Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer ( born March 16, 1943 in Mönchengladbach ) is a former German automotive sports racing driver and current entrepreneurs.
Origin
During his school years, Heyer was in a boarding school in Adenau and frequently visited car race at the Nürburgring, where he discovered his interest in motorsport. Then he should take, equipped with a large fleet of asphalt and concrete mixing his father's work, Matthias Heyer, he made at Daimler -Benz an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic and then became a member of the family business.
Motorsport
1959, at the age of 16 years, Heyer built his first kart, with the youngster competed in the Netherlands, because you were not found to race at least 18 years in Germany. After he had been in 1962 in the class up to 100 cc and 1963 in the class ³ to 125 cm Dutch champion, he went in 1964 with a national ID card kart race in Germany. In 1965, after several successfully completed license race, he was inducted into the German Formula K ( arting ) team. Heyer graduated in 1967 its first missions in races for the European and World Championships, in 1968, he secured already the German Cup and the European Championship of Formula K. 1969, he was able to repeat the double victory and denied above, one's first car race on a BMW of the team Koepchen. After the Lower Rhine had won in 1970 with a hat-trick for the third time the German and European Formula K Championship title, the German Federal President awarded him the Silver Laurel Leaf. 1971 Heyer secured for the fourth time in a row the formula K double success. In the same year the Wegberger further experience gained with auto racing. On BMW brand cars he was for the teams of Koepchen and Schnitzer Motorsport in use, for he drove a Mercedes AMG. In the years 1975, 1976 and 1980, he won in the German Racing Championship each title.
Between 1972 and 1986 Heyer took twelve part in the 24 - hour race at Le Mans, but failed each time. At the Grand Prix of Germany in 1977, he started for the first and only time in a Formula 1 race. With its ATS - Penske he had indeed can not qualify, but still took part in the race. Due to a technical defect in the shift linkage, however, he retired from after nine rounds.
1997 drove Heyer claims to be a total of 999 and provisionally last race. However, in 2004 heard Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen away, leaving the invited Heyer at the Norisring round of the VW Polo Cup his 1000th race contest.
Others
Heyer has worked as a managing partner in groups of companies in road and concrete construction. For many years he lived in the frontier country ring in Wegberg in the lower Rhine. His son Kenneth Heyer is also a racing driver.