Psychology and racing

Siegfried Stohr climbs out of his Arrows A3-Cosworth, picture-above, after practice for the 1981 US Grand Prix West held at Long Beach, California. The Italian finished in 28th position because he couldn’t post a time in Q2 due to mechanical problems and did not qualify for the race.

It must have been a bitter disappointment for Stohr and a missed opportunity for him to shine on his Grand Prix debut, all the more because his team mate Riccardo Patrese stunned everyone and captured pole position, in front of the competitive Williams’ of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann!

For 1980, Siegfried Stohr, a psychology graduate at the University of Padua, joined Alan Docking Racing, driving a Toleman, and finished fourth in the F2 championship with one win, at Enna. He joined Arrows for the 1981 Formula One season, did a decent job, but couldn’t match Patrese’s speed and did not score any championship point.

In the 1990’s he became a regular columnist for the Italian motorsport weekly Autosprint and still writes columns about driving safety, psychology, reading and motor sport in general.