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A
hero’s biography
July
7, 1936 -October 24th, 1971
Early racing beginnings
Already as a kid, “Seppi” Siffert visited motor sporting
events with his father. Fascinated by the drivers of the
time, Siffert decided to become one himself. Because his
parents, his dad owned a dairy, couldn’t finance his racing
career, Siffert worked after high school at an old junkyard
to earn the needed cash. Later he completed an
apprenticeship as a body worker and then started working in
the used car trade. In the middle of the fifties, Siffert
got to know Michel Piller at a motorcycle race; Pliler
immediately recognized his talents and went on to support
him in the early years. In 1957 he raced with an old bike
from Piller and had considerable successes at some races in
the 125cc class in Switzerland. In 1960 he changed from
motorcycles over to race cars. He bought a used Stanguellini
to race off road and slalom races. The season went so well
that Siffert founded has own racing team and bought himself
a Lotus Formula Junior Monoposto for the following race year.
At his first go he was tied with the Brit Toni Maggs for the
Junior European Championship.
Jo Siffert - Live fast, Die Young DVD |
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Next to his formula races, Siffert competed in several
others, among them endurance races and used the successes at
the beginning of his career to quickly make a name for
himself on the motor sports scene. In addition to notoriety,
the prize money was a good source of income to finance his
racing team. In 1965 he started his first 24 hours of Le
Mans with a Maserati, but was eliminated because of
technical defects. In the following year he was victorious
with a Porsche 906 in the 2 liter class and he ended up
fourth in the overall standings. Together with his teammates
Hans Herrmann and Brian Redman Siffert, he registered
numerous wins and podium places in classical and endurance
races. Further successes in 1968 with the Porsche 907 were
the 24 hour race at Daytona, the 12 hour race at Sebring and
the 1000 kilometer race at the Nürburgring. 1969 followed
with wins at the 1000 km at Monza and Spa and an fourth
place overall ranking in the CanAm series with his new
Porsche 917PA Spyder. Siffert and Brian Redman, racing for
Gulf, won the legendary Targa Florio with a light Porsche
908 and then the 1000 km of Spa and Zeltweg with the faster
Porsche 917.
Formula 1
In
1962 he got the chance to race in the Formula 1 for the
newly founded Ecurie Filipinetti team. At the Belgian Grand
Prix, Siffert was able to qualify for his first Formula 1
and he ended up finishing 10th. The 1963 season
didn’t start out with a bang. After several technical
problems that prevented him from competing in races, the GP
of Monaco proved to be the breaking point for the team.
Siffert had to buy his way out of the contract and to assume
possession of the Lotus 24. With this he raced as the driver
of his own team -Siffert Racing- in the upcoming F1 and
endurance events. For the ’64 season he bought a F1 car with
a BRM motor from Brabham.
Despite a number of successes, he still couldn’t afford an
overseas trip to the US and Mexico to compete in races at
the season’s end. In order to race Siffert signed on as the
third driver for the Rob Walker Racing team and painted his
car the team blue. He secured himself a podium place at the
GP in the US by placing third behind Graham Hill and John
Surtes. Siffert’s first big success in Formula 1 was his
Grand Prix win in Great Britain at Brand Hatch in front of
Chris Amon and Jacky Ickx. At the end of the season he
finished seventh in the overall standings. In 1970, he
changed over to the March Formula 1 team, but when he
realized he didn't have a car that could compete and
couldn't drive home any good results, he changed again to
BRM for the '71 season. His last F1 season was also his most
successful. With his 12 cylinder he won the Grand Prix of
Austria and took second in the US behind Francois Cévert. He
ended up taking 5th in the World Championships.
The
accident
In a
non-sanctioned Formula 1 event at Brand Hatch on October 24,
1971, Siffert's 41st race of the season, he had small and
seemingly harmless run-in with Ronnie Peterson at the start
and continued to compete. The 15th lap ended in a deadly
accident as the suspension that had been damaged in the
start crash broke at high speeds. Siffert's car caught fire
and he was unable to escape. Joseph Siffert was posthumously
selected as Switzerland's sportsman of the year for 1971. In
June 1984 the Jo Siffert fountain was unveiled in his memory,
a present from his friend Jean Tinguely to the city of
Fribourg.
More infos on the movie: Jo Siffert - Live fast, Die Young
In 1971, 50’000 people mourned in the streets
of Fribourg, Switzerland: Jo “Seppi” Siffert had died in a
crash at Brands Hatch (GB). Siffert was a popular as well as
glamorous star who, shortly after his death, became a
legend. Even today, Jo Siffert is considered to be one of
the ten best racing drivers ever and everyone who met him
still has vivid memories of him. Three-and-a-half decades
after his fatal crash in Brands Hatch the legendary driver
from Fribourg finally becomes the hero of a film.
Three and a half decades after his fatal crash in Brands
Hatch the legendary racing driver from Fribourg, Switzerland,
Jo Siffert, becomes the hero of a film: Men Lareida looks
back in time and pays homage to the craziest, most daring
and fastest Swiss racing driver ever. It is hardly an
exaggeration to say that there has never been a cooler Swiss
than Jo Siffert, the underdog of the Formula 1 – just called
Jo or Seppi – who had the aura of a rebellious pop star.
Already in 1975, Niklaus Meienberg, a Swiss Journalist and
personal friend of Jo Siffert, created the mythical image of
the car mechanic from humble origin who escaped the
conservative and Catholic background of his home-town on the
racing tracks around the world.
Now the young film-maker, Men Lareida rediscovers the
charismatic champion and ladies’ man – who even inspired
Steve Mc Queen for his role in “Le Mans” – for a younger
audience. Using a clever mix of exclusive film material from
the archives and interviews of former friends, family
members, and competitors, Men Lareida’s “Biopic” –
accompanied by the gripping beat-pop of Netz Maeschi’s band
“Stereophonic Space Sound Limited” – takes us back to a time
when car racing had not yet been corrupted by power and
money. In those days the Formula 1 was one big family and
not even Jim Clark, the world champion, was considered to be
an unapproachable star. The drivers were mechanics and heavy
workers, who got blisters from their overheated cockpits;
and Siffert was the poorest of them all. However, Siffert
was at the same time addicted to racing and always drove for
victory, without having a proper strategy. In the racing
circus where “every day means a small death and every night
a little love” he pushed the risks and the coolness to the
limits. And even though “the dream world of the 300 km/h” of
those days seems like a soap box derby compared to today’s
Formula 1, there was, nevertheless, an air of adventure,
glamour and sophistication.
The film takes us from his hometown Fribourg, to New York
and the Niagara Falls, and finally to Brands Hatch where
Siffert had won the English grand prix in 1968 and where he
died in the flames of his car during a race in honour of
Jackie Stewart. Through the film we can experience Siffert’s
optimistic and even light-hearted world of racing. We follow
the “Siffert crew” on country roads (there weren’t any
motorways then) to the race in Sicily, and see them, nicking
some lemons from trees on the roadside. In an other scene,
Siffert drives his racing car into a potato field at such a
speed that it has to be dug out and completely reconstructed.
That the “very charming, very friendly young Swiss” (as an
English TV commentator put it) was a bit of a ladies’ man,
is revealed by a journalist from the “Autorevue”: Flying
back from Heathrow to Switzerland in a Swissair plane that
had delayed its departure because of Siffert, the stewardess
discretely hands him her telephone number. The film about
this legendary Swiss sportsman is also an encouragement to
follow
your own dreams and to take certain risks in your life.
“Live Fast, Die Young” – the longing for a dangerous and
exciting life – has lost nothing of its attraction.
As Jo’s sister Adelaide says: “It’s better to live
dangerously for 34 years, than to be bored for 80 years.”
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