Zakspeed |  Marc Surer Manfred Winkelhock | Ford C100 | C | 67 | DNF | DNF |
| 1983 | Sorga S.A. Joest Racing |  Stefan Johansson Bob Wollek | Porsche 956 | C | 354 | 6th | 6th |
| 1984 | New-Man Joest Racing | Henri Pescarolo | Porsche 956B | C1 | 360 | 1st | 1st |
| 1985 | New-Man Joest Racing |  Paolo Barilla Louis Krages | Porsche 956B | C1 | 374 | 1st | 1st |
| 1986 | Joest Racing | Paolo Barilla Louis Krages | Porsche 956B | C1 | 196 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Porsche AG | Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell | Porsche 962C | C1 | 394 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 1998 | AMG-Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Mark Webber | Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM | GT1 | 19 | DNF | DNF |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Eggenberger Motorsport | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | MNZ DSQ | JAR ovr:4 cls:1 | DIJ ovr:4 cls:4 | NÜR ovr:1 cls:1 | SPA Ret | 2nd | 268 | ||||||
| Ford Sierra RS500 | BRN ovr:1 cls:1 | SIL ovr:6 cls:1 | BAT DSQ | CLD ovr:12 cls:8 | WEL ovr:1 cls:1 | FUJ ovr:1 cls:1 | |||||||||
* Overall positions shown. WTCC points paying positions may be different
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete International Touring Car Championship results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Opel Team Rosberg | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | MUG 1 8 | MUG 2 Ret | HEL 1 15 | HEL 2 Ret | DON 1 8 | DON 2 Ret | EST 1 17 | EST 2 8 | MAG 1 3 | MAG 2 Ret | 14th | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Zakspeed Opel | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | HOC 1 Ret | HOC 2 DNS | NÜR 1 Ret | NÜR 2 Ret | EST 1 3 | EST 2 11 | HEL 1 3 | HEL 2 Ret | NOR 1 1 | NOR 2 1 | DIE 1 Ret | DIE 2 Ret | SIL 1 1 | SIL 2 Ret | NÜR 1 Ret | NÜR 2 11 | MAG 1 9 | MAG 2 5 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 2 | INT 1 Ret | INT 2 18† | SUZ 1 Ret | SUZ 2 10 | 7th | 130 |
- † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.
References edit
- ^ "Pole Positionen: Klaus Ludwig" (in German). Motorsport-Total.com. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ Meaden, Richard (24 February 2015). "McLaren F1 at the Le Mans 24 hours". Evo. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Klaus Ludwig Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "Klaus Ludwig". Motor Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Klaus Ludwig". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "Klaus Ludwig race results". TouringCars.net. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
External links edit
