Fredy Lienhard, born on September 14, 1947, the first of five children in Herisau, Switzerland, was interested in anything with four wheels from an early age. According to his mother, the first word little Fredy could say was «car» and not «Mama.» His first contact with four-wheeled competitions was soapbox racing. His first soapbox car was built by himself, and Fredy Lienhard drove his «first race» in 1959 after his father gave him four wheels to build a soapbox car. This was practically the starting gun for his racing career.
After starting out with soapbox cars, which he mostly built himself and even equipped with an engine, driving them around the village or sometimes, against the rules, all the way down to Lake Constance, he made the leap into the still-nascent sport of karting in 1964, which he pursued for two years. As early as 1965, Fredy Lienhard competed in his first car races in an Austin Speed-well 1100, and from 1967, he drove a Morris Cooper S or occasionally a BMW 1800 TI. Fredy Lienhard was quickly found in the top 5, whether on the circuit or in hill climbs, which are very popular with the Swiss, and his first victories were not long in coming. In 1968, still during his student years, Fredy Lienhard founded his own racing team, the «Lista Racing Team,» with friends. It was named after his father Alfred Lienhard's company, «Lienhard Stahlbau AG.» Father Alfred Lienhard was certainly a motivational factor and role model for motorsport, as he successfully competed in motorcycle races in his early years. He founded the team with friends, including Markus Hotz, who later founded the «Horag Racing Team» and managed many races for Fredy Lienhard. His success in touring cars prompted Fredy Lienhard to switch to a Formula single-seater for the first time in 1969, and so he took a seat in a Formula Vee. This, by the way, like the soapbox cars, was self-built. Together with friends at the «Lista Racing Team,» they built several Formula Vees and not only shook up the Swiss motorsport scene. Even at the first «outing,» the rollout on the «Lista» company premises, Fredy Lienhard was fascinated by formula racing: «It was a great feeling to see the wheels spinning, something completely different from touring cars.» Fredy won his first national race in Formula Vee, and it seemed as if Fredy Lienhard would make his way in formula racing.
Fredy Lienhard's Setbacks
However, in 1970, Fredy Lienhard suffered a blow of fate, and motor racing came to a halt for the time being when his father Alfred unexpectedly passed away in April, and Fredy Lienhard, then 22 years old, had to take over his father's company. But in 1971, Fredy Lienhard returned to motorsport and dared to jump into Formula Super V. This was followed by hill climbs and circuit races. However, at the 1971 Hemberg hill climb, there was another setback. Fredy Lienhard had a serious accident after a loss of concentration. However, after his wild rollover, he was back in a race car in Hockenheim just two weeks later and continued his career. However, for safety reasons, he switched to GT racing in 1972 and initially drove a Porsche 911 R 2.5l. He was immediately among the fastest there as well and was usually found on the podium. For 1973, Lienhard acquired a Porsche RSR and achieved several victories. In 1974 alone, he won ten races with it. Despite his successes, Fredy Lienhard changed his racing car again. «It was a great time with the Porsche, the cars were perfect, and the results were great, but they weren't Formula cars, after all.».
The Rise of Fredy Lienhard
In 1975, Fredy Lienhard dared to switch to prototype racing, driving a March 75 S. «That was a dream car, much better than the GT cars, it suited me immediately,» said Fredy Lienhard. With the March 75 S, Lienhard mostly competed in the Swiss Championship races and was on track for the title with several podium finishes and wins. However, he lost the title by a very narrow margin. Due to a complicated scoring system, Fredy Lienhard narrowly lost the title by a few tenths over the course of the entire year... But Fredy Lienhard could also learn from defeats and found something positive in it: «I was always able to transfer something from racing to the company or vice versa. There were always synergies that helped me succeed in both sports and in business,» says the successful entrepreneur, who had to take on responsibility in the company early on and continued to race alongside his demanding job. He was never a true professional racer, but he always finished in the front ranks, and the cars he drove faster and faster became increasingly extreme. After a year in sports prototypes, a Formula 2 car joined the «Lista Racing Team» in 1976. «That was another step up from the prototype in terms of a racing car,» says Fredy Lienhard. «I really enjoyed it, we achieved great results, and I even started in the Formula 2 European Championship.» Then came the next steps in 1978. In March 1978, Fredy married his great love Regula and bought himself a March-BMW 782, essentially as his own wedding gift. Anyone from the competition who thought Fredy Lienhard would retire from racing because of his marriage was disappointed. His retirement didn't come until 1984, when, at the age of 36, he announced his retirement for age reasons and said «goodbye» to racing. Until then, he had been successful racing a Formula 2 car.
Fredy Lienhard's quick withdrawal from his withdrawal
However, the competition could not enjoy Fredy Lienhard's retirement for long, because already at the beginning of 1985, the retirement was probably more of a winter break, Fredy Lienhard returned with a prototype and won his first race on his comeback in an Osella-BMW PA10 at the «Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari». And in 1985 and 1986, the competition could only laugh if Fredy Lienhard retired. He had won all other races. But in 1987 he returned to Formula 2. At the season opener in Misano, Fredy Lienhard won in a March BMW 842 in the Swiss Championship race. Then in 1989, he switched to a Formula 3000, a March-Cosworth, incidentally the championship car of Stefano Modena, who was Formula 3000 Champion in 1987. In 1991, the March was exchanged for a Reynard-Cosworth before Fredy Lienhard switched back to sports cars in 1993 and drove a Lola Can-Am in the Interserie.
Back to the sports cars
1995, then the purchase of a Ferrari 333SP and a leap across «the big pond.» He raced the Ferrari primarily in America. Fredy Lienhard won his debut race for the Swiss Championship at Hockenheim, a sort of test run, straight away with the Ferrari 333SP. However, during his first race in the USA, the IMSA race at Road Atlanta, he was involved in a serious accident with the car. A hard impact after contact with a lapped car, the Ferrari lost practically its entire left side. There was a large hole in the chassis, and the Ferrari was nothing but scrap. But giving up is not an option for Fredy Lienhard; he learned that in difficult times during his successful entrepreneurial career as well. At the next race, Fredy Lienhard was there with a new Ferrari 333 SP back in the running. In Europe, Fredy won with the Ferrari in Zolder in 1997 and Le Castellet in 1998. He remained loyal to the prancing horse until the year 2000. Only when the horse started to falter a bit, with the Ferrari engine unable to keep up with the competition's performance due to the new regulations and air restrictor, did Fredy Lienhard pull off another clever move. He converted the Ferrari 333SP to a 10-cylinder Judd engine! With this, he was even able to win the race in Road America/Elkhart Lake. In early 2001, he then switched to a new project, an adventure with a Crawford SSC2K-Judd, but retired from Daytona with it. After a fourth place in Phoenix, they switched back to the Ferrari-Judd and won the races in Watkins Glen and Road America. His co-driver and friend Didier Theys was always by his side in sports car racing. He was also significantly involved in the success in sports cars. And not just as a driver. Didier Theys is a consultant, coach, and friend. A long friendship connects the two, the kind that is rarely found in motorsport.
The great success of Fredy Lienhard
And it was Didier Theys who was primarily responsible for putting together the building blocks of Fredy Lienhard’s great success. It was he who brought «Doran Racing» into the picture, the team that handled the races in the U.S. And for 2002, a special package was put together. At the season opener in Daytona, the famous 24-hour race, Fredy Lienhard competed with «Doran Racing» in a Dallara-Judd V10. The driver lineup: Fredy Lienhard, Didier Theys, Mauro Baldi, and Max Papis. The team managed to win one of the toughest races in the world. Fredy Lienhard thus became only the second Swiss driver after Jo Siffert to win the 24-hour classic at Daytona. A huge success for the fast gentleman driver. Fredy Lienhard has won many races, but Daytona was certainly the highlight of his racing career. For example, he went on to win the overall title in the Grand-Am Series at Mont Tremblant in 2002. This was also a special achievement for him, as he secured this overall victory alongside his son, Fredy Alexander Lienhard. Fredy Lienhard remained active in racing in the U.S. until 2006. Here, too, he found synergies, as his racing successes and the associated marketing made the «Lista» name well-known in the U.S., which he then leveraged to launch a new, successful business. In 2005, however, Lienhard got a taste of the «European Le Mans Series» with races at Monza and Silverstone, competing in a Lola-Judd with the team of his friend and co-founder of the «Lista Racing Team,» Markus Hotz, and his «Horag Racing Team.» In 2006, «Horag Racing» competed once again in the «American Le Mans Series» at «Petit Le Mans» in Atlanta and at Laguna Seca in the U.S. In 2007, they made another appearance at Sebring with the Lola-Judd before sending it back to Europe to compete in the ELMS. In the U.S., Fredy Lienhard then competed again with «Doran Racing» and a Maserati MC12 in the races at Elkart Lake and Atlanta.
Fredy Lienhard's Farewell Season
In 2008, the Swiss entrepreneur once again «got down to business.» A Porsche RS Spyder was purchased to be fielded by the «Horag Racing Team» in the ELMS. Porsche’s LMP2 prototype was the benchmark in the LMP2 class and was even, on occasion, a contender for an overall victory against the more powerful LMP1 contingent. However, victory eluded the successful amateur racer, as his teammate spun the car into the gravel trap while leading at Monza, and at Spa, the car had to be refueled while in the lead. Thus, two second-place finishes at Spa and Silverstone were the successful outcome. With his second-place finish at Silverstone, Fredy Lienhard once again—but this time for good—retired from active racing at the age of 61. And on his 61st birthday, no less! There is no better way to celebrate the end of a long and successful motorsports career. He was first and foremost an entrepreneur and could only ever pursue racing as a hobby, as he had to shoulder the responsibility for his successfully managed company. But with an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the gentleman has etched his name among the all-time greats. The straightforward, yet always friendly and above all fair sportsman and businessman, however, cannot give up driving. Although the now 76-year-old no longer races, he regularly takes some of his race cars out of his museum and is a welcome guest in the paddock. The entrepreneur has done a great deal for Swiss motorsports. The «Lista» logo has been seen on cars and racing suits in several series, and through this, Lienhard supported Swiss motorsports and its drivers. He has helped numerous talents on their way to the top, such as Neel Jarni and Simona di Silvestro. Fredy Lienhard has kept nearly all of his race cars and, in 2007, created the «autobau Erlebniswelt» in Romanshorn, Switzerland, to give the public access to his impressive collection. And these exhibits are not only on display at the «autobau Erlebniswelt,» but are frequently and swiftly driven by Fredy Lienhard himself. At track days or demo runs at Swiss hill climbs, his Lolas, Porsches, or Formula 2 cars are zipping around the track, and many people can’t believe there’s a 76-year-old behind the wheel. Fredy Lienhard may not have made a comeback, but he just can’t give up the thrill of driving high-performance race cars at high speeds… Once a racer, always a racer!
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Photos: Peter Heil/Fredy Lienhard Private Archive