Ludwig Heimrath Jr. (born September 9, 1956) is a
Canadian businessman and former race car driver in open-wheel and sports-car racing.
Born in
Scarborough,
Ontario, Heimrath started his driving career racing Go-karts and Formula Fords. In 1979 and 1980 he won the Ontario Formula Ford Championship winning seven races in total. In 1981 and 1982, he competed in selected International Motorsport Association (IMSA) races. In 1983, he competed in the Robert Bosch Super Vee Series. Ludwig was named Rookie of the Year winning a race and two pole positions. He also drove a prototype in the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
that year. In 1984, he won three races and three pole positions racing Super Vees. The next several years, Ludwig competed in the IMSA GTP Series and drove a factory supported Porsche in Trans-Am. Starting in 1987 through 1989, Ludwig competed in selected
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
races. In 1987, at the
Indianapolis 500, he was the fastest qualifier the second weekend, qualifying tenth. His highest finish at the Indy 500 was 13th.
Heimrath graduated as an engineer from
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University). He currently owns and operates All-Composite, Inc., a composite manufacturing company in the Pacific Northwest. He also is a college composite technology instructor and consultant.
Ludwig is married to
Kathy Rude
Kathy Rude (born 1957) is an American sports car driver who was one of the first female drivers to attract international attention. Growing up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, she began competing as a teenager in karting events. By her early ...
, the first woman to win a major international sports car race, a GTU class win at 24 Hours of Daytona in 1982 with Lee Mueller and
Allan Moffat. Heimrath's father,
Ludwig Heimrath Sr., won the Trans Am Series championship in 1977, becoming the first person born outside the United States to win the championship since Horst Kwech in 1966.
American open-wheel racing results
(
key)
PPG Indycar Series
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Indianapolis 500
Le Mans 24 Hours results
See also
List of Canadians in Champ Car
References
External links
*
1956 births
Living people
SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers
Champ Car drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Racing drivers from Ontario
Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto
Trans-Am Series drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
{{Canada-autoracing-bio-stub
Canadian racing drivers