Schwarz Announces Retirement

Rallying veteran Armin Schwarz has announced that he will retire from the World Rally Championship at the end of this season after a lengthy career at the top of the sport

Aug 25, 2005, 12:04 PM

The German, who currently drives for Skoda, is the oldest competitor in the WRC and has driven for a host of teams during his 17 years in the championship.

The highlights of his career include winning the European rally championship in 1996 and two top levels wins, in the 1991 Catalunya WRC event and the 1996 RAC, which was non-championship.

Schwarz said he was making the move to spend more time with his family.

"I've been taking the position over the last few months that this will be my last WRC season," he said in the run-up to his home event, this weekend's OMV ADAC Rallye in Germany. "I've got a young family and I think the time is right to take a bit more care of them than I have been doing."

Schwarz drove for almost every manufacturer during his rallying career, including Audi, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, Hyundai and Skoda. Most of his success was with Toyota, however, including the 1996 European title.