Harald Ertl
Austrian racing driver
Died when: 33 years 219 days (403 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Harald Ertl (31 August 1948 – 7 April 1982) was an Austrian racing driver and motorsport journalist.He was born in Zell am See and attended the same school as Grand Prix drivers Jochen Rindt, Helmut Marko and Niki Lauda.
Ertl sported an 'Imperial'-style moustache and full beard.He worked his way through the German Formula Vee and Super Vee, and then on to Formula Three, before a successful switch to Touring Cars.
During this period, he gained sufficient sponsorship to enter Formula One, where he drove with various outfits between 1975 and 1980.Ertl was one of the four drivers who helped to get Niki Lauda out of his burning Ferrari in the 1976 German Grand Prix.
Ertl was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1982, when the small plane he was travelling in suffered from engine failure.
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