Armin Schwarz: A sprinter with marathon qualities

Sheer speed and incredible endurance are Armin Schwarz's marks of quality. Looking back: The man from the southern Germany made his debut at the last WRC round in 1988, to then spend the next 17 years – until 2005 – competing at the highest level of rally sport as a sought-after works driver. Competing in 121 events, Schwarz finished in the top ten 46 times. To date, he is the only German after Walter Röhrl to win a world rally championship round (Spain 1991).

1986 saw him take the title as amateur in the Mitropa Cup before becoming champion of the International German Rally Championship in 1987 - his first professional year. He repeated this feat the following year before making the switch to the major-league WRC. In 1996, Armin was crowned European Champion. At the end of 2005 Armin announced that his time in the cockpit of World Rally Cars was over.