BRILLIANT BOB’S UNLUCKY 13

1973 Wollek’s first competitive Le Mans car was the Matra MS670B, in the year the French team fought its epic battle with Ferrari. As was to become the norm during his career, Wollek did lead the 24 Hours, but was in the wrong car. The V12 he shared with Patrick Depailler suffered failing oil pressure and retired early, while two of its three sisters finished first and third.

1974 An even better chance appeared to come the following year. Wollek was again in a Matra (with Jean-pierre Jaussaud and Jose Dolhem) but this time with no Ferrari opposition. Once more Matra finished one-three, and again Wollek was in one of the two blue cars that failed to see the flag thanks to engine maladies.

1978 Porsche team leader Jacky Ickx was moved over to join Wollek and Jurgen Barth in their 936 after problems on his own car.

The trio rose to second ahead of the eventual winner until the 936 required a gearbox rebuild on Sunday morning and lost nearly 40 minutes, finishing second.

1979 Sharing with Hurley Haywood, Wollek was in one of two ageing 936s that were the quickest cars in the field. The Ickx/redman example hit trouble when a tyre blowout caused radiator damage. Poleman Wollek’s car (below) took over, only to suffer a misfire that eventually cost an hour. They recovered to second place, only to retire with engine failure.

1984 In the absence of the works Porsche team, Wollek took pole for Lancia by more than three seconds. He and Alessandro Nannini led for a third of the closely fought race, but suspension and transmission troubles left them an unrepresentative eighth, 34 laps down.

1986 Jochen Mass took pole in the works Rothmans Porsche 962 he shared with Wollek and Vern Schuppan. The car was in contention in the early stages before Mass crashed out on oil. The sister 962 of Hans Stuck/derek Bell/al Holbert took victory.

1987 Once again Wollek/ Mass/schuppan were in the wrong works 962. Wollek took another Le Mans pole and Mass led, but the car retired early in the second hour with piston failure, thanks to incompatibility between the centrally supplied fuel and Porsche’s electronic control system. The ‘other’ car won again.

1988 This time Wollek with co-drivers Schuppan and Sarel van der Merwe was part of the Porsche fight with Jaguar for longer.

Wollek spent time in the lead, but water-pump issues and then engine failure ended another challenge.

1989 The 962 was long in the tooth, but the Joest example of Wollek/stuck was a formidable threat to Sauber and Jaguar.

The duo ran in the top five throughout and led until a coolant problem cost 15 minutes. They eventually finished third, despite several minor setbacks, beating the leading Jaguar and only losing out to the two best Silver Arrows.

1995 Wollek was third on the grid in the Courage C34, pole for the ‘real’ contenders given the front row was a Wr-peugeot lock-out.

With many cars ill-prepared or unreliable, the main opposition was the horde of unproven Mclaren F1 GTRS. Mario Andretti’s early error meant he, Wollek and Eric Helary were always playing catch-up and finished second.

1996 Wollek, Stuck and Thierry Boutsen had a fine run in their new Porsche 911 GT1 to win the GT class. But they couldn’t defeat the

lighter, Joest-run Porsche WSC95 sports-prototype, which Stuck described as “unbeatable”. A key delay was Stuck being pushed over a kerb, which eventually led to the front undertray needing replacing.

1997 This was the year when Wollek was the architect of his own downfall. The revised 911 GT1S were quicker than the WSC95 and Wollek’s car, which he again shared with Boutsen and Stuck, led throughout the night. It was still ahead when Wollek uncharacteristically spun into retirement at the Porsche Curves with a third of the race to go. “I don’t really know what happened,” said a disconsolate Wollek.

1998 Wollek’s last chance of victory came with the

911 GT1-98 alongside Jorg Muller and Uwe Alzen. The challenges of Toyota and Mercedes fell away, leaving Porsche to score a one-two. An off by Muller at the first chicane, which led to underbody repairs, meant Wollek was again second, behind Laurent Aiello/ Stephane Ortelli/

Allan Mcnish.