Armin Schwarz (born 16 July 1963) is a German

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver. He competed in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991

Rally Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a rally competition held in the Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned an ...

and taking six other podium finishes. Outside the WRC, he won the German Rally Championship (1987–88), the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champion ...

(1996) and the "Rally Masters" event at the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the start or end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers from Formula One, World Rally Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, sports car racin ...

(2000).

Career

Schwarz was born in

Neustadt an der Aisch Neustadt an der Aisch (, ; officially: ''Neustadt a.d. Aisch'') is a small town of around 13,000 inhabitants in the northern part of Bavaria (Germany), within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia. It is the district town of t ...

in Franken in 1963 and debuted in rallying in 1983. After having won the German Rally Championship for two years in a row, he made his debut in the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and was signed by

Toyota Team Europe Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH (TGR-E) is an automotive engineering and motorsport services facility based in Cologne, Germany. It is fully-owned and controlled by Toyota Motor Corporation. TGR-E's principal operation is technical developmen ...

, Toyota's factory WRC team, for the 1990 season. Driving a

Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Toyota Celica, Celica Liftback that was produced from 1986 to 1999, with a Turbocharger, turbocharged ''Toyota S engine#3S-GTE, 3S-GTE'' engine, and full-time Four-wheel drive, AWD. I ...

, Schwarz led a world championship rally for the first time at the 1990

Rally Portugal The Rally de Portugal (formerly: Rallye de Portugal) is a Rallying, rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Ra ...

, took his first podium finish at the 1991

Rally Australia Rally Australia is an Rallying, automobile rally event which was held in Coffs Harbour as the final leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC) until 2018. First run in 1988, the rally was held in and around Perth, Western Australia until 2006. ...

and his first and only win at the 1991

. In 1996, due to Toyota's 12-month ban from the WRC, Schwarz drove for the team in the

. He won the Manx International Rally and the

Cyprus Rally The Cyprus Rally is a rallying competition held yearly in Cyprus since 1970. The event is run by the Cyprus Automobile Association and is based in the city of Limassol (Lemesos). It is run on the winding roads of the nearby mountains of Troöd ...

and captured the overall title. Later that same year, he drove to victory in the

RAC Rally Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...

, then part of the 2-Litre World Championship ("Formula 2"). In 1997 Schwarz drove for the now Cumbria based

M-Sport M-Sport is a motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, United Kingdom. It is primarily known for entering the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1997 in partnership with Ford, manufacturing race an ...

Ford rally team but was later replaced by

Juha Kankkunen Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen (; born 2 April 1959) is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which we ...

after a series of disappointing performances. In the 1999 season, after stints with

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, Schwarz started his long partnership with the debuting

Škoda Škoda means "pity" in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto responsi ...

works team. His best result with the team was third place at the 2001

Safari Rally The Safari Rally is an automobile rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is h ...

. Schwarz retired from the world championship after the 2005 season, during which he took his first points finish in over a year at the season-ending Rally Australia. Following the successful completion of its Red Bull Young Rally Driver's Search Program, Schwarz joined forces in 2006 with Global Sport Licensing Ltd. (“GSL”) and Mr. Baumschlage to create the WRC designated Red Bull Škoda Team. Simultaneously, Schwarz started in 2007 to race, as a GSL racing driver with the support of California-based All German Motorsport team, in the American

SCORE International SCORE International (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) is an off-road racing sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. Founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973, SCORE International was purchased from Sal Fish in late 2012. and is run ...

off-road championship which includes among others the internationally famous races

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

. Schwarz now lives in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He is married with two children, one of them is Fabio Schwarz which as of 2025 will be competing in the WRC 2.

WRC victories

Complete World Rally Championship results

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Armin 1963 births German rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers European Rally Championship drivers Living people Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Racing drivers from Bavaria Hyundai Motorsport drivers Škoda Motorsport drivers People from Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim