Bernd Schneider

Bernd Schneider (20th July, 1964 in St. Ingbert, West Germany - 30th April, 1994 in Bologna, Italy) was a German racing driver known for his appearances in Formula One and WTCM. Schneider was considered as one of the best touring car drivers of his generation with successes on both the domestic and international stages. After three seasons with Opel and Vauxhall in the WTCM, Schneider managed to secure a full-time Formula One seat with Rial. Early into his sophomore campaign with Simtek in 1994, Schneider was killed in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix. From there on, Vauxhall Sport retired the car number 5 and instead began using #32 in their WTCM program as a mark of respect for the German's motorsport legacy.

F3000

Schneider entered the International F3000 series in 1988 with the Forti Corse team. He was a regular points scorer and finished the year in eighth place after taking his maiden F3000 victory at the Imola round.

He continued with Forti in 1989, taking a best result of third place at the season opener at Silverstone - enough for 15th place.

WTCM

1988: Mercedes-Benz

Schneider's F3000 efforts earned him a handful of rounds with the Works Mercedes-Benz team in the inaugural World Touring Car Masters championship in 1988. His drives came about after regular driver Jerry Mahony was released from his contract due to a string of poor performances. Schneider shared the car with former Grand Prix driver Jochen Mass and scored a pair of wins at Monza.

1990-1992: Opel/Vauxhall

Schneider returned to the WTCM in 1990, being signed for the Works Opel Team Irmscher outfit alongside Volker Strycek. Consistent results throughout the season (including 10 class wins) meant that Schneider won the Class D championship with a handful of races left.

Schneider remained at Irmscher in 1991, however this time under the banner of Vauxhall Sport. He was partnered by 1988 series champion Tim Harvey as the pair became the two highest-paid drivers on the grid. With the Cavalier being one of the best cars on the grid, Schneider got off to a quick start as he took his first win in the opening race of the season. He followed this win up with another two rounds later at Watkins Glen but was involved in a heavy accident in the Sprint race the following day that ruled him out for 4 rounds and effectively ending his challenge for the title. After missing six races, Schneider made a remarkable return in Monza as he won the Feature round. However, even with several more podium finishes until the end of the season, the Vauxhall started losing ground to BMW and Toyota. In the end, Schneider still finished third overall in the championship with many wondering what could have been if not for his injury.

The second year of Bernd Schneider's two-year deal in 1992 began in somewhat mixed fashion as the German driver won the Feature race in Japan and taking the championship lead at the end of that weekend. However, the maximum ballast hindered Schneider at the American round and he didn't take any points at Road America.

Formula One

Schneider began his Formula One career with three Grands Prix for Rial-Porsche in 1991, his best performance being a 14th place finish in the Pacific Grand Prix. This all hapepend while he was still under contract with Vauxhall in the WTCM, but after a rough 1992 season Schneider contemplated a possible return to F1. Rial, now running their own engines and seeking a replacement for Heinz-Harald Frentzen who departed for the new Sauber team, agreed a deal for the 1993 season where the German driver would partner Austrian hotshot Karl Wendlinger.

In the fourth round in San Marino Schneider took advantage of the promising Rial package by bringing the car home in 8th position, just in front of his teammate Wendlinger. However, in the very next round in Spain he scored his first career points as well as Rial's first points of the season, after a late retirement by race leader Paul Tracy moved Schneider into sixth place. The team wouldn't get close to scoring again, but Schneider's heroics in Spain were enough to put Rial in 9th place in the constructor's - accredited with helping the team survive into 1994.

Schneider however was pushed out of the Fußgönheim squad in favour of reigning world champion Chris Dagnall for the 1994 season, meaning he was out of employment. He eschewed a return to touring cars in favour of signing with the new Simtek squad, partnering Eric van de Poele. His season wouldn't start off brilliantly, with two out of two retirements at the Brazilian and Pacific Grands Prix. The next race at Imola however would bring tragedy. During Saturday qualifying, he bumped his front wing on the kerbs at Acque Minerali, it subsequently detached and became stuck underneath the car, lodging underneath the car and sending Schneider into the wall at the high-speed Villeneuve corner at 314.9 km/h (195.7 mph). He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 29 years old.

Career Results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Pts
1988	Forti Corse	Reynard 88D	Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8	JER 4	IMO 1	PAU Ret	SIL 6	MNZ 4	PER Ret	BHA 14	BIR Ret	BUG 5	ZOL 6	DIJ Ret	8th	19
1989	Forti Corse	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8	SIL 3	IMO 9	PAU Ret	JER 5	ASS 20†	PER Ret	BHA Ret	BIR 12	SPA Ret	LEM 11	DIJ 10	15th	6

Complete Formula One results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1991	Porsche Rial Racing	Rial ARC3	Porsche 3512 3.5 V12	USA	BRA	PAC 14	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL Ret	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS‡ 16	NC	0
1993	Rial Racing	Rial ARC5	Rial 3512 3.5 V12	RSA Ret	BRA 12	PAC Ret	SMR 8	ESP 6	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER 10	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 9	JPN 11	AUS Ret		18th	1
1994	MTV Simtek Yamaha	Simtek S941	Yamaha OX10B 3.5 V10	BRA Ret	PAC Ret	SMR DNS	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	JPN	AUS		—	0

Complete WTCM Results

Year	Team	Car	Class
1988	Mercedes-Benz AMG Team	Mercedes-Benz 190E	C M	Template:AUS				Template:USA								Template:FRA		Template:GBR				Template:BEL							WDC	Pts	Class	Pts
				E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E					30th	18	11th	124
										NOR 16	NOR 19	KYA Ret	KYA 25	HOC Ret	HOC Ret	CHA 12	CHA 18			MNZ 11	MNZ 18
1990	Opel Team Irmscher	Opel Kadett E GSi 16V	D M			Template:USA				Template:GBR		Template:FRA						Template:FRA		Template:GBR		Template:BEL				Template:AUS			WDC	Pts	Class	Pts
				E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E	S	E			N/A	0	1st	306
				FUJ 29	FUJ 35	GLN 25	GLN 36†	LAG 26	LAG 36	BRH 23	BRH Ret	PAU Ret	PAU 26	BRN DNQ	BRN DNQ	MNZ DNQ	MNZ DNQ	CHA 22	CHA 31	BIR DNQ	BIR DNQ	SPA DNQ	SPA DNQ	NUR Ret	NUR 45	BAT DNQ
1991	Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Cavalier	M	Template:AUS				Template:USA				Template:GBR	Template:FRA					Template:GBR				Template:BEL							WDC		Pts
				F	S	F	S	F	S	F	S	E	F	F	S	F	S	F	S	F	S	E	F	S	F				3rd		138
				AUS 1	AUS 6	JPN 2	JPN 7	USA 1	USA Ret	AFR INJ	AFR INJ	RAC INJ	PAU INJ	CZE INJ	CZE INJ	ITA 1	ITA 4	GBR 3	GBR 2	SWE 2	SWE 4	SPA 4	GER 5	GER 9	MAC Ret
1992	Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Cavalier	M	Template:AUS				Template:USA				Template:GBR	Template:FRA						Template:GBR				Template:BEL						WDC		Pts
				F	S	F	S	F	S	F	S	E	F	S	F	S	F	S	F	S	F	S	E	F	S	F	S		10th*		49*
				AUS 5	AUS 9	JPN 1	JPN 5	USA 13	USA 12	AFR 2	AFR 10	RAC 11	PAU Ret	PAU Ret	CZE DNQ	CZE DNQ	ITA Ret	ITA 9	GBR	GBR	SWE	SWE	BEL	GER	GER	MAC	MAC