Roland Ratzenberger
Roland Ratzenberger (born 4th July 1960, in Salzburg, Austria) is a Austrian racing driver best known for his touring car exploits during the 1980s and 1990s.
WTCM
Ratzenberger became one of the first drivers to commit to the new World Touring Car Masters series in 1988, joining the works Ford team Kaliber Industrial Control Services Racing alongside Steve Soper, Andy Rouse and Tim Harvey. Barring the opening round, where Nissan dominated with their illegal R32 Skylines - the Ford Sierra RS500 was the car the beat all year. Ratzenberger took two wins in 1988 on his way to fourth place in the championship but was the lowest scorer of his teammates.
Ford switched outfits in 1989, changing from the British Rousesport team to the German Zakspeed team. Ratzenberger was the only man that Ford kept on the books, with defending champion Harvey moving to Mercedes-Benz and Soper and Rouse staying put at their 1988 team. Ratzenberger was joined by German touring car stars Klaus Ludwig, Manuel Reuter and Frank Biela in the team. Ratzenberger flourished in the more comfortable Germanic environment and took three wins on his way to his first World Championship, beating Ludwig by 31 points.
Complete Career Results
Complete World Touring Car Masters Results
Year | Team | Car | Class | WDC | Pts | Class | Pts | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Kaliber Industrial Control Services Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | A | 4th | 198 | 4th | 321 | |||||||||||||||||||||
E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | ||||||||
BAT 6 |
BAT 2 |
FUJ 3 |
FUJ 4 |
GLN 26† |
GLN 3 |
NOR 2 |
NOR 1 |
KYA Ret |
KYA 4 |
HOC Ret |
HOC 11 |
CHA 1 |
CHA 2 |
BIR Ret |
BIR 5 |
MNZ 3 |
MNZ 4 |
SPA DNQ |
SPA DNQ |
NUR 6 | ||||||||
1989 | Zakspeed | Ford Sierra RS500 | A | 1st | 224 | 1st | 324 | |||||||||||||||||||||
E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | S | E | ||||||||
FUJ 5 |
FUJ 2 |
GLN Ret |
GLN Ret |
KYA Ret |
KYA 6 |
PAU 2 |
PAU 6 |
BRN 1 |
BRN 3 |
MNZ Ret |
MNZ Ret |
CHA Ret |
CHA 8 |
BIR 7 |
BIR 3 |
SPA 2 |
SPA 2 |
NUR 1 |
NUR 1 |
BAT 2 |