Rüdiger & Olaf Süß's Fatal Crash @ Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Rallye 1998 (Aftermath)
- 6 months ago
The German brothers Olaf and Rüdiger Süß were born in Erlabrunn, Saxony, in what was then part of East Germany. Olaf was born in December of 1968, and Rüdiger was three-and-a-half years his junior. In their adult life they lived in Bernsbach, also in Saxony, where they owned a furniture store.
Having acquired a 1993 Fiat Cinquecento Abarth prepared by AM Holzer Motorsport, the two began their rallying career in 1994 at the Rallye Erzgebirge, a round of the German Fiat Cinquecento-Trofeo, obtaining a 12th place. That was to be their only outing that season, but in the following years they participated in many events of both the German and the European Rally Championship for A Group cars. The Süß brothers' only win came in 1996, when they conquered the Fläming Rallye, a regional event. However, they did obtained a number of other remarkable class finishes, such as the second places in the 1995 Rallye Wittenberg and in the 1997 Mogul Rallye Šumava Klatovy , Drei Städte Rallye, Golden Tulip Rally. The Süß brothers also got a third place in the 1996 Rallye Erzgebirge.
They started their 1998 campaign at the Rallye Nieder-Sachsen-Anhalt, a round of the German Rally Championship, in which the brothers obtained a second place in their class, 50th place overall. Rüdiger was unable to partner with Olaf at the Mogul Rallye Šumava Klatovy in the Czech Republic, in early April, so the latter raced with German driver Michael Weißflog in a Opel Astra GSI 16V and obtained a 40th place in the N class and 59th overall. The Süß brothers then reunited for the Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Rallye, the second round of that year's Österreichische Rallye Meisterschaft (Austrian Rally Championship) - competing, as usual, with their 1993 Fiat Cinquecento Abarth.
That event began on Friday, 01 May 1998 in Kirchdorf an der Krems, in the historic region of Eisenwurzen, Oberösterreich. Shortly after the start of its first special stage - in fact, just 800 meters into it - the Süß brothers' Fiat Cinquecento Abarth bearing the race number #100, slid on a right turn and crashed violently against a wall. A group of spectators - including Olaf and Rüdiger's father - ran all the way from the start line to the scene of the accident and joined the rescuers who tried to save the competitors' lives. Sadly, though, the crash had been devastating. Co-driver Olaf was killed at the scene; Rüdiger, bleeding profusely from his head and chest, had no vital signs when he was reached, but doctors managed to reestablish his pulse. Rüdiger was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Linz, where he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, 08 May 1997.
Less than six months later, a second fatal accident marred the Austrian rally season. During the Rallye Steiermark, held on 10 October 1998, the Austrian driver Bernhard Geramb and his co-driver Christian Neuhold, also driving a Fiat Cinquecento, were killed in similar circumstances, when colliding into a concrete pole.
R.I.P
Having acquired a 1993 Fiat Cinquecento Abarth prepared by AM Holzer Motorsport, the two began their rallying career in 1994 at the Rallye Erzgebirge, a round of the German Fiat Cinquecento-Trofeo, obtaining a 12th place. That was to be their only outing that season, but in the following years they participated in many events of both the German and the European Rally Championship for A Group cars. The Süß brothers' only win came in 1996, when they conquered the Fläming Rallye, a regional event. However, they did obtained a number of other remarkable class finishes, such as the second places in the 1995 Rallye Wittenberg and in the 1997 Mogul Rallye Šumava Klatovy , Drei Städte Rallye, Golden Tulip Rally. The Süß brothers also got a third place in the 1996 Rallye Erzgebirge.
They started their 1998 campaign at the Rallye Nieder-Sachsen-Anhalt, a round of the German Rally Championship, in which the brothers obtained a second place in their class, 50th place overall. Rüdiger was unable to partner with Olaf at the Mogul Rallye Šumava Klatovy in the Czech Republic, in early April, so the latter raced with German driver Michael Weißflog in a Opel Astra GSI 16V and obtained a 40th place in the N class and 59th overall. The Süß brothers then reunited for the Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Rallye, the second round of that year's Österreichische Rallye Meisterschaft (Austrian Rally Championship) - competing, as usual, with their 1993 Fiat Cinquecento Abarth.
That event began on Friday, 01 May 1998 in Kirchdorf an der Krems, in the historic region of Eisenwurzen, Oberösterreich. Shortly after the start of its first special stage - in fact, just 800 meters into it - the Süß brothers' Fiat Cinquecento Abarth bearing the race number #100, slid on a right turn and crashed violently against a wall. A group of spectators - including Olaf and Rüdiger's father - ran all the way from the start line to the scene of the accident and joined the rescuers who tried to save the competitors' lives. Sadly, though, the crash had been devastating. Co-driver Olaf was killed at the scene; Rüdiger, bleeding profusely from his head and chest, had no vital signs when he was reached, but doctors managed to reestablish his pulse. Rüdiger was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Linz, where he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, 08 May 1997.
Less than six months later, a second fatal accident marred the Austrian rally season. During the Rallye Steiermark, held on 10 October 1998, the Austrian driver Bernhard Geramb and his co-driver Christian Neuhold, also driving a Fiat Cinquecento, were killed in similar circumstances, when colliding into a concrete pole.
R.I.P