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Exclusive F1 Rejects Interview with EPPIE WIETZES
Interview by Stephen Slater |
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Eppie Wietzes won in just about everything he drove, sports cars and single seaters alike. He is a back-to-back Canadian Formula Atlantic Champion, a Can-Am and Trans-Am veteran, an endurance racer with starts in the Daytona 24hrs and Sebring 12hrs, and an F5000 stalwart with over five years of successful racing in that category from 1970 to 1975.However, his career also featured two brief forays into F1 - seperated by a mammoth seven years! This included a berth in the Lotus works team in 1967, alongside Jim Clark and Graham Hill. Not to mention his part in the infamous 1973 Canadian GP safety-car calamity, the results of which people still argue about today! Tracked down in retirement by F1 Rejects' UK Correspondent Stephen Slater, we asked him if he would answer some questions for us about his career, and he graciously obliged! |
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• Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Assen, Holland and my family emigrated to Canada when I was twelve years old. | |
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• Tell us a bit about your non-Formula One career.
I started off in a Morris Minor for three years and moved on to racing the Sunbeam Alpine. Then in 1963 I drove the No 2 Shelby Cobra and basically won everything that year! I finished sixth overall in the Players 200 race. A year later we had a Cooper Shelby and I crashed badly in the first race which left me in a cast for nine months. In 1965, I campaigned the Shelby Mustang for a year before in 1966 I began racing in GT40's. In 1968 I drove a Bruce McLaren M6 Can Am car at two races. In 1969 I came to England with a sponsor and we bought the Lola 142 Formula 5000 car - with which we won the Canadian Championship. | |
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• Talk us through your F1 debut at Mosport in 1967.
Well I was, as you might say, the 'hotshot' around Mosport, and I was picked to drive the third Lotus 49. But the deal was, if the car was used up (due to accident or mechanical failures on the other cars) then I would not be able to drive it until they were finished with it. But then during Thursday practice, unfortunately Jim Clark crashed in turn one and bent the car pretty severely. It took until Friday night to repair, so I didn't get to practice on Thursday or Friday. Now I had never sat in an open wheeled Formula One car before. So moving from a GT40 into an open wheeler was eye opening, and also being in front of a big crowd put a lot of pressure on me. I was told by the Formula One Organisation: "You can start, and you can drive, but you keep out of the way of all the other Grand Prix drivers". | |
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• What was it like racing in the rain and what problems did you have with the ignition?
Well, I was quite good at driving in the wet having done so many times before and I managed to get up to 11th place before the car just quit, and I pulled over to the side. Then I jumped out of the car and dried the ignition off. I realised that there was enough battery left to refire the car and so I went on. Twenty laps later it cut again in front of the pits. The mechanics re-started me and I drove to the finish, but they called it a disqualification because I was push started. | |
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• Now, in 1973 you drove a safety car at the Canadian Grand Prix. It was a total disaster...
I was only told what to do by the two way radio, so any confusion that there was came from the control tower. It wasn't down to me! [Note: For more details about the events of the 1973 Canadian GP, read our Wietzes biography.] | |
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• Seven years after your F1 debut at Mosport then, you made a Grand Prix comeback at the same track. On the front of the car there was a large Canadian flag. How did that logo originate?
It was a deal with the track owner and a few other people that I would sport the nations colours, we hoped that this would generate interest from the watching public. I was very pleased to be making a comeback and hoped that I could get a good result. | |
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• How did the race go?
Well, we were last on the grid, but in the four previous races that car had never qualified, so qualifying was an achievement. The race was dry, unlike in 1967, and this time I was allowed to race. I passed a couple of cars on the first lap and everything was running strongly until the gearbox broke. | |
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• Did you intend to make any more F1 appearances? What further categories did you then compete in?
I preferred to concentrate on other areas of motorsport because I knew there was no chance of a top F1 drive. I continued to compete in Formula 5000 for a couple of years and after that I did some long distance races at Daytona and Sebring. In 1981 we built a Trans Am Corvette and won the championship in it, but then we lost sponsorship. The last time I raced was at Daytona in 1987. | |
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• What have you been doing since you retired?
I enjoy boating, I have a motorcycle that I take out six or seven times a year. I love watching the Grands Prix, but Jacques Villeneuve is not doing as well as I would like! | |
| Click here to read Eppie's biography on our site! |
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