There was a festive atmosphere in the Red Bull garage Friday in Baku where Helmut Marko was celebrated just a day after his 80th birthday.
The good 'Doctor' – feared and revered by many young drivers in motorsport – still oversees Red Bull's driver development programme as well as the energy drink company's involvement in Formula 1, rarely missing a Grand Prix weekend.
It's worth recalling that the Austrian took part in nine Grand Prix in the early 1970s with BRM.
However, Marko's major success came in sportscar racing with a triumph in the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche 917 with team mate Gijs van Lennep.
Unfortunately, the Austrian's racing career came to an abrupt halt in 1972, when a stone pierced Marko's helmet at the French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, permanently blinding his left eye.
© The Cahier Archive
