Jochen Mass was born in Dorfen, Germany in 1946. He started racing in 1968 with an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint winning both the races he entered. When his racing was noted, he got an invitation from Ford to take part in some of their testing sessions. That allowed him to become a works driver. He raced with the Ford Capri in the European Hillclimb championship and won the German and European title for Ford in 1971 and 1972. In between he did some circuit racing with BMW, because Ford’s car was not ready for the circuit.
Next to his Ford Touring car activities ( and winning the 4h Jarama in a Ford Escort RS 1600 with John Fitzpatrick), he got behind the wheel of a single seater for the first time in 1971. He started racing in the Super Vee’ Championship in Finland. When he was leading the championship, Ford send him over to England to participate in the Formula 3 for the last 6 of the 16 races. He won a race and got noticed by different teams. With a works driver contract for March in his pocket, he finished the year driving for Ford in the Springbok South-African series with the Capri.
In the 1972 season he went to race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 with March (photo below). Again he scored some wins. His biggest achievement in 1972 was winning the European Touring Car Championship Group 2 with the Ford Capri 2600 RS. He won the 24 heures Spa (# 2, with H.Stuck) and the 4h Monza, 4h Zandvoort, Tourist Trophy and again the 4h Jarama. And in the winter Jochen Mass was very successful in the South African Springbok Trophy, driving a Chevron B23 (Team Gunston) with 3 wins in five races.
For 1973 he became a driver for Team Surtees in the Surtees TS15 in F2. With two victories and four second places he finished second in the European Championship behind Jean-Pierre Jarier in a March. Because there was less Formula 1 back in those days, many drivers did other races too. Jochen also did the European Touring car.
And he got his first taste of the Formula 1. His first race at Silverstone in the Surtees TS14A ended in the big first lap accident, but he finished P07 on the Nürburgring.
1974 was all about adjusting in the F1 world with the Surtees team and the TS16. He never got a decent race result because the car was hard to drive and there were numerous suspension and chassis problems, gearbox and engine failures. Only a second place in the non-championship BRDC race was his best result. After the Nürburgring race, he left the team.
He got a call from McLaren to drive a M23 for the last two races as a replacement for the injured Mike Hailwood. And guess what : a P07 at Watkins Glen.
Occasionally he was active for the Ford Motor works team and the 4h Zandvoort was won with team mate Rolf Stommelen and the Ford Capri 3400 RS.
Jochen was offered a drive in place of the retiring Denny Hulme for 1975. Affectionately nicknamed 'Hermann the German' by the McLaren Team, he became an excellent number two to Emerson Fittipaldi. It was a top year for Jochen Mass. He won the famous accident-shortened "half points" Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona after the race was red flagged following Rolf Stommelen's accident in the Hill GH1 which killed four spectators. Jochen also stood on the podium with a P03 at Interlagos, Paul Ricard and Watkins Glen.
Endurance racing also got his interest. He raced for the Gelo Racing team in a Mirage GR7-Ford and for Willi Kaushen Racing in the Alfa Romeo 33TT12. With Arturo Merzario he won the 1000 km Pergusa. In the interserie, again with the Alfa, he won the Nürburgring event.
The German's role as number two in the McLaren F1 team continued for the next two years as James Hunt joined the team. Jochen was unlucky not to win the 1976 German GP. Having gambled to run on slicks, he was on course for the victory when Lauda's accident stopped the race early. He provided the team with eight top-six finishes in 1976, with a P03 podium finish at Kyalami and the Nürburgring, enough for a P9 in the final standings.
In 1977, he finished second in Anderstorp and third at Mosport. Still with the M23 and later in the season the M26, Mass ended the championship in P6 just behind Hunt.
1976:
His biggest achievements came from his endurance racing for the Martini International Team, the Porsche works team. Together with Jacky Ickx driving the Group 5 Porsche 935-77, he won 3 races in 1976: 6h Mugello, 6h Dijon, 6h Vallelunga and with the Porsche 936 he won the 500 km Monza, Imola and Dijon with Ickx and the Pergusa and Salzburgring race with Rolf Stommelen. He repeated that in 1977 with a win in the 6h Silverstone, 6h Watkins Glen and the 6h Brands Hatch with the Porsche 935-78 and Jacky Ickx. In the beginning of 1977 Jochen also won two F2 races in a March 772-BMW!
1976 :
1977:
In the F1 world in 1978, ATS bought March's membership of FOCA. Robin Herd was credited with the design of the new ATS HS1, an update to the aged Penske PC4. Jochen Mass was hired as the new No 1 driver, although JP Jarier stayed onboard for the first races. Robin Herd was hired as engineer but left after one race, the material was outdated, so it became a miserable season: a P7 in Brazil and a P9 in Spain.
During a test session at Silverstone, Jochen got ana accident and missed the last races of the season. While he was in hospital, he had a visit from Frank Williams to see if he wanted to drive for him, but Jacky Oliver, Arrows team boss, promised him a strong financed Arrows team, so he went to them.
With Porsche, he won the 6h Silverstone.
Off with the Arrows F1 team for 1979. First the A1 car and later in the season, the spectacular Arrows A2. The year started with a fourth place finish in the Race of Champions. He finished P6 in Monaco with the A1. With the A2, Warsteiner sponsored car, he finished P6 in Germany and at Zandvoort. However, he did not get qualified for the last two races.
He stayed with Arrows for 1980. He finished P4 in Monaco, a P6 in South-Africa and finished second in the non-championship race at Jarama. In the Austrian GP, Jochen Mass had a serious accident wih a broken spine, so he was out for a few months. He was back at the wheel of the A3-Ford in the last two races of the season.
1979:
1980:
At the end of 1980 he did not have a seat in any F1 team, but found for the 1981 season a drivers spot in the Joest Racing Team. With the Porsche 908/80 Turbo he was driving in the Sportscar championship and finished second in the 1000 km Nürburgring. Mass won several rounds of the Interserie races with this car. With the Joest Porsche 935J he raced in the DRM and was a factory Porsche racer in Le Mans.
For 1982 there was again a place in F1 for Mass in the March team. With the March 821- Ford, his best result was a P7 in Detroit. He was involuntary involved in the accident of Gilles Villeneuve at Zolder and that was the first time he thought about stop racing.
But he was now also a full member of the Porsche Rothmans team for driving and developing the Porsche 956 in the world Sportscar championship. His real first race with this car was the 24h Le Mans. Together with Vern Schuppanin the #2 he finished second after the winners, his team mates Ickx and Bell. As a bonus he won the DRM 200 meilen Nurnberg in the same car. Later in the year he won the Fuji 6hours together with Jacky Ickx and the 9 hours of Kyalami.
It is all Porsche 956 in 1983 and a third place in the final World Championship Endurance drivers. A win in the Nürburgring and Spa 1000 km together with Jacky Ickx, a second place in Monza, Brands Hatch and Fuji.
Same success story in 1984. With winning the 1000 km at Silverstone and the Budweiser 1000 km at Mosport with Jacky Ickx again and a second place in Brands Hatch, Spa and Sandown Park, Jochen Mass was second in the championship standings behind Stefan Beloff. He joined the Joest Racing team again in the Interserie championship and the DRM with the Porsche 956C.
Porsche switched to the 962 model for 1985 and Jochen stayed on board for the championship and did stay a member of the Joest Team. At the start of the season, Mass was active in the IMSA. First race with the BF Goodrich team ended on the third podium step of the 24 hours Daytona race. But a DNF in Sebring followed that. Again with Jacky Ickx, he won the Mugello 1000 km, the Silverstone 1000 km and the Selangor 800 km. For the record: a third spot in the championship standings again !
Mass was seven times on the podium in the Interserie, winning two races.
In between he kept racing in the IMSA championship with BF Goodrich team; a second place again in the Watkins Glen 500 km was his best result after Daytona.
1985 24h LeMans (P10) 1985 24hDaytona (P 03)
Jochen Mass switched his approach for 1986 and got a fulltime involvement in IMSA with the BF Goodrich Porsche 962. He finished most of the races with some podium places again in the 24h Daytona, the Riverside 6hours, the 3h Palm Beach and the Columbus 500km. In Europe, his few races for the official Rothmans team did only ended in a DNF.
Jochen decided to go to the Bayside Disposal Racing Porsche 962 for the IMSA in 1987. That resulted in a win in the 12 hours of Sebring, in the Mid-Ohio 500 km, the Sears Point 300 km and the Del Mar 2h together with Bobby Rahal. These results brought Mass to the third place in the championship standings. In Europe, Jochen was a member of the Porsche team. Again a DNF in Le Mans. He joined the Brun Motorsport Porsche for the latter part of the season and finished third at the Nurburgring and at Spa.
In November he won the non-championship race, the 9 hours Kyalami with the Richard Lloyd Porsche 962C GTi. ( see photo shoot)
For 1988 the FIA created a true "World Sportscar Championship". It was in fact only a European championship with a race in Japan and Mexico. The works Porsche AG team had left the endurance racing in the middle of 1987 to concentrate on the Porsche TAG engine for McLaren in F1. Peter Sauber called Jochen Mass and he accepted. He knew that the Sauber C9 would have a great Mercedes V8 engine. He found the car faster than the 962 and during the season he helped in changing the aerodynamics, the tires and dampers to make it a very easy car to handle. The season started on a triumphant note. Mass and Jean-Louis Schlesser won the first race held at Jerez beating three TWR Jaguar XJR9. In Monza and Silverstone, they finished second. After a DNF in Le Mans, there were again two wins: Brno and at the Nürburgring ( in the wet!). The last race of the year at Sandown Park was also for Schlesser/Mass. Jochen finished fifth in the drivers standings.
For the 1989 season, the C9 were painted in Mercedes silver. Mass was teamed again with JL Schlesser and Mauro Baldi. The season started at Suzuka. Jochen got a viral eye infection and could not drive, but was classified second. Same result at Dijon. For the 24h Le Mans race, there were 4 Silver C9’s entered. Mass was teamed with M.Reuter and Stanley Dickens in the #63. The race turned into a battle between Jaguar, Sauber and the Joest Porsche 962. The Saubers could easily stay with the TWR cars. In the morning at 6.20, the last leading Jaguar was forced into the pits for a gearbox rebuild and this brought two C9’s in the lead. Mass had the best perfroming car and crossed the line as the winner. His winning streak went on. He won the race at Jarama, Nurburgring, Brands Hatch and Mexico. Jean-louis Schlesser ended the season as world Champion; Mass was second.
In came three young drivers in the Sauber team: Karl Wendlinger, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher. Jochen Mass got the task to tutoring these three students in the job of driving the new Mercedes C11. He said yes to the job, but feared that now he had probably lost the possibility of becoming world champion. On top of this: Bernie Ecclestone had taken over the promotion of the Group C Championship and he had changed all long distance races into sprint format races. The 24h LeMans was excluded from the championship. Jochen now knew that his world class racing career was coming to an end.
The first 480 km race was in Suzuka and the second at Monza and that ended in a one-two for Mercedes; Mass teamed with Wendlinger finished second in both races. At Silverstone, he got disqualified for external aid. But in Spa, Mass and Wendlinger were the overall winners beating the Jaguar XJR11 of Lammers and Wallace.
The Sauber team boycotted LeMans, but were present again for the 480 km Dijon. Here and in the next rounds at the Nurburgring and Donington, the C11’s were superior with Jochen finishing second again in every race. The Montreal race ended halfway due to the accident and fire of the Pareja-Huysman Porsche. If Mass had got full points for this race, he would be worldchampion! The last race in Mexico showed a strong driving Mass and a Schumacher showing super speed winning the race.
The FIA allowed that the old turbo cars could race in 1991 with a minimum weight ballasted up to 1000 kg. Schlesser and Mass got to drive the old C11; the young drivers got the new C291. In the first race at Suzuka it was obvious that the heavy C11 was slower than the rest, but still Jochen was able to finish second. In Monza it was Jaguar in front, Mass third. Same problems in Silverstone: to slow. Mass now finishing fourth.
Mass- Schlesser did the Le Mans race with the C11 and retired with engine problems. The rest of the season with the C291 ended all in retirements exept for a P05 at the Autopolis circuit.
After the season and the end of the Mercedes and the World sportscar championship (thanks Bernie), Jochen Mass decided to end his active career. He was now 45 years old
Surprsie in 1995 : West competition Mclaren F1 LM participation in the 24 hours of Le Mans (David Pryce Racing), a DNF.
Still today, you can meet Jochen Mass in historic events driving for Mercedes ( and on some occasions a Porsche).
