| Nationality: | Liechtensteiner | Races Entered: | 16 |
| Date of Birth: | 14 October, 1947 | DNQ/DNPQ: | 2 |
| Teams: | Ensign (1973-74) Brabham (1974) |
Best Result: | 9th, Sweden/Holland, 1974 |
BIOGRAPHY
Before Formula One
Frederick 'Rikky' von Opel, 4th generation descendent of Opel car company founder Adam Opel, heir to the family fortune, the pride of tax refuge Liechtenstein (and a man for whom helmet design obviously wasn't important), was actually born in New York. Long before Andrea de Cesaris or Pedro Diniz, von Opel was the original racing rich kid. Like Paul Stewart, who started off his racing career using a pseudonym, von Opel was also unwilling to divulge his family heritage, for fear that this would be more hindrance than help. So instead he ended up using the rather outrageous name 'Antonio Bronco'.
But in 1970, after showing signs of being genuinely competitive in Formula Ford 1600, he reverted to his real name, and didn't disappoint. In 1971 he moved up to F3, driving a Lotus, and he did enough to secure a seat with the works Ensign F3 team run by the legendary Mo Nunn for 1972. At that time, there were several F3 championships. In his Iberia-sponsored machine, von Opel scored 61 points to win the Lombard North Central Championship, beating prodigious talents Tony Brise and Andy Sutcliffe. In the Forward Trust Championship, he came a close second, scoring 48 points to Roger Williamson's 50, and just ahead of Mike Walker on 46.
Formula One
Von Opel felt at home in the Ensign operation, so much so that he began throwing his money around, and asked Nunn to design a chassis for an F1 tilt in 1973. It goes without saying that this was ambitious at best, but Nunn made the best of the situation by designing a simple chassis. The best thing about the somewhat bulky monocoque (called alternately the MN01 and the N173) was probably Nunn's choice to paint it in British Racing Green, albeit a rather dark interpretation thereof. The chassis housed the ubiquitous Ford DFV V8 engine, plus a Hewland FGA400 gearbox, and was ready in time for the French GP. France wasn't an overly glorious start, though. Qualifying bog last in 25th spot, some 7.18 seconds behind Jackie Stewart on pole, and 1.68 seconds behind Howden Ganley in 24th, he proceeded to stay on the Paul Ricard track and finish 15th, but three laps adrift. The situation improved in Britain, where he qualified 21st, ahead of Roger Williamson, John Watson, Jackie Oliver, Graham Hill and Chris Amon, yet he came home just 13th, a massive six laps down. Niki Lauda, whose BRM was 12th, was only 4 laps down, while Mike Beuttler in 11th was only two laps adrift.
Accusations started floating around that von Opel was no more than a playboy racer, who had more money than ability. Vagner Salus tells us he has heard that some of the other drivers petitioned to have Rikky banned, although we could find no evidence to support this. In all fairness, von Opel was not that bad at all, and he took his F1 project very seriously. The Liechtensteiner answered his critics in the best possible way at Zandvoort, recording the 14th fastest time in qualifying, only 2.54 seconds behind Ronnie Peterson's pole-sitting Lotus. He was even in front of reigning World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi and ex-champ Hill. But sadly, his chassis would develop cracks and he would not start the race. This problem also caused the combination to miss the German GP. Back for Austria, the dark green car started 19th but had a fuel system failure. At Monza, von Opel outqualified Hill's Shadow for the fourth time in succession, and this time was also ahead of the talented Clay Regazzoni, but overheating would end his race early.
It soon became patently clear that, despite Nunn's undoubted expertise, Ensign wasn't going to take Rikky up the grid, and straight afterwards he pulled out of the team altogether. While Ensign spent a few races on the sidelines before Aussie Vern Schuppan came to drive, von Opel also warmed the bench until round 4, when he took over the pay driver's seat at Brabham (run by Bernie Ecclestone) alongside Carlos Reutemann at Jarama, hoping for better things in the BT44 chassis. But in an inauspicious outing first up von Opel could only manage 24th on the grid, while Reutemann was 6th and 2.48 seconds faster. In the race, Brabham's misery was complete when both cars retired early, von Opel with an oil leak. Strangely, in Belgium von Opel actually outqualified his Argentine team-mate, scoring 22nd while Reutemann was 24th and 0.13 of a second slower. An engine failure accounted for his race.
At Monaco he would not even qualify, recording the slowest time and being the only driver of the 28 entrants to not be allowed to start. Things were better in Sweden and Holland, where he would finish 9th in both races. In fact, at Zandvoort, he actually beat Reutemann, who was 12th. But then in France he would once again fail to qualify, having been 24th fastest out of 30 when only 22 were allowed to start. Considering that he was only 2.47 seconds behind Lauda's pole time, and only 0.4 of a second behind Francois Migault in 22nd, he could justifiably feel a touch hard done by. Worse still, after these comparatively dismal efforts Ecclestone decided that he didn't need Von Opel's money any more, and the Liechtensteiner lost his seat to the much more able Carlos Pace. After 14 average efforts, with only two failures to qualify, von Opel's F1 career was over.
After Formula One
Actually, the above statement can be qualified. Not only was von Opel's F1 career over, it would appear that he turned his back on motor racing altogether. Probably deciding that his money was better off invested elsewhere, he was not seen at the track ever again. Our wild guess is that he's probably in a plush office these days, counting an extensive family fortune. But if any one has anything a little more concrete on what Rikky is up to, please le tus know!
CAREER SUMMARY
| Before Formula One | |
| 1970 |
• Raced under the name 'Antonio Bronco'. • Competed in Formula Ford 1600. |
| 1971 | • Competed in F3 in a Lotus. |
| 1972 |
• British Lombard North Central F3 Championship, 1st overall, 61 points in an Ensign. • British Forward Trust F3 Championship, 2nd overall, 48 points in an Ensign. |
| Formula One | |
| 1973 | • Ensign N173 Cosworth V8, 7 entries. |
| 1974 |
• Ensign N174 Cosworth V8, 1 entry. • Brabham BT44 Cosworth V8, 6 entries, 2 DNQs. |
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