Frank Biela

Lore & Background

Biela started his career in 1983 in karting before joining the Ford Youngster Team programme in 1987 alongside Manuel Reuter and Bernd Schneider. He drove for the team in Formula Ford and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Biela continued to compete in the DTM in 1988, and also raced a limited season in German Formula Three, scoring two wins. In 1990, Biela moved to Audi, winning his first DTM race at the Nürburgring and the DTM championship in 1991 before Audi left the DTM in mid-season of 1992. Biela stayed with the company, and with the rise of the two-litre Class 2 (Super Touring) rules, he was entered in various European touring car series over the following few seasons such as the French Supertouring Championship in 1993 driving the Audi 80 (in which he won the championship) entered by Audi into the championship pairing alongside Marc Sourd. Since his French Supertouring Championship victory in 1993, he is the only standing non-French driver to win it. In 1995, he finished 2nd in the Touring Car World Cup race at Paul Ricard in the new Audi A4, with Paul Radisich taking the win. Biela also competed in the Super Tourenwagen Cup in his native Germany during 1994 and 1995; however his home championship would bring only frustration as in both years he dominated the first half of the season, only for late-season misfortunes to derail his title challenge, losing him the crown to BMW drivers Johnny Cecotto and Joachim Winkelhock respectively. During the AVUS Berlin race in September 1995, Biela's Audi struck Kieth O'dor's already accident-stranded Nissan Primera squarely on the driver's side, fatally injuring O'dor, who died later that day in a Berlin hospital. For 1996, Audi decided to enter a works team of two A4s in the BTCC. Biela was selected to lead the team; alongside team-mate John Bintcliffe, the new Audi team dominated the competition. Biela comfortably won the title, finishing every single race and being classified in the top ten in all but two races (an 11th-place finish and a disqualification). He also capped an astonishing season by taking first place in the Guia Race of Macau. Because of the Audis' dominance in 1996, the BTCC organisers imposed a heavy ballast weight penalty on all four-wheel-drive cars for the 1997 season. With his Audi badly handicapped by the penalty, Biela initially struggled to make a serious impact. The weight penalt

In Their Own Story

The rain was coming down in sheets at La Sarthe, turning the Mulsanne Straight into a treacherous ribbon of grey water. Frank Biela gripped the wheel of the Audi R8, his eyes scanning the spray for any sign of a competitor's tail lights. He didn't need to be the fastest man on track tonight; he just needed to be the smartest. With hours left in the race and the engine humming its familiar, steady rhythm, Frank knew that endurance was not about bursts of speed, but about the quiet discipline of staying exactly where you were supposed to be.

Reader's Guide

Frank Biela's Le Mans victories came in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2007. He won three consecutive times (2000–2002) with co-drivers Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen, and two more times (2006–2007) with Pirro and Marco Werner. He did not win in 1998. His total Le Mans starts are not explicitly listed in the source, but the source mentions his participation in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, which would be 15 starts. Therefore, the exact number of podium finishes is unclear from the source. There is no mention of a brother named Thomas Biela.

Did You Know?

• Frank Biela is the only non-French driver to win the French Supertouring Championship (1993).
• He won the 1996 Macau Guia Race in the Super Touring class.
• Biela's three consecutive Le Mans wins (2000–2002) were with co-drivers Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen.
• He also won Le Mans in 2006 and 2007 with Pirro and Marco Werner.
• Biela has raced exclusively for Audi since 1990.