Rindt, Jochen Karl |
| RACE CAR DRIVER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 18 Apr 1942, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz - DIED 5 Sep 1970, Monza, Lombardia: circuit CAUSE OF DEATH racing accident GRAVE LOCATION Graz, Steiermark: Grazer Zentralfriedhof, Triesterstrasse 164 (Feld 04b IVa 13) |
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Jochen Rindt's parents were killed in a bombing raid in Hamburg during the Second World War. He grew up with his grandparents in Graz. There he started racing and after successes in the Formula 2 he entered the Formula 1. There he was less successful for several years because the cars he drove weren't competitive. From 1965 to 1967 he was a member of the Cooper Car Company. In 1967 he married the model Nina Lincoln, a daughter of the Finnish racer Curt Lincoln and a friend of the model Twiggy. They had a daughter, Natascha, in 1968. In 1968 he moved to Brabham, but again without success. Things changed after he joined Lotus in 1969. That year he won the Grand Prix of the USA. In 1970 he won in Monaco, The Netherlands, France, Britain and Germany. During the training for the Grand Prix of Italy his car was altered to reach a higher top speed but this resulted in a crash in the Parabolica corner. He was taken to a hospital but already dead when he arrived. At the time he was in the lead for the world championship and after Jacky Ickx wasn't able to overtake him in the remaining races he was pronounced world champion posthumously. Tragically, he had promised Nina that he would retire from Formula 1 if he would win the world championship. |
| Images |
 The grave of Jochen Rindt at the Zentralfriedhof, Graz. Picture by Androom (15 Aug 2009) |
Sources • Find-A-Grave • Zentralfriedhof Graz – Wikipedia |
