Drivers

Karl Kling

Karl Kling started as a reception clerk in the PR department of Daimler-Benz back in 1936 and competed with Mercedes production cars in rallies and reliability trails up to the start of the Second World War. He serviced planes for the Luftwaffe during the war, then started racing again in 1946 with a BMW 328 before graduating to a Veritas. He was then invited into the Mercedes sports car and Formula 1 teams in the early 1950s. Runner-up to Fangio in the 1954 French Grand Prix he also won the 1952 Carrera Panamericana in 1 300SL with Hans Klenk. He retired from racing in 1955 and was later competitions manager of Mercedes during their rally program in the early 1960s.