Motorsport: High profile visit to Rupperswil
A Formula 1 team boss and his GP driver in Switzerland? No, we're not talking about Peter Sauber, but Gene Haas. The American visited Urma AG in Rupperswil with Romain Grosjean in tow. The HaasF1 team hit Formula 1 like a bolt from the blue at the start of the season. Romain Grosjean won world championship points straight away, [...]
The HaasF1 team hit Formula 1 like a bolt from the blue at the start of the season. Romain Grosjean scored world championship points straight away, and the Geneva-born driver played a major role in ensuring that the American newcomer team was taken seriously and finished well ahead of the cars from Hinwil in most races. Gene Haas is a successful entrepreneur and, as team owner, a real racer. As with the worldwide sale of his precision machines for milling, drilling and mold making, the US American is looking for success in racing. In Switzerland, he has teamed up with Urma AG in Rupperswil, which sells his products and in return manufactures precision tools for Haas Automation. In Formula 1, his partner is Ferrari, which supplies him with all the components available for purchase under the regulations, such as the engine, gearbox and electronics for the construction of his own racing car.
A successful Swiss man who is considered French
"We are really happy to have Romain on our team," says Gene Haas - and was surprised when we mentioned that he is a true Swiss. "Oh yes, he mentioned that in passing." Romain Grosjean himself explained to the Urma employees and invited customers why he is considered French: "I made my career in France and have both passports because of my mother." The HaasF1 team is looking forward to the Ferrari home race in Monza on Sunday, where it also hopes to score points as a customer, and its own home race in Texas in October. Read what else Gene Haas, his team manager Günther Steiner and Romain Grosjean had to say in October's AutoSprintCH.
www.Haas-Switzerland.com
www.haasf1team.com
Photos: Peter Wyss
