Wednesday 3rd November 1948

Born on this day, Helmuth Koinigg, an Austrian racer. A successful and promising driver in junior formulae, Helmuth Koinigg managed to get the necessary sponsorship to compete at the two final rounds of the 1974 Formula 1 season. All excited and eager to prove his worth and land a seat for the 1975 season the youngster from Vienna travelled to North America. One year to the day after Francois Cevert lost his life at Watkins Glen, Koinigg died there in a similarly cruel way when his Surtees crashed into the run-off area squeezing beneath the guard-rails and decapitating the young Austrian.