In the village of Mehring close to one of the stages of Rallye Deutschland is a restaurant where diners can enjoy ‘Spaghetti a la Armin Schwarz’: a dish dedicated to the last German to win a WRC event.It seems remarkably similar to Spaghetti Bolognese to tell the truth, although if you look closely there’s been some salami added to it – and that is apparently what makes it Schwarz. The chef has clearly done his research: Armin loves spaghetti and he loves salami.
Throughout his career, Germany’s leading driver of the (relatively) modern era racked up 119 world rally starts and a neat 100 stage wins. Yes, there was only the one victory – the 1991 Catalunya Rally with Toyota – but there were also seven podiums, two German titles, a European championship and plenty of success in Baja races, which have been Armin’s main competitive outlet since he stopped driving in the WRC at the end of 2005. And there’s been his TV work as well: if there were ever a championship awarded for the number of logos that can be fitted on to one shirt, he would have won it hands down. Joking aside, this is one of the things that made Armin very special: nobody worked harder to provide sponsors with value for money – one of the reasons behind his particularly enduring career.
When he switched to Skoda in 1999 (the first of his two stints there) he inspired arguably the best rally headline ever: “Armin the mood for Skoda”. And after a shaky start, when the Octavia retired in Monaco’s Casino Square on its debut event – the start ramp having proved one hurdle too many – Armin delivered the ungainly Octavia its best-ever result: third overall on the 2001 Safari Rally.
His Hyundai career, which started the following year, didn’t quite hit the same stellar heights – although he was posting top five times at home in Germany in 2002 before he had what was probably the biggest accident of his career. On day two the Accent went flying into the trees in Baumholder, breaking one of Armin’s ribs – although it wasn’t Armin’s fault as the car had picked up a front
puncture at the time.
And that’s the thing with Armin: he could have achieved so much more had he not been so damned unlucky all the time. Probably the most extreme example of that was Rally Argentina in 2001 when an errant fire truck took out his Octavia in the service park but he was also set for a strong result on the 1989 RAC Rally with the Audi 200 Quattro before being taken out in a road accident…
My favourite Armin story though dates from the Race of Champions, many years ago in Gran Canaria. The event was over, and we were all waiting in the hotel to go to the party. Suddenly Armin appears – and he’s dressed to impress. The get-up involves tight trousers, a fitted jacket with the sleeves rolled up, and a thin blue leather tie. Think Andrew Ridgeley at the height of Wham! It was enough to stop you in your tracks.
“Ah, Armin has his pulling clothes on,” drily observed his co-driver Manfred Heimer (who, by the way, is one of the funniest men alive). “As you will see, Armin last pulled in 1983…”
Rallye Deutschland isn’t quite the same without him.
Source: Maxrally