Karl Kling

Karl Kling ( born September 16, 1910 in Giessen, † 18 March 2003 Gaienhofen on Lake Constance ) was a German racing driver.

Life

In 1936 Kling for Mercedes team and although he reached good lap times during a test drive, he had to work in the production department. Racing manager Alfred Neubauer favored Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hermann Lang.

After 1945 he started for BMW and Veritas in races in Germany, because the Germans were ruled from 1945 to 1949 from participating in international competitions. Kling was with Veritas 1948 and 1949 German sports car champion in the class of the 2 -liter sports car, then the largest sports car class.

In 1951 he returned to the Mercedes sports car team in 1952 and was able to achieve victory in the Carrera Panamericana across Mexico after a 19- hour-long ride and second place in the Mille Miglia. He was elected as the first race car driver to the German sportsman of the year 1952. In 1953 he had to pause after a training accident.

In the 1954 Formula 1 season Kling was part of the newly founded Mercedes Formula 1 team, but could not prevail against his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. He achieved second place at the GP of France in Reims. In the 1955 season Fangio and Stirling Moss dominated. When quadruple win the Silver Arrows Grand Prix of Great Britain, he stood as a third party for a second time on the podium.

The end of 1955, Mercedes withdrew from Formula 1. Racing manager Alfred Neubauer retired and Kling became his successor. Under him as race director Mercedes won at the beginning of the 1960s a number of international rallies like 1960 Monte Carlo, Acropolis 1960 Lakes 1961, Sofia -Liège- Sofia 1962 and 1963, Big street price of Argentina 1961 to 1964. His team presented the rally European champion in 1960 and 1962, Walter Schock, Eugen Böhringer at a time when there was no world Rally Championship. Kling himself denied even smaller races, his last two wins were 1959 marathon rally Mediterranee - Le Cap and 1961 the rally Algiers- Central Africa - Algiers.

1968 Kling retired and lived in his house in the district of Gaienhofen Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance, where he died in 2003.

Le Mans results

466067
de