Josef Gartner (born 24 January 1954 and died 1 June 1986) was an Austrian Formula One driver who raced Osella part-time in 1984. He finished in the top five at the 1984 Italian Grand Prix, but was not eligible to score points since Osella had only entered one car to the championship.
He was killed while racing in the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans after his car suffered an unknown mechanical failure.
Before Formula One[]
In 1972, Gartner began working in motorsport with the Kaimann Formula Super Vee team in a technical role. He began participating racing in hillclimb events in 1976 before entering the 1977 European Formula Super Vee championship where he finished third in the championship.
Two years later, he advanced to the European Formula Three Championship before driving a two-year-old March in Formula Two. He was invited to the BMW M1 Procar Championship replacing Markus Höttinger, who was killed by a detached wheel from Derek Warwick's crashed car. Gartner had made his debut in that race, along damaging his car on debris from the incident.
In 1982, Gartner began competing in the European Formula Two Championship full-time driving a Spirit. He was awarded his first Formula Two victory in the 1983 Pau Grand Prix after race winner Alain Ferté was disqualified due to an underweight car.
A race victory opened doors for Gartner with sponsorships, which proved to be beneficial on his path to Formula One.
Formula One Career[]
Thanks in part to a sponsorship deal with the Austrian tobacco company Milde Sorte, Gartner landed a part-time drive with the struggling Osella team a second driver alongside Piercarlo Ghinzani for the 1984 season.
He made his debut on the fourth round of championship at the 1984 San Marino Grand Prix driving the previous year's car with a non-turbo Alfa Romeo engine. He qualified for the final place on the grid, thanks in no small part to mechanical issues for his teammate and Ayrton Senna, both of who failed to qualify. However, he retired with an engine failure on lap 46 of 60.
After sitting out for five races, Osella produced a second using the current chassis and turbocharged engine for Gartner. While the team has originally planned to only occasionally run a second car, they decided to run two cars from the 1984 British Grand Prix onward. However, since the team entered the season with only a single car, their second car was not eligible to score points.
Gartner's first race in the new car ended on the opening lap when the Austrian was involved in a multiple car crash started by Riccardo Patrese. His luck at the German Grand Prix and Austrian Grand Prix was just a poor, with mechanical failures ending the races in the early stages. He finished 12th in his first race at the 1984 Dutch Grand Prix, although he was the last of the running cars.
The 1984 Italian Grand Prix was a race of attrition that saw Gartner finish in fifth position. While the result would have normally been enough to earn two championship points, no points were awarded because Gartner was driving Osella's second car which was not eligible to earn points toward the championship.
He finished out the season with another mechanical failure just laps from the end of the 1984 European Grand Prix and he ran out of fuel at the end of the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix, dropping from 14th to 16th in the results.
Arrows was considering giving Gartner a seat on the team for 1985, but that seat was given to Gerhard Berger. He had been in talks with both Toleman and Osella, but he was not able to secure the seat and was without a drive for 1985.
After Formula One[]
With no seat in Formula One for 1985, Gartner moved to sports car endurance racing. At the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, he finished fourth with teammates David Hobbs and Guy Edwards.
In 1986, he competed in the IMSA GT Championship on a team owned by fellow driver Bob Akin. Gartner won the 1986 12 Hours of Sebring with Akin and Hans-Joachim Stuck. He was linked to a seat on the factory Rothmans Porsche for 1987, but tragedy struck.
Death[]
Gartner joined Kremer Racing for the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside teammates Sarel van der Merwe and Kunimitsu Takahashi. At 2:10am on Sunday while on his in-lap to pit for fuel from 8th position, Gartner's Porsche 962 veered left into the barriers at 260km/h due to an unknown mechanical failure. The car flipped over the barriers and struck a pole and trees alongside the circuit, catching fire.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 |  Osella Squadra Corse
|
Osella-Alfa Romeo | 0 | NC |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 10 |
| Starts | 8 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Race Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 2 |
| Laps Raced | 305 |
| Distance Raced | 1,476 km (917 mi) |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Pos | |||||||
| 1984 |  |
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0 | NC | |||||||
| Ret | [1] |
Ret | Ret | Ret | 12th | 5th [2] |
Ret | 16th | |||||||||||||||||
| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes[]
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