Peter Daetwyler is a rarity, a unicum ! He discribes himself as a spinner in a positive way, living and enjoying
motorsport to the full. He is a central figure in the swiss motorsport scene although he never was a successful
pilot, nor a teamowner or an official. He is exeptionally well connected from the basis to the very top, an organisor
and first of all an out-and-out enthusiast.
For a long time, he was the operator of one of europes biggest indoor Kart tracks in Roggwil – which he turned into
a meeting point for swiss motorsport - and now he manages, together with his Thai-wife, the restaurant of the
small swiss airport in Bleienbach. Also he was the organisor of the Altbüron hillclimb and invented a get-together
for ancient swiss racig divers.
Read his takes on motorsport and beware: he is not afraid to speak his mind!
TSS: Did you pursue motorsport actively when you were younger?
PD: As long as I can think, I have always been a motorsport fan to the core. I was also a helper and mechanic for quite a long
time and in fact, there was a period when I pursued a career as a driver. But I never made it into the history books primarily
because of lack of pocket money. Important for me was the pure joy and honor to be part of the scene, and cornerning this, I
absolutely gained a lot of satisfaction.
TSS: Your first F1 Grand Prix! Tell me how you did get there and what are your memories!
PD: I still know that if it was yesterday! After weeks of arm-twisting, me and two of my collegues were driving to Zandvoort in
1967. And immediately I was allowed into Jo Sifferts pits! As I was able to shake his hand, I swore I will never wash my hand
again in my life! My second GP was in Monza. I drove there, still as a school-boy, with the Landrover of our local carpenter –
unthinkable today! Of course I did not have a ticket but I sat on the main grandstand for the complete race. John Surtees won
in a Honda and Siffert came ninth. I was back at
school on Monday morning, incredibly tired and but
happy.
TSS: You have a deep interest
and knowledge in swiss
motorsport. How do you
explain that switzerland of all
places has such a big tradition
and enthusiasm for motor racing?
PD: There was and still is a lot of
money in our country – fast cars and bikes were always very popular here. You just have to check old startlists of slaloms and
hillclimbs and you will find a vast amount of absolute dream cars having competed. We always were excited of fast cars and we
always had good drivers!
TSS:Talking of drivers, is there anybody in sight, taking the footsteps of Siffert, Regazzoni and Surer?
PD: You can add Wilhelm Tell to the names you just talked about! There won`t be someone like him as well. The three names
mentioned were real characters and idols. Nowadays everything is too fast moving and elusive.
Speaking honestly, we have successful swiss drivers like Fässler, Buemi and Jani who even were
world champions, but you cannot compare the times as well as you cannot compare the
performances. If somebody makes it into F1 today he is
already called a F1 STAR, even if the achievements of a
Herbert Müller for example must be rated much higher - a
driver who did not make it into F1. At the time of this
interview, another swiss–star is not on the horizon. But I am
confident that swiss drivers will come out on top time and
time again.
TSS: Is there a motorsport-event you love best, one you
would like to visit once or you even have been to already?
PD:In the past, each hillclimb or race on a closed circuit I
was able to visit was my favourite event! It was irrelevant to
me if I was going to the really small local club races or to
the big and important hillclimbs which I visited as a
schoolboy with my moped everywhere in switzerland, or if I
had to persuade a chauffeur to bring me to one of the
international races in Hockenheim or other neighbouring
countries, as I was too young to drive and our family did not
have a car anyway.It was a fantastic time. Each month, the
postman brouht a big cardboard envelope and in it was the latest copy of « POWERSLIDE »
magazine: it was like christmas for me! Today in the times of internet it is inconceivable how
exciting it was, to explore and enjoy this monthly magazine. That was really amazing!
TSS:You are known in switzerland as the man behind the Altbüron hillclimb. How did it all start?
PD: It was a spontanous idea of a group of regulars! Each of them who were sitting at the table
got a job, providing I would be able to get a permission for the event. The most prominent of them
was Marc Surer, who promised to show up with his championship winning Formula 2 March from
1979! And suddenly there was no way back. I got all the necessary permissions and everything
happenend very quickly! It was a wonderful debut and we got so much support from the locals
who were all really enthusiastic about the event.
TSS: Tell us something about the regular get togethers for (ancient) swiss racing drivers – was it
your idea as well?.
PD: Yes, in fact, I just sent out the invitations for the 18th meeting for ancient swiss automobile racing drivers! This event also
grew from a spontanous idea and it developped into a sort of regular class reunion. Old friendships are being revived and
existing ones are being fostered. It is always a beautiful day together with the warriors from past times.
TSS: 4 short questions with short answers please: As you are married to a Thai woman: Switzerland or Thailand?
PD: We are at home in
switzerland, but we spend our
holidays in Thailand and we love
the country. Besides the nature, I
used to love and treasure the kind
of retro-feeling when I got there.
But in the meantime I had to
notice a trend that changed my joy
into concern : when you observe
the road traffic, you notice many
new cars that are bought on loan
and it is no longer a pleasure for
me to sit beside the streets and watch the cars go by – it became boring…
TSS:Senna or Prost?
PD: In the past it was Prost for me! I have admired him since his Formula 3 times. When I was a drivers fan, then it was with
total commitment - there was only space for one! My idols at beginning
were (bike racer) Luigi Taveri and Jack Brabham, then came Jo Siffert, Jody
Scheckter, Alain Prost and later Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Doing so, I rather remember the stars from the 60!s and 70`s than the
Grand Prix drivers of today.
TSS: Porsche or Ferrari?
PD: Both are amazing and unique. Porsche is perfect and it was the
company with which Jo Siffert had most of his success. Ferrari is chaos and
passion united. I cannot imagine motorsport without the italians!
TSS: Car or airplane?
PD: Though we are living now at the airport, my passion stayed with the
cars. But being close to airplanes and pilots has broadend my mind. I
admire the people and the planes from this scene and we made many new
friends. They are like us: they give everything for their passion!
TSS: Your interest is generally for engines – not only cars but also
motorbikes, busses, tractors and planes, correct?.
PD: Absolutely! But like with cars, I get goose-bumps primarily from the
vintage specimen.For me, the fascination comes from the common ones
which bring back memories, not the ones I could only dream of. Even
tractors have their history and they must not be forgotten. My special love here belongs to „car-tractors“, these were normal
cars converted into tractors. When you get involved closely with their history, you will realize that many of todays achievements
were invented long ago.
TSS: A few words about your Kondor F3 and the Formcar Formula Vee and the VW „Pritsche“ transporter:
PD: These cars express my love for the past best! In a magazine for classified advertisements, I found a racing car from the
early fifties that I bought and restored in more than ten years. But it cost me even more effort to find out about the history of
the car. I could write a noble book about my adventures digging deep in the cars life - It was one of my most beautiful
experiences at all! Today I sometimes compete with my completely original 1965 FormCar Formula V in historic races and I get
there in style: of course on the back of a 1965 VW T1 « Pritsche » !
TSS: Lets talk about historic motorsport: should the jewels of yesterday be kept in museums or should they be driven in style
like at the Goodwood Revival for example?
PD : It is beautiful when they are driven and shown to the public. But when for example a Lotus Cortina turns in like a modern
F3 car and it`s typical habits and movements in a corner have gone I feel no joy anymore with this game. If I am going through
photos of old racing cars I enjoy the ones where the drivers wear the old helmets, otherwise I turn the page.
TSS: We also have to talk about more controversial things. Do you see a way how modern motorsport can be made more
attractive again for the spectator and fan?
PD: You want to know my honest opinion? I am afraid! With these self-centered american showboaters who bought the right to
run F1 it will not happen. There is no fuel in their vains, it is all about expanding the show to skim as much money as possible.
We are in a viscious circle from which we cannot escape. The contemporary technical possibilities have pushed the limits so far
up, that for example overtaking, which is essential for racing, is not possible anymore without technical gimmicks. You could
give the cars steel brakes back, so the drivers would have to start breaking earlier and there would be more time and distance
to pull up alongside and overtake under braking, as it was in the past. But understandibly nobody wants this anymore, because
the constructors want to show their most modern and efficient technology. And this is why I treasure the past times in my
memory, when the man was fighting with the machine and drivers showed respect to their competitors, because also there was
a huge amount of danger involved. The omnipresent dangers of fire and fatalities shaped the drivers and races. Thankfully the
modern safety standards of today saved many lives, which is good – but we will never ever see the same sport again as it was
in the past.The current generation only knows the circumstances of today and people today live their modern form of live and
careers as we did it in our times. But that is the change of the time and we have to accept it.
TSS: One thought on Formula E: Will you attend the race in Zürich in june 2018? And: Does circuit racing have a chance in
switzerland?
PD: I think it`s good that FE is allowed to have a race in Zürich and I say congratulations to the organisers and to those who
gave the permissions. I rather prefer not to attend it, although I accept the electric motorsport, as well as I accept the electric
percentage in normal road traffic. I see Formula E as overrated momentarily: drivers who do not get a place in F1 try to find a
one in Formula E. Still the drivers level is much too high compared to the relatively poor potential the cars and especially what
the « circuits » offer. But the future will take control of that.Though, this event in Zürich will not lead to a permanent race circuit
in our country, let alone to a Formula One Grand Prix – that won`t happen! The Golden times for this kind of facilities and
profitable race events are gone.
TSS: Are there any dreams you would like to realize in Bleienbach airport?
PD: Dreams not really. But I want to continue with our popular veteran car meetings with all these beautiful old cars and I want
to make people happy, bringing back their memories perhaps seeing a VW Karmann like their piano teacher has driven one in
the 60`s. It is not about the showily Ferraris and Lamborghinis which bring smiles to peoples faces, it is the ordinary car that
manages to achieve that.And of course very important are the face-to-face encounters with so many lovely people from the
past, for example our annual « Swiss Race-driver Meeting » for ancient drivers or our weekly and monthly get-togethers of
likemindeds.
TSS: Peter, I would like to thank you so much for your time and your open words and enjoy the drivers`meeting of next month!