It is a piece of Formula 1 history: When Jordan team boss Eddie Jordan was desperately looking for a replacement driver shortly before the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix because his driver Bertrand Gachot had been arrested in London, a young man from Kerpen unexpectedly got his first chance to prove himself in the top racing class: Michael Schumacher.
His manager at the time was able to pull off the coup mainly because of a lie: Willi Weber tricked Jordan into believing that Schumacher had already driven several races on the Spa track and thus had more knowledge of its pitfalls than other candidates. But it was only after Schumacher had the contract in his pocket that he rode the course on his bike for the first time – and thus learned its course.
Michael Schumacher could not finish his first race
The rest is history: Schumacher excelled from the first meter and secured seventh place in qualifying. A surprise success for the small Jordan team. Hopes for the upcoming race were raised, but a clutch failure ended Schumacher’s first Grand Prix participation after just a few hundred meters. Shortly afterwards, he switched to Benetton and took off.
The car that Schumacher abandoned back then, but which represents the start of his career, is now available. A dealer from Great Britain named is offering the car for an undisclosed price.
The Jordan-Ford 191 Formula 1 from 1991 (chassis no. 6) was used a total of seven times. Only those who have serious intentions of buying it will find out what DK Engineering ultimately wants for this historic vehicle.
Fortunately, a look at the car with which Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 career began is free of charge.
Source: Stern
I’m a recent graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism. I started working as a news reporter for 24 Hours World about two years ago, and I’ve been writing articles ever since. My main focus is automotive news, but I’ve also written about politics, lifestyle, and entertainment.
