Wolfgang Seidel

Biography

Wolfgang Seidel (4 July 1926 – 1 March 1987) was a racing driver from Germany. He participated in 12 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He scored no championship points. Seidel and Edgar Barth won the 1959 Targa Florio, driving a Porsche 718 RSK, giving Porsche its first ever World Sports Car Championship race win. Seidel often entered cars under his own name, or under the Scuderia Colonia banner. After having been refused a start at the 1962 German Grand Prix due sufficient laps in practice, four at over ten minutes instead of five, a fate shared with several other drivers, Seidel got in an argument with officials from the Automobilclub von Deutschland. Combined with some doubts about the level of preparation of his cars, Dan Gurney had refused to race it in the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix were Porsche remained absent, Seidel's competition licence was withdrawn, and he offered his two cars up for sale. In spite of not having a licence, Seidel competed in the non-championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix a few months later, to trigger an FIA investigation into his case, for no avail. Seidel died in 1987 of a heart attack.

Bio from Wikipedia