Rolf Stommelen

Rolf Johann Stommelen (11 July 1943 - 24 April 1983): German racing driver who competed in 54 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1970 and 1978, best remembered for a catastrophic crash at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix that killed four spectators when his car's rear wing failed while leading the race. Born in Siegen, West Germany, Stommelen began his racing career in German Formula Vee and Formula Three before progressing to Formula One. He made his World Championship debut with Brabham at the 1970 Austrian Grand Prix and competed for various teams including Brabham, Surtees, March, Lola, Arrows, and Hill throughout the 1970s. Stommelen never achieved a Formula One victory, with his best result being third place at the 1970 Austrian Grand Prix for Brabham, though he remained a consistent and respected midfield competitor.

The defining and most tragic moment of his career came at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix at the Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona on 27 April 1975. Driving for the Hill team, Stommelen was leading the race when a rear wing stay failed, sending his car into the barriers at high speed. The car bounced back across the track, struck the opposite barrier, and flew over it into a restricted spectator area. Four people were killed by the flying car: fireman Joaquín Benaches Morera, spectator Andrés Ruiz Villanova, and photographers Mario de Roia and Antonio Font Bayarri.

Stommelen himself suffered a broken leg, broken wrist, and two cracked ribs. The race was immediately stopped and never resumed, marking the last time Formula One competed at Montjuïc. The tragedy highlighted the dangers of inadequate barriers and spectator positioning at street circuits. After recovering from his injuries, Stommelen returned to racing, though he never competed in Formula One again after 1978.

He found considerable success in sports car racing, winning races for Alfa Romeo and winning the 24 Hours of Daytona three additional times (he had already won once in 1968). Tragically, Stommelen died in another racing accident on 24 April 1983 during practice for the DRM race at Riverside International Raceway in California when his Porsche 935 suffered a tire failure at high speed. He was 39 years old. Stommelen's career was marked by two devastating accidents seven years apart, both involving mechanical failures at critical moments.

His legacy is forever intertwined with the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix disaster, one of Formula One's darkest days. Known for: The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix crash that killed four spectators when his rear wing failed while leading, ending Formula One's use of the Montjuïc circuit, achieving a podium finish at the 1970 Austrian Grand Prix, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona four times, and dying in a racing accident at Riverside in 1983.