Life and career

Mass was born in Dorfen, Bavaria. He participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 July 1973 at the British Grand Prix. He won one GP race (1975 Spanish Grand Prix), secured no pole positions, achieved 8 podiums and scored a total of 71 championship points.

Mass is perhaps best known for his blameless part in the death of Gilles Villeneuve. On 8 May 1982, with only 10 minutes left until the end of the qualifying session for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, Villeneuve collided with Mass while attempting to overtake him. Just as the pair rounded a super-fast left turn, (Mass ahead, Villeneuve behind) Jochen moved to the right hand side of the track to let Villeneuve through. Villeneuve had already committed to the right hand side, and the two cars touched wheels, launching the helpless Canadian skyward. Villeneuve's car hit the ground violently and nose-first. His seat was dislodged and he was flung from his car, landing heavily among the catch fencing at the opposite side of the track. Mass stopped his car, jumped out and ran back to Villeneuve’s wrecked car, but there was nothing he could have done. Villeneuve was flown to hospital and taken off life-support later that evening.

After leaving the Formula One circuit, Mass enjoyed great success in sports car racing, gaining international prominence with his performance during the European Touring Car Championship in the early 1970s. In 1972, he teamed up with Hans-Joachim Stuck to drive a Ford Capri RS2600 to victory at the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Belgium. He went on to win that year's World Sportscar Championship. He finished second to Clay Regazzoni and Arturo Merzario in a November 1972 9-hour race at the Kyalami Circuit, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mass' co-driver in a Chevron B-21 was Gerry Birrell. Mass, driving a Surtees TS-15, tied with Jean Pierre Beltoise in qualifying for the Jim Clark Memorial Formula Two auto race in April 1973 held at Hockenheim, both drivers recording times of 2 minutes, 2.8 seconds, for an average of 124.3 miles per hour.

Mass placed second to Jean-Pierre Jarier in a Formula Two race at Nivelles, in June 1973. He had finished second in the first heat and third in the second. He completed his first Formula One race at the 1973 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Mass came in seventh in a Surtees. He drove a McLaren-Ford to third place in the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Mass won the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix after leader, Rolf Stommelen's car hit a protective barrier, exploded into flames and catapulted into the crowd at the Montjuich circuit. Four spectators were killed and twelve were injured. Stommelen suffered multiple fractures and was in a critical condition after the accident. Mass was declared the winner in his Texaco McLaren-Ford, when the race was stopped immediately after the accident.

Merzario and Mass led an Alfa Romeo sweep of the first two positions in the 1975 Coppa Florio manufacturers championship automobile race at Pergusa. Mass was third in the 1975 French Grand Prix at Le Castellet. On lap 44 he broke the record set by Denny Hulme, clocking a time of 1:50.60 over the 3.61-mile circuit. Mass and Jacky Ickx teamed in a Porsche to claim victory in the Dijon Six-Hour Race. Mass won the eighth and final race of the 1976 World Sports Car Championship series. He completed the 4.2 kilometre, Salzburg course in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 25.24 seconds, with an average speed of 125 m.p.h.

Mass and Ickx drove a Porsche 935 in the 1977 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. Mass was clocked at 126.477 m.p.h. around the 3.84 mile Daytona road course. Mass won both 20-lap heats of the 1977 Jim Clark Memorial race in Hockenheim. He drove a March-BMW. Mass' Arrows turned over several times at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix at Zeltweg. He bruised his neck and wrenched a vertebra but was able to leave the hospital.

Mass was convinced to stop racing Formula One cars after an accident with Mauro Baldi at the 1982 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. His March and the Arrows of Baldi touched at maximum speeds, both cars flying off the track and through a containment fence. Mass's car continued, hitting a tyre-lined guardrail. The March finally came to rest upside down and on fire, almost halfway into a spectator area. Amazingly he escaped with light burns only, and Baldi was uninjured.

Among his many victories, in 1985 he won the Circuito del Mugello 1,000 km race in Italy driving a Porsche 962C and in 1987 partnered with Bobby Rahal to claim victory at the 1987 12 Hours of Sebring race. Mass and Bobby Rahal combined to win the Champion Spark Plug Grand Prix at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Driving a Porsche 962, they inherited the lead 18 laps from the end. Mass won the most prestigious endurance race of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1989 driving a Sauber Mercedes C9. It was the second triumph for Mercedes-Benz at Le Mans, their previous win having come in 1952.

Jochen Mass now drives the Mercedes-Benz museum's historic cars. In the 2004 Mille Miglia, he drove the original Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR that Stirling Moss had driven to victory in the 1955 race. To raise money for charity, the passenger seat next to him was auctioned off to the highest bidder.

From 1994 to 1998, he also announced the Formula One races for German broadcaster RTL.

Mass played himself in Ron Howard's 2013 film Rush.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos.	Pts
1972	STP March Racing Team	March 722	Ford BDA	MAL	THR	HOC	PAU	PAL	HOC	ROU	ÖST	IMO	MAN	PER	SAL	ALB	HOC				27th	1
1973	Team Surtees FINA	Surtees TS15	Ford BDA	MAL	HOC	THR	NÜR	PAU	KIN	NIV	HOC	ROU	MNZ	MAN	KAR	PER	SAL	NOR	ALB	VAL	2nd	41
1976	Project Four Racing	March 762	Lancia-Ferrari	HOC	THR	VAL	SAL	PAU	HOC	ROU	MUG	PER	EST	NOG							NC	0
	Fred Opert Racing	Chevron B40	BMW												HOC
1977	March Racing Ltd Yardley	March 772P	BMW	SIL	THR	HOC	NÜR	VAL	PAU	MUG	ROU	NOG	PER	MIS	EST	DON					NC	0
1978	ICI Chevron Cars	Chevron B42	Hart	THR	HOC	NÜR	PAU	MUG	VAL	ROU	DON	NOG	PER	MIS	HOC						NC	0

‡ Mass was a graded driver and therefore ineligible to score championship points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1972	Ford Motor Company Deutschland	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Ford Capri 2600RS	S 3.0	152	DNF	DNF
1978	Martini Racing Porsche System	Jacky Ickx Henri Pescarolo	Porsche 936/78	S +2.0	255	DNF	DNF
1981	Porsche System	Vern Schuppan Hurley Haywood	Porsche 936	S +2.0	312	12th	2nd
1982	Rothmans Porsche System	Vern Schuppan	Porsche 956	C	356	2nd	2nd
1983	Rothmans Porsche	Stefan Bellof	Porsche 956	C	281	DNF	DNF
1985	Rothmans Porsche	Jacky Ickx	Porsche 962C	C1	348	10th	10th
1986	Rothmans Porsche	Bob Wollek Vern Schuppan	Porsche 962C	C1	180	DNF	DNF
1987	Rothmans Porsche AG	Bob Wollek Vern Schuppan	Porsche 962C	C1	16	DNF	DNF
1988	Team Sauber Mercedes	Mauro Baldi James Weaver	Sauber C9-Mercedes-Benz	C1	-	DNS	DNS
1989	Team Sauber Mercedes	Manuel Reuter Stanley Dickens	Sauber C9-Mercedes-Benz	C1	389	1st	1st
1991	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jean-Louis Schlesser Alain Ferté	Mercedes-Benz C11	C2	319	DNF	DNF
1995	West Competition David Price Racing	John Nielsen Dr. Thomas Bscher	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	131	DNF	DNF

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1973	Team Surtees	Surtees TS14A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			NC	0
1974	Team Surtees	Surtees TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA					NC	0
	Yardley McLaren	McLaren M23															CAN	USA
1975	Marlboro Team Texaco	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				8th	20
1976	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT		ITA	CAN	USA	JPN		9th	19
		McLaren M26													NED
1977	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA									6th	25
		McLaren M26											GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN
1978	ATS Racing	ATS HS1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN		NC	0
1979	Warsteiner Arrows	Arrows A1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON											18th	3
		Arrows A2									FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA
1980	Warsteiner Arrows	Arrows A3	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA				17th	4
1982	March Grand Prix	March 821	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	BRA	USW	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	CAN	NED	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SUI	ITA	CPL		NC	0

‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Formula One Non Championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3
1974	Team Surtees	Surtees TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	PRE	ROC	INT
1975	Marlboro Team Texaco	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC	INT	SUI
1978	ATS Racing	ATS HS1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	INT
1979	Warsteiner Arrows	Arrows A1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC	DIN
1980	Warsteiner Arrows	Arrows A3	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ESP

[ Source: Wikipedia ]