59 replies to this topic

[uechtel]

The debut of Zsolt Baumgartner in his home Grand Prix today made me remember to another promising young Hungarian driver, Csaba Kesjar I think (don´t know whether that´s the correct spelling).

He was active around 1987 / 88 in the German Formula 3 series and reportedly quite competitive. And the reason why I remember him is, that I was living near Nueremberg then and of course made my visit to the Norisring race on Sunday (I believe in 1988) where I learned, that he had died in a crash under quite mysterious circumstances there the day before. Speculations even ran as wide as including suicide, as it was reported, that he did neither any breaking nor steering in the particular corner.

So with some fifteen years passed since, can anybody tell me, what they finally found out about the circumstances of his accident?

[Ralliart]

1988 - Practice for F3 cars.

[ensign14]

Geza Sury wrote this on the Speed's Ultimate Price thread:


First of all the driver's name is Kesjár Csaba. The name is in the 'Hungarian order', so his family name is Kesjár, given name Csaba. I can confirm, he was killed on 14th July, 1988. After a long-long investigation, it was revealed, that the cause of the accident was actually a brake failure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I just realized the date of his fatal accident is not 14th July, but as many of you suggested, 24th June, 1988. Kesjar was practicing for the Norisring F3 race on Friday when his Dallara hit the barriers head on. Kesjar's car went through between the two rows of the barrier and landed in the woods. The driver suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot.

[Alexey Rogachev]

In 1986, Kesjar drove few laps at Hungaroring at the wheel of Zakspeed. These laps cannot be considered to be real tests as Csaba was strictly ordered not to exceed the 3rd gear, and when he did it nevertheless, Zakowski nearly had a heart attack!

[Alex Apple]

If I remember correctly, at the time there was speculation that he had suddenly blacked out on-track, which led to the accident.

[Geza Sury]

Originally posted by Alexey Rogachev
In 1986, Kesjar drove few laps at Hungaroring at the wheel of Zakspeed. These laps cannot be considered to be real tests as Csaba was strictly ordered not to exceed the 3rd gear, and when he did it nevertheless, Zakowski nearly had a heart attack!

That's exactly what have happened, although in 1987 ;) And besides that, Kesjar almost went straight on at the first turn, since he had no idea that the brakes in a Formula One car didn't work when they're cold To learn more about Csaba, take a look at this post.

I can post some pictures of the wreck of Kesjar's car if anyone wants it, but I would rather post some images of the high points of his carreer.

[Alexey Rogachev]

Originally posted by Geza Sury

That's exactly what have happened, although in 1987 ;)

Of course it happened in 1987 - I'm sorry But did Csaba have any real chances to become a F1 driver or at least full-time F1 tester? Or he was only a 'guest star tester'?

[Geza Sury]

Originally posted by Alexey Rogachev
Of course it happened in 1987 - I'm sorry But did Csaba have any real chances to become a F1 driver or at least full-time F1 tester? Or he was only a 'guest star tester'?

There were talks about a "proper" test with Zakspeed scheduled for the end of 1987 or possibly early '88 which never took place. In that time smaller teams didn't have a test driver, so I don't think Csaba had a realistic chance to sign a testing contract. He had strong backers, so he had had a chance to move up to F3000 in 1989 or 1990.

[Alexey Rogachev]

Originally posted by Geza Sury

He had strong backers, so he had had a chance to move up to F3000 in 1989 or 1990.

But he never did, didn't he?

[Geza Sury]

Originally posted by Alexey Rogachev
But he never did, didn't he?

No it remained just a plan

[Alexey Rogachev]

So Hungarians had to wait for more than ten years to see their driver in F3000 and in F1...

[uechtel]

Thanks for all your answers!

And pity that I have not preserved the articles about the event in my local newspaper

Oh, yes, Geza, and a picture of him alive & driving would be very nice to see. I think, that is how we should remember him.

[Geza Sury]

The main achievements of Csaba Kesjár:

1975 Kart - Hungarian Junior Championship - 3rd place
1976 Kart - Hungarian Junior Championship - 2nd place
1977 Kart - Hungarian Junior Championship - Champion
1978 Kart - Hungarian Championship, 3rd division - Champion
1979 Kart - Hungarian Championship, 2nd division - Champion
1980 Kart - Hungarian Championship, 1st division - Champion
1981 Kart - Hungarian Championship, 1st division - Champion
1982 Formula Easter - Hungarian Champion
1983 Formula Easter - Hungarian Champion - Won a FSCC race in Bulgaria
1984 Formula Easter - Hungarian Champion
1985 Formula Easter - Hungarian Champion
1986 Austrian Formula Ford Championship - Champion
1987 German Formula 3 Championship - 14th - Won a non-championship F3 race
1988 German Formula 3 Championship

I managed to scan some pictures today.

In the seat of his kart:


In a Formula Easter:


In his van Diemen Formula Ford:


The Schübel F3 Team at the end of the 1987 season. Csaba's team-mate was Bernd Schneider.


Csaba sitting in the Zakspeed Turbo during the 1987 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Actually he sat in the car twice, for the first time after the Friday qualifying session (when he didn't go out, because no F1 car was allowed to take the circuit between the official practice sessions) and after race itself, when he completed 3 demonstration laps.


Csaba with his trophies:


His last season (1988) :

[ghinzani]

Great pics, whats the book called? Thats a Reynard formula ford 2000 btw not a VD.

[uechtel]

Geza,

thank you for the pictures.

[Frank de Jong]

I've come across a Janos Kesjár in 60's touring car racing; was that his father?

[Alexey Rogachev]

1983 Formula Easter - Hungarian Champion - Won a FSCC race in Bulgaria

Csaba took 8th place overall in the 1983 Cup of Peace and Friendship F. Easter championship (139 pts). More detailed results can be found here: http://www.puru.de/motorsport.html.

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Frank de Jong
I've come across a Janos Kesjár in 60's touring car racing; was that his father?

name wrong way round is it not?

[Rainer Nyberg]

ghinzani, post #3 explains this...
It depends on whether you use the 'Hungarian order' or the traditional western...

First of all the driver's name is Kesjár Csaba. The name is in the 'Hungarian order', so his family name is Kesjár, given name Csaba.

[tompka]

Kesjár János of the 60s is indeed Csaba's father who was some 15 times Hungarian champion in various categories.
I'm not quite sure if Kesjár Csaba's older brother also called János raced, but his son ( ifj. Kesjár János, Csaba's nephew) raced turing cars and rallies in the nineties, but never touched formula cars. He had a huge accident in a Hungarian touring car event at the Hungaroring, and after that slowly faded away.

[Geza Sury]

Glad you like the pictures.

Originally posted by ghinzani
Great pics, whats the book called? Thats a Reynard formula ford 2000 btw not a VD.

There is indeed a book written on Kesjár in Hungarian, but I scanned the images from a magazine, published shortly after his death. You're absolutely right, the Formula Ford is Reynard, not a van Diemen. When the Austrian Formula Ford Championship was at stake, Csaba's team manager, Walter Lechner had bought a brand new Reynard from the factory. When Csaba and his mechanic arrived to take away the car it wasn't ready, so they had to assemble it themselves!

Originally posted by Alexey Rogachev
Csaba took 8th place overall in the 1983 Cup of Peace and Friendship F. Easter championship (139 pts). More detailed results can be found here: http://www.puru.de/motorsport.html.

Great link, Alexey, thank you very much!

Here's another picture of the Zakspeed demo, sorry for the poor quality!

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
ghinzani, post #3 explains this...
It depends on whether you use the 'Hungarian order' or the traditional western...

doh! zaniGhin eats humble pie...

[ensign14]

There's a teeny pick of him in this week's Autosport, atop the Zakspeed, in the Paddock section.

[Geza Sury]

A sad note: The father of Csaba Kesjar, Janos Kesjar sr. has died at the age of 83. Kesjar sr. played a major role in his son's motor racing success as he was his manager and in most cases his mechanic in one person early in his carrier. He accompanied Csaba to every race he took part in. The funeral of Kesjar sr. will take place tomorrow. R.I.P.

BTW, here is an image of Kesjar's gravestone: http://www.bparchiv....0_41_42/099.jpg

[GrzegorzChyla]

Here is my photo:

Csaba Kesjar, Hungaroring, 1986

[Frank Verplanken]

Nice pics, I had never been able to put a face on the name . By the way, how does one pronounce Csaba Kesjar : ? Cha-bah Kez-iar ? Is Kesjar the hungarian for Caesar ? Thanks

[bigears]

Thought I would contribute an article about the accident at the Norisring



Motoring News 29th June 1988

[Ba.G]

I found some pictures about Csaba.

[bigears]

Originally posted by Ba.G
I found some pictures about Csaba.

Where did it take place? Seems like the track is very narrow!

[Ba.G]

The first picture in album?* (Contains 146 picture.)
I suppose, that was taken southern Hungary, (near to) Pécs, on a contermporary mountain race.

I see, this is a personally album, not press photos.

----

* All pictures of the next Csabi Pécs album.

[Ba.G]

By the way, how does one pronounce Csaba Kesjar? Cha-bah Kez-iar? Is Kesjar the hungarian for Caesar?

Cha-bah is eligible pronounce, but Kez-iar isn't correct, the s is sh. Maybe Kash-y-are.
(Hungarian alphabet and pronounce)

The császár means in Hungarian caesar, but came from latin too, like the German Kaiser. (The emperor - principally Franz Joseph - of K. u. K. Monarchy was Kaiser of Austria and King/König/király of Hungary together.) So, Kesjár is sounds like Kaiser, with swap of letters... but I don't believe his name this kind of roots, in turn don't means nothing in Hungarian. Loan word, ancient foreign name, with Hungarian accent.

Thank you for interesting!

[ac_Masaryk]

Hi

I didn't knew this story. it's sad indeed because he seemed a promising guy and was very popular on the F3 community.

[ac_Masaryk]

May I use the info posted here? I would like to talk with some of us because I would like very much to write ana rticle about this rider.

[Radoye]

Cha-bah is eligible pronounce, but Kez-iar isn't correct, the s is sh. Maybe Kash-y-are.
(Hungarian alphabet and pronounce)

The császár means in Hungarian caesar, but came from latin too, like the German Kaiser. (The emperor - principally Franz Joseph - of K. u. K. Monarchy was Kaiser of Austria and King/König/király of Hungary together.) So, Kesjár is sounds like Kaiser, with swap of letters... but I don't believe his name this kind of roots, in turn don't means nothing in Hungarian. Loan word, ancient foreign name, with Hungarian accent.

Thank you for interesting!

Kesjar sounds like it could be a Slovenian surname. There are a lot of Slavic family names to be found amongst the Hungarians - a good portion of their nation consists of descendants of various assimilated peoples from lands once belonging to the Hungarian Kingdom.

Regarding the pronounciation, i'd put it somewhere near "Cash-yahr"

[ac_Masaryk]

Csaba Kesjar article

Hi

This is the prototype of my article about Csaba Kesjár.

[Fiorentina 1]

Csaba Kesjar article

Hi

This is the prototype of my article about Csaba Kesjár.

Nice! A fried of mine from Hungary talks very highly of Kesjár Csaba. He was indeed very talented and with the tight backing, he most likely would have reached F1. He was better then Zolt, according to my friend who was involved in motor racing. Much better then Zolt!

RIP Kesjár Csaba

[Gabrci]

Nice! A fried of mine from Hungary talks very highly of Kesjár Csaba. He was indeed very talented and with the tight backing, he most likely would have reached F1. He was better then Zolt, according to my friend who was involved in motor racing. Much better then Zolt!

RIP Kesjár Csaba

That's very kind of you and I wouldn't like to discredit this great countryman of mine, but he was way, way off his team-mate Schneider in F3, who himself had a very undistinctive F1 career (9 starts from 34 attempts). He was a very good guy and the first Hungarian to get anywhere near F1, but I don't think he would have been any better than Zsolt. Zsolt I think did a reasonable job in F1, he was no world-beater, but didn't ashame himself either, I'm afraid that's more than what Csaba could have done.

[ac_Masaryk]

I don't see Baumgartner as a talented driver but only as a regular rider. I don't know how was Kesjar because I hadn't seen him racing.

[ac_Masaryk]

May I use some photos for the article?

[ac_Masaryk]

Hi

Here is my 1st article of my Motorsport archive project:

Csaba Kesjár


Please Comment


Best Regards

Edited by ac_Masaryk, 12 July 2009 - 21:13.

[GrzegorzChyla]

"The file could not be found. Please check the download link."

[ac_Masaryk]

Problem Fixed

[ac_Masaryk]

*Kesjár, Csaba (H):

b. 9/2/1962 (Budapest) – d. 24/6/1988 (Nürnberg)

In Hungarian spelling: Csaba,Kesjár.


1975 – 1981 Raced successfully in karts, winning multiple national titles.

1982 – Hungarian Formula Easter; Champion.

1983 – Hungarian Formula Easter; Champion.
Cup for Peace and Friendship (MTX 1-06); 8th, 139 pts, 1 win.

1984 – Hungarian Formula Easter; Champion.

1985 – Hungarian Formula Easter; Champion.
Overall Hungarian Champion.

1986 – Austrian F.Ford (Walter Lechner Reynard), Champion.
Hungarian Hillclimb Champion.

1987 – German F3 (Horst Schübel Rennsport Dallara 387-VW); 14th, 12 pts. Won a non-championship race at Hockenheim.
Test a Zakspeed F1 after the Hungarian GP.

1988 – German F3 (Horst Schübel Rennsport Dallara 688-VW); 19th, 33 pts.
Died in a fatal crash at Norisring F3 race. Officially, the brakes had failed at the 2nd practice session and he hit the tyre barrier full speed, dying at the moment.




Csaba Kesjár, or Kesjár Csaba as he was called in Hungarian (in Hungary the family name comes first and the given name in second) was born at 9th of February, 1962 at Budapest. Son of one of the most prominent Hungarian drivers, János Kesjár Sr., whom won 15 times Hungarian champion in various categories, grandson of another racing driver; Csaba was well orientated when he also decided to start a racing career.
He started racing karts in mid-seventies, with his father as mechanic and manager; Csaba was Hungarian Kart Champion in Junior category in 1977. Since then, Csaba Kesjar hadn’t stopped winning. Next year, he won the Karting 3rd division title; in 1979 won the 2nd division and finally in 1980 the main Hungarian kart title. He took the same title the following year before giving, with 20 years old, the wanted jump to single seaters competition. Meanwhile, he studied at Bánki Donát technical college in Budapest.
With the same familiar team, he started racing in Formula Easter, the main single seaters’ competition behind the Iron Curtain. His abilities were impressive and he was champion as a rookie in 1982. This was only the
start for an era of domination by Csaba Kesjár. He “only” won the national championship between 1982 and 1985. In 1983, he also won a race in Albena, counting for the Cup for Peace and Friendship. He performed very well driving his MTX 1-06, although he only won after the disqualification of Alexander Medvetschenko from USSR and Jiri Cerva from Czechoslovakia that had used a 1400cc engine instead of a 1300cc, which the rules stipulated. It is thought that similar procedures were common (and sometimes allowed) on Soviet teams, maybe because USSR was the dominant country behind the Iron curtain.
After these successful years in Hungary, Kesjár had a proposal to race in Austria. With such palmares and some sponsorship, he signed for Walter Lechner Racing to compete in the Austrian F.Ford Championship, driving a Reynard. He didn’t take too much time to prove his talent and won the Championship in his first year.
The result was quite simple: Horst Schübel, owner of a German F3 top team, engaged him besides the young German promise Bernd Schneider. F3 was harder than F.Ford and he was adapting himself to the rhythm. Driving is Dallara 387-VW, Kesjár finished the Championship with 12 points in the 14th place, with his best result as a 4th place. He also won a non-championship racing at Hockenheim. A good result for a rookie, we think. Schübel said the same and engaged him for another year.
But in the end of 1987 Kesjár was already a pioneer. He was the first Hungarian to sit on a F1 car. This outstanding opportunity came at Hungarian GP when Erich Zakowski, Zakspeed’s owner, invited him to drive. He sat in the car after the Friday practice but those times cars cannot leave the pit lane between official practices so he didn’t drive. His opportunity came three hours after the race, when he drove 3 demonstration laps around the Hungaroring. Zakowski ordered him not to pass above the 3rd gear in order to not have an accident. Kesjár carried on his task with honor, although he was almost loosing the car at 1st turn – he didn’t know F1 cars’ brakes don’t work well cold.
1988 started as a promising year. And Csaba was there to show his talent again. At the middle of the season, he had already scored 33 points when arrived the Norisring weekend. At the end of the second Friday practices, Csaba gone past the finish line at 200 km/h to a last lap. Approaching the narrow Dutzendteich hairpin, his Dallara 388-VW simply gone straight away, hit two tyre barriers and landed upside down among the woods. Csaba Kesjar suffered massive head injuries and died at the moment. Years later, in a TV interview, his father said he believed his car was manipulated and he was decapitated by Armco barriers. Kesjar was really popular among is F3 colleagues so the race was cancelled by the drivers, in spite of sponsors’ pressure.
But what really happened? The official conclusion was that his Dallara had suffered a brake failure. As Csaba was at full speed and hadn’t tried to change the car’s direction, it was rumored also that he had a blackout while driving or even committed suicide!!! To feed up these rumors, at that sad weekend he was willingness to drive, he was almost “forced”, so there were comments about any illness like epilepsy, but nothing had been proven. I think the absolute truth will never be known, but it was said that the car suffered really a brake failure and the brake pedal was split on two with the desperate effort of Csaba to stop his car.
Csaba Kesjár was a pioneer. He may not have reached F1, as his teammate Bernd Schneider had done – ironically with Zakspeed – but he show his wat to many other youngsters behind the Iron Curtain, before guys like Baumgartner, Kubica and Enge. He may not have been the best of the eastern drivers ever, but now it doesn’t matter. Twenty-one year after his death, all of us should remember him as a great man, a true pioneer and a talented rider.


* Sources:

- Rombo; 28th June 1988.
- Atlas F1 "The Nostalgia Forum", thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 20, posting by "Geza Sury" message http://forums.atlasf...378#post1151378 .
- Formel 3 Guide, by Wolfgang Neumayer, http://www.formel3guide.com, Jahrgänge 1950-2002, 1988 Ergebnisse im Detail, pages 27 and 28.
- Puru's & Franz Page - Automobilrennsport Pokal für Frieden und Freundschaft 1983 und andere Automobilrennen in Osteuropa, page http://www.puru.de/pff83.html#P5.
- Motoring News; 29th June 1988.
- Motorsport Memorial, by “The Motorsport Memorial Team”, Csaba Kesjar, page http://www.motorspor...hp?db=ct&n=1008.
- Atlas F1 "The Nostalgia Forum", thread "Csaba Kesjar”, http://forums.autosp...showtopic=60593.
- Continental Circus, by “Speeder_76”, Historieta da Formula 1 – Csaba Kesjar na Zakspeed, page http://continental-c...-kesjar-na.html.
- Wikipedia, Kesjár Csaba, page http://hu.wikipedia....ki/Kesjár_Csaba (accessed at 7th of July, 2009).
- F1 Nostalgia, by Rianov Albinov, O que você esta fazendo ai ?: Csaba Kesjár na Zakspeed, page http://f1nostalgia.b...saba-kesjr.html.
- Lazapipa, Csabi Pécs, page http://www.lazapipa....q=image/tid/187.
- e-Mail by Gegely Vajay.

[ac_Masaryk]

Csaba Kesjar

Here's the new files. i hope you can download

[Rianov]

Great ac_Masaryk

F1 Nostalgia is my web site (Blog)

Thanks

[Maxwell Jump]

Not sure how I got here, or how I ended up searching Csaba Kesjár's name...lol All I remember is I was reading stuff on wikipedia, clicking links and here I am.

Anyway, I remember very well when Csaba was killed, I was actually present that day. I was in the military at the time, stationed at Merrill Barracks which was located at the edge of the Dutzenteichs where the race track was located. Everytime a race or practice was being run we were there, bier steins in hand. I was never able to get my German girlfriend to tag along until, of course, this day. It happened right in front of us, she ran screaming and crying all the way back to the U-Bahn, and refused to ever go back there. I had never heard of the guy before that, but still to this day I think about the accident and him.

[Geza Sury]

It happened right in front of us, she ran screaming and crying all the way back to the U-Bahn, and refused to ever go back there. I had never heard of the guy before that, but still to this day I think about the accident and him.

So that means that you have seen the accident itself? That's interesting, because for the past twenty years the public belief was, that there were no eyewitnesses at all. Could you please give us a brief summary of what really happened?

[Mig007]

Hello

I hope this version of Csaba Kesjar profile is more accurate and well-written, I've done some minor modifications and I leave here the DB entry and the article:


* Kesjár, Csaba (H):
b. 9/2/1962 (Budapest) – d. 24/6/1988 (Nürnberg,D)

In Hungarian spelling: Csaba,Kesjár.


1975 – 1981 - Raced successfully in karts, winning many national titles;
1982 – Hungarian Formula Easter, Champion;
1983 – Hungarian Formula Easter, Champion;
Cup for Peace and Friendship (MTX 1-06), 8th, 139 pts, 1 win;
1984 – Hungarian Formula Easter, Champion;
1985 – Hungarian Formula Easter, Champion;
Overall Hungarian Champion;
1986 – Austrian F.Ford (Walter Lechner Reynard), Champion;
Hungarian Hillclimb Champion;
1987 – German F3 (Horst Schübel Rennsport Dallara F387-VW), 14th, 12
pts, won a non-championship race at Hockenheim;
Tested a Zakspeed F1 after the Hungarian GP;
1988 – German F3 (Horst Schübel Rennsport Dallara F688-VW), 19th, 33
pts;
Died in a crash at the Norisring F3 race. Officially, the brakes failed in the second practice session and he hit the tyre barrier full speed, dying on the spot.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Csaba Kesjár, or Kesjár Csaba as he was called in Hungarian (in Hungary the family name goes ahead of the given name), was born on 9 February 1962 in Budapest. A son of one of the most prominent Hungarian drivers, János Kesjár Sr, a 15-time Hungarian champion in various categories, and a grandson of yet another racing driver, Csaba was well orientated when he also decided on a career in motor racing.

He started racing karts in the mid-seventies, with his father acting as his mechanic and manager. And with success - Csaba was the Hungarian karting champion in the Junior category in 1977. Since then, Csaba Kesjár didn’t stop winning. Next year, he won the 3rd division karting title, followed up in 1979 by the 2nd division title and finally in 1980 the main Hungarian title. He took the same title the following year before giving up karting at 20 years of age, deciding to jump to single seaters. Meanwhile, he studied at Bánki Donát technical college in Budapest.

With the same familiar team, he started racing in Formula Eastern, the main single-seater competition behind the Iron Curtain. His abilities were impressive and he became champion as a rookie in 1982. This was only the start for an era of domination by Csaba Kesjár. He “only” won the national championship between 1982 and 1985, but in 1983 he also won a race in Albena, counting for the Cup for Peace and Friendship. He performed very well driving his MTX 1-06, although he only won after Alexander Medvetschenko from the USSR and Jiri Cerva from Czechoslovakia were disqualified for using a 1400cc engine instead of the 1300cc the rules stipulated. It is thought similar procedures were common (and sometimes allowed) by the Soviet teams, maybe because the USSR was the dominant country behind the Iron Curtain.

After these successful years in Hungary, Kesjár was offered to race in Austria. With such a palmares and some sponsorship, he signed for Walter Lechner Racing to compete in the Austrian F.Ford Championship, driving a Reynard. It didn’t take too much time for him to prove his talent and he won the championship in his first year.

The result was quite simple and, at the same time quite sensational for a driver from Eastern Europe: Horst Schübel signed Kesjár to partner young German promise Bernd Schneider in his top German F3 team. F3 was harder than F.Ford and Csaba was adapting himself to the rhythm. Driving his Dallara-Volkswagen 387, Kesjár finished the championship in 14th place, having scored 12 points, his best result a 4th place. He also won a non-championship race at Hockenheim. A good result for a rookie; Schübel also agreed and signed him for a second year.

But at the end of 1987 Kesjár was already a pioneer, becoming the first Hungarian to sit in a Formula 1 car. This outstanding opportunity came at the Hungarian GP when Zakspeed owner Erich Zakowski invited Csaba to drive one of his cars. Kesjár literally sat in the car after Friday practice but since cars are not allowed to leave the pit lane between official practice sessions he didn’t get to drive. His opportunity came three hours after the race, when he drove three demonstration laps around the Hungaroring. Zakowski ordered him not to go above third gear to avoid any accidents. Kesjár performed his task with honour although he almost lost the car at the first turn – he didn’t know F1 cars’ brakes don’t work well when cold...

1988 started off very promisingly, as Csaba was eager to show his talent once again. At the midpoint of the season he had already scored 33 points when he arrived for the Norisring weekend. At the end of the second Friday practice Csaba went past the finish line at 200 kph to go for it one last time. Approaching the narrow Dutzendteich hairpin, his Dallara-Volkswagen 388 simply went straight on, hitting two tyre barriers before landing upside down in the woods. Csaba Kesjár suffered massive head injuries and died on the spot.

Years later, in a TV interview, his father claimed Csaba’s car had been manipulated and also that he had been decapitated by the Armco barriers. Kesjár was really popular amongst his F3 colleagues so the race was cancelled on the instigation of the drivers, in spite of sponsors’ pressure.

But what really happened? The official crash report concluded that his Dallara had suffered brake failure. As Csaba was at full speed and hadn’t tried to change the car’s direction, it was rumoured that he had had a blackout while driving or even committed suicide! To feed these rumours, there were stories saying he was quite unwilling to drive that sad weekend, almost being “forced” to do so, leading to comments about illnesses like epilepsy, but nothing has been proven. The absolute truth will probably never be known but it is said that the car really suffered a brake failure, with the brake pedal actually having been split in two by Csaba’s desperate efforts to stop his car.

Csaba Kesjár was a pioneer. He may not have reached F1, as his teammate Bernd Schneider did – with Zakspeed, ironically – but he showed the way to many other youngsters behind the Iron Curtain, eventually leading to the arrival of Grand Prix drivers such as Baumgartner, Enge and Kubica.


* Sources:• Rombo; 28th June 1988.
• Atlas F1 Nostalgia Forum, Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll thread, page 20, posting by Geza Sury.
• Formel 3 Guide, by Wolfgang Neumayer, Jahrgänge 1950-2002, 1988 Ergebnisse im Detail, pages 27 and 28.
• Puru's & Franz Page - Automobilrennsport Pokal für Frieden und Freundschaft 1983 und andere Automobilrennen in Osteuropa.
• Motoring News; 29th June 1988.
• Motorsport Memorial, by “The Motorsport Memorial Team”, Csaba Kesjar.
• Atlas F1 Nostalgia Forum, Csaba Kesjar thread.
• Continental Circus, by “Speeder_76”, Historieta da Formula 1 – Csaba Kesjar na Zakspeed.
• Wikipedia, Kesjár Csaba (accessed 7 July 2009).
• F1 Nostalgia, by Rianov Albinov, O que você esta fazendo ai? Csaba Kesjár na Zakspeed.
• Lazapipa, Csabi Pécs.
• With thanks to Gegely Vajay.

[Mig007]

Hello!!

I am doing some major updates on the article, and I would like to know if there are more people here with memories from Kesjar, knowledge about the Hungarian and Eastern motorsport scene, etc...
I have found some Hungarian contacts so expect news soon.

[Greatest]

I found a video on youtube and appr. 7 min 30 secs there are some photos from the crash scene. Although in a historical sense the pics help us understand the events a little better, they also tell the story that Kesjar actually had no chance of survival. I remember some of his races and that's the way I want to remember him.