Born : August 4 1949
Deceased : December 9 2020
Biography Walter Lechner
The impressive motorsports career of Walter Lechner starts in 1975. Walter Lechner Sr. attended a course at the Jim Russel Racing Drivers School at the Salzburgring. That was the first time he sat at the wheel of a race car . Just three years later, in 1978, the Vienna-born Formula Ford European Champion was the team boss of the Lechner Racing Team. He fielded no fewer than six formula cars in three racing series. As German and European Formula Super-VW champion in 1982, Lechner sought new challenges and found them in the US-American Can-Am series. Back then the Can-Am series was famous for its daringly constructed 1000 HP cannons.
Lechner finished fifth in the championship in 1984. That was a good foundation for a successful race career. Later he took part in the Interseries too, a European Competition recognized by the FIA. even converted Formula 1 racing cars were used. The first conversion, an F1-March, was built by Lechner Sr.
With numerous victories and titles, Walter Lechner Sr. gained great respect from renowned racers as Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig. Lechner celebrated his greatest successes with Porsche. In 1985, he won a race with a rented Porsche 956 at the Österreichring. Reason enough for Lechner to buy the successor to that car in 1986, a Porsche 962. That turned out to be a wise decisino. In the 6 years he raced the car, an eternity in racing, ht won a total of 11 races and 2 championships in six years.
The end of his active career
After his experience in Group C racing, Lechner changed to touring car racing. He won the Austrian Touring Car Championship against Dieter Quester in 1995. One year later, he decided to end his career as an active racer. Lechner passed on the wheel to his talented sons Robert Lechner and Walter Lechner Jr. Since then, Lechner sen. has been at least as successful as a racing driver as he has been as a team boss.
In 2003, Lechner Racing entered the international Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. In this series, Lechner Racing won both the drivers’ and team classifications in the 2005 , 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. Since 2009, Lechner Sr. has also been organizing the Porsche GT3 Challenge Middle East on behalf of Porsche AG, with races in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia.
After a long fight against his illness, Walter Lechner passed away home, surrounded by his family and beloved ones.
Pictures courtesy Porsche AG, Walter Lechner Racing and unknown.
