Reine Wisell
Name: Reine Wisell
Nationality: Sweden
Date of birth: September 30, 1941 - Motala
Reine Wisell might have become a top line Formula 1 racing driver were it not for the fact that his career coincided with that of another great Swedish racing driver Ronnie Peterson.
Wisell started racing in a Ford Anglia when he was 20 and after learning more at the wheel of a Mini Cooper switched the single-seater racing in 1966 with a Cooper Formula 3 car with which he managed to win a couple of Swedish races. The following year he switched to Brabham machinery and won the Swedish title with eight race victories at home and around Europe.
By 1968 he was an established member of the Formula 3 scene and at the wheel of a Tecno was able to score 11 wins. The 1969 season saw him enjoying more success as a Chevron works driver in both Formula 3 and sportscar racing and in 1970 he moved into Formula 2 and Formula 5000.
In September that year the World Champion-elect Jochen Rindt was killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix. Team Lotus needed a new driver and chose Wisell to be teammate of the young Brazilian rising star Emerson Fittipaldi. Wisell finished third in his first Grand Prix in the United States but his success was overshadowed by the fact that it was Fittipaldi's first GP victory.
Wisell and Fittipaldi were re-signed by Team Lotus for 1971 but the Brazilian gradually asserted his dominance over the Swede and at the end of the year Wisell did a deal to race with the Marlboro-sponsored BRM team in 1972. He rejoined Team Lotus for a couple of races at the end of the year and then did occasional F1 races in the 1973 and 1974 seasons before fading out of the single-seater scene. In 1975 he raced a Hartwig Bartrams Porsche 911 in the European GT series and won the title and there followed some touring car events in Chevrolet Camaros.
Giving up top line competition Wisell concentrated on teaching advanced driving techniques in Sweden and does the occasional historic race.
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