{"id":7497,"date":"2024-06-26T12:59:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T10:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curbs-magazin.com\/?p=7497"},"modified":"2024-06-26T12:59:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T10:59:28","slug":"obituary-reine-wisell-disappeared-into-the-racing-abyss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slickpix.de\/en\/people\/nachruf-reine-wisell-in-der-renn-versenkung-verschwunden\/","title":{"rendered":"Obituary Reine Wisell \u2013 Vanished into Racing Obscurity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reine Wisell, the \u201eKing\u201c of Formula 3 in 1968 and together with Emerson Fittipaldi <\/a>successful F1 debut in 1970, couldn't bask in his successes for long and retired from racing relatively early. The blond Swede then basked in a different way \u2013 until his death on March 20, 2022, under palm trees on the beaches of Thailand.<\/p>\n

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\u201eMy goal is Formula 1, eventually,\u201c explained the 1968 Formula 3 dominator, the blond Swede Reine Wisell, with grand gestures to the nine-years-older, black-haired Spaniard Alex Soler-Roig on the occasion of the 1969 Solitude Race in Hockenheim. \u201eWell, then hurry up, but whether you believe it or not, I want to get there too,\u201c said the gentleman from a well-to-do doctor's family. Alex, at least, was able to pin a fourth place together with Rudi Lins in a Porsche at the 12 Hours of Sebring that year, but in a monoplace car he was pretty much on his own. Let's get ahead of ourselves: Reine climbed onto the \u201epodium\u201c in his very first Grand Prix, in 1970 at Watkins Glen, as a factory Lotus driver, alongside the new number 1 on the team, Emerson Fittipaldi, and the BRM driver Pedro Rodriguez. Alex, besides three non-qualifications between 1970 and '72, only managed six Formula 1 starts, in which he didn't see a checkered flag.<\/p>\n

Reine Wisell - From Dirt Bike to Formula 3 Star<\/h2>\n

The proximity of his birthplace Motala in the province of \u00d6sterg\u00f6tland to the Karlskoga race track inspired Reine Tore Leif Wisell to switch from two wheels in off-road events to four. After a Triumph Herald, a Mini-Cooper was next, with which he also competed in ice races and even became runner-up in 1966 behind a Lotus Cortina. Many retirements, mostly due to technical defects, had eaten away at his racing record, and only through a job at BMC Sweden could he plug the financial holes. His temporarily closed car repair shop, together with a friend, could open its doors again \u2013 for a Formula 3 Cooper, which he had bought from Inge Rosqvist. After mid-field placements, the prestigious victory against his well-known countryman Picko Troberg followed at the end of the season. \u201eExtremely important for me,\u201c says Reine, \u201cbecause I wanted to buy Picko's Brabham BT18 and lower the price.\u201c In addition to nine victories in the Swedish F3 Championship, he also took second places in Villa Real behind Chris Williams and in Jarama behind Clay Regazzoni. \u201eHis Tecno was the ultimate for me back then. Together with Ronnie Peterson, I sped off to Italy, where we bought a pair of Tecnos with all the money we could afford. In 1968, Reine Wisell sensationally won eleven European races, with street circuits like Brno or Monaco suiting him particularly well.
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