One of the greatest names in BMW Motorsport history, Paul Rosche has passed away on 15 November, 2016 at the age of 82.
BMW and M GmbH in particular, has a lot of proud moments in history thanks to Rosche, may he RIP.
Press Release:
Munich (DE), 16th November 2016. One of the most important engineers in the history of the BMW Group has passed away. Paul Rosche, who worked for BMW in various roles between 1957 and 1999, died at the age of 82 in his home town of Munich on Tuesday.
“We are all very saddened by this news,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Paul Rosche not only represented and characterised the company and the BMW brand with his passion, his vision and his immense technical expertise over many decades in action on the racetrack. The results of his work – no matter in which car or in which series – were frequently milestones of engineering skill. The loss of Paul Rosche is a loss of an outstanding personality for BMW Motorsport and BMW M. He constantly redefined the limits of what was technically possible. We will preserve this spirit at BMW Motorsport. Our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.”
Forty two successful years serving BMW.
Camshaft calculations for sports engines was always Paul Rosche’s favourite area, which is why he was given the nickname ‘Nocken-Paule’. In 1957, directly after completing his degree, he joined BMW and, over the course of his 42 years as an employee, he guided the company into Formula One twice.
Before joining BMW Motorsport GmbH in 1975 as head of the design of the BMW M1 production and racing engines, Rosche was involved in the research and development department under the charge of Alexander von Falkenhausen. In 1969, he designed the 2-litre turbo engine with which BMW won the European Touring Car Championship.
In 1980, Rosche, as Technical Managing Director of BMW Motorsport GmbH, along with Dieter Stappert, laid the foundation for BMW’s first Formula One involvement, and, as head of the engine project, was also a key factor for the success of the BMW engines in the turbo era. Rosche and his team turned a four-cylinder production unit displacing just 1.5 litres into a potential world championship winner. Sixteen valves, a turbocharger and – in a first for Formula One – digital motor electronics all helped the engine to post an initial output of around 800 hp. The Brabham BMW made its grid debut at the start of the 1982 season; just 630 days later Nelson Piquet scooped the World Championship. By 1987 the turbo unit had nine grand prix wins under its belt and its potential seemed almost inexhaustible. When asked about the F1 engine’s maximum power output, Rosche once replied in his inimitable, irresistible manner: “It must have been around 1,400 hp; we don’t know for sure because the dyno didn’t go beyond 1,280 hp.”
Rosche also had a hand in the BMW M3 and the BMW V12 LMR.
The triumph in Formula One was the most spectacular, but far from a solitary success spawned by the ideas of the thoroughbred engineer born in Munich in 1934. Other power units that came out of Rosche’s fold were the large 2.0-litre four-valve four-cylinder engine, which racked up more than 150 race wins and six titles in the Formula 2 European Championship, as well as the 6.0-litre V12 engine that won the Le Mans race in 1995 and 1999. Rosche’s term of office also witnessed the development of the engine for the first-generation BMW M3, which was to be the basis of the most successful touring car in the world, as well as a new kind of driving pleasure on the road.
Following the retirement from Formula One of BMW in 1987, Rosche continued as Technical Managing Director of the BMW M GmbH until 1996. Subsequently, as Technical Director and Managing Director of BMW Motorsport Limited, he led BMW into Formula One as an engine manufacturer for a second time. In 1999, Rosche entered retirement.
Quote:
Obituary: Paul Rosche, 1934-2016
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ob...4-2016-850997/
Paul Rosche, BMW’s legendary engine wizard for many years and the man behind some of the Munich company’s most successful racing projects, has died at the age of 82.
Rosche was perhaps best known for the 1.5-litre turbo that powered Brabham’s Nelson Piquet to the 1983 World Championship.
Born in Munich on April 1, 1934, Rosche first joined BMW straight from university in 1957, and from the start was deeply involved in the development of high performance engines for road and racing. Over the years he held several senior roles, including that of technical director of BMW Motorsport from 1979 to 1996.
After early successes in touring cars he was responsible for the 2-litre 4-cylinder that was a mainstay of F2 for more than a decade, and which powered Jean-Pierre Jarier, Patrick Depailler, Jacques Laffite, Bruno Giacomelli, Marc Surer and Corrado Fabi to European titles. He also created the 3.5-litre 6-cylinder that was utilised in the M1 raced by seven past or future World Champions in the Procar series in 1979-’80.
BMW joined forces with Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team in 1980, with Rosche’s 4-cylinder turbo making its first race weekend appearance in practice for the following year’s British GP. In 1982 it proved fast but fragile, although Piquet scored the first win in Montreal.
Helped by huge performance gains from electronics and fuel development Rosche’s engine and Gordon Murray’s iconic BT52 took Piquet to a sensational 1983 World Championship victory. However, poor reliability meant that BMW scored a total just eight GP wins with Brabham before withdrawing at the end of 1986, a season that also saw one success with Benetton and Gerhard Berger in Mexico as BMW fielded perhaps the most powerful engines F1 has ever seen.
Meanwhile the M3 touring car achieved huge success around the world. Rosche was then reunited with Murray as the man behind the V12 used in the McLaren F1 road car, which scored the marque’s first Le Mans win in 1995.
He was also heavily involved in the start of the collaboration with Williams that was first announced in 1997, and which resulted in a second Le Mans victory in 1999 with a full works entry. However after a company shake-up he was moved on before the partnership’s first Grand Prix together in 2000, much to the disappointment of Williams technical director Patrick Head.
An insight into Rosche and his way of working was given by current Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell, who briefly worked with him in the early years of the Williams project. Cowell has used everything he learned from his mentor when creating the currently dominant hybrid V6 in Brixworth.
“In all his decades of experience Paul had seen hundreds of different ideas,” he told this writer a few months ago. “And he and I would spend afternoons and late evenings sketching stuff out on napkins. ‘What about this, what about that?’ He gave me some great guidance. He said, ‘What do you start with first Andy?’. I said, ‘This, this, and this.’ He said, ‘Don’t forget the cooling system, start with that.’ And a lot of that has stuck with me.
“Paul was very much an international character. And he had spent a lot of his time working with the F1 community, and he understood the F1 culture. So I found him very easy to get on with. Some working environments you feel like you have to have your guard up, but I didn’t feel like that at all with Paul. He was a lovely bloke to get along with.”
Motorsport.com sends its condolences to Rosche’s family, former colleagues at BMW and his many friends in the sport.
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