Every year the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance celebrates the life of a racing legend. This is a big difference between Amelia and other events and further stresses the racing and sports car focus of this fantastic event.
The honoree and grand marshal this year was Hans Joachim Stuck, part of the historic racing family. Stuck’s father, Hans Stuck, was one of the legendary post-war racing drivers who drove for both Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz.
Hans Joachim Stuck | Bob Golfen photoThe son also achieved an amazing record in his racing career, winning twice overall at Le Mans and takes three overall victories at the 24 hours event at the Nurburgring. He also has won for BMW, Ford and numerous other marques in sports car and DTM racing as well as racing successfully in both F2 and F1 competition.
I had the opportunity to hear him speak twice at dinners over the weekend and he was entertaining and interesting, telling great stories and really bringing to life his astounding 40-year racing career.
Sunday, the concours featured many of his cars. Seeing them together really illustrates the breath and depth of his racing talent.
On a side note, when Stuck raced the BMW BAT cars in the United States, he said that all drivers on the team had a second job to driving. His was the glamorous job of dumping the septic tank of the team RV. If that doesn’t illustrate how racing has changed over the years, I don’t know what does.
Photos by Andy Reid
