Rikky von Opel


Frederick "Rikky" von Opel is a former racing driver from Liechtenstein, the only driver from that nation to have competed in the Formula One World Championship. He won the Lombard North British Formula 3 Championship in 1972. He participated in 14 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix for the Ensign and Brabham teams, debuting on July 1, 1973. He scored no championship points.
He is the son of Fritz von Opel and a great-grandson of Adam Opel, the founder of the German car-maker Opel, today a subsidiary of Groupe PSA.

Formula One career

1973

Opel's Formula One debut coincided with that of the team that provided him with his big break, Ensign. Both began at Paul Ricard in France, the eighth race of the 1973 season, with Opel qualifying his N173 25th and finishing 15th, three laps down. Great Britain was next, while Opel finished 13th, six laps down, after starting from 21st.
More promising signs appeared to be on the horizon at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix where he qualified a very creditable 14th, ahead of former World Drivers' Champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Graham Hill. However, on the morning of the race, cracks were found in the chassis. With too little time to make repairs, Opel was unable to start and the same issues prevented the team from starting in Germany too. Fuel system issues curtailed Opel's Austrian Grand Prix where he qualified 19th, and an overheating engine ended his Italian Grand Prix, after qualifying 17th.
The North American climax offered little better; he qualified 26th and last in Canada and was unclassified in the race, finishing 12 laps down, whilst in that year's United States Grand Prix he once again qualified dead last, 27th, and retired on the opening lap with his throttle jammed open. Opel's debut season produced no points, and he was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.

1974

Ensign's car for the new season, the N174, was much like the N173, but at the opening round of 1974 in Argentina, Opel discovered how little progress had really been made. He qualified 26th, again dead last, more than seven seconds slower than pole-sitter Ronnie Peterson and almost one and a half seconds slower than Guy Edwards, who qualified 25th. The handling of the car was so flawed that his team withdrew it from the meeting and shortly afterwards Opel quit the team.
He sat out the races in the Brazilian Grand Prix and South Africa until he took over the second Brabham seat from Richard Robarts, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. Their BT44 was powered by the same Cosworth DFV V8 as the Ensign, but the chassis was far superior, so hopes were raised.
However, Opel couldn't make the most of it and he struggled to match the performance of new teammate, Argentine Carlos Reutemann.
Retiring with an oil leak in Spain, after qualifying 24th, and again a fortnight later in Belgium with a blown engine, from which he started 22nd, were not the lift in performance Opel wished for. Monaco was worse still, where he was the only driver that failed to qualify. Brief respite was found in Sweden and the Netherlands with his first top-10 finishes, 9th on both occasions.
The promise was short-lived though, as failure to qualify next time out in France was the final straw for Brabham boss Bernie Ecclestone, and Opel was replaced by Carlos Pace. For the second year running he was unclassified in the Driver's Championship with no points. A little over a year after his debut, the career of Liechtenstein's only Formula One driver was over.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415WDCPoints
1973Team EnsignEnsign N173Cosworth V8ARGBRARSAESPBELMONSWEFRA
15		GBR
13		NED
DNS		GERAUT
Ret		ITA
Ret		CAN
NC		USA
Ret		NC0
1974Team EnsignEnsign N174Cosworth V8ARG
DNS		BRARSANC0
1974Motor Racing DevelopmentsBrabham BT44Cosworth V8ESP
Ret		BEL
Ret		MON
DNQ		SWE
9		NED
9		FRA
DNQ		GBRGERAUTITACANUSANC0