Klien and Liuzzi: Best of Frenemies

Team SARD-Morand’s contractual woes meant Christian Klien was unexpectedly freed up to join his former Red Bull sparring partner Vitantonio Liuzzi at ByKolles for the first two rounds of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone and Spa. James Newbold hears their story.

‘Could it really have been ten years ago?’ Christian Klien’s eyes appeared to say. Indeed, it could. After rescuing the floundering Jaguar outfit in November 2004 and signing up veteran David Coulthard after nine years at McLaren, the new Red Bull Racing team had a big decision to make, with two promising Red Bull-backed youngsters vying for one seat. Sound familiar?  

In one corner stood 22-year old Austrian Christian Klien, with a year’s F1 experience already under his belt in the recalcitrant Jaguar after winning the Zandvoort F3 Masters and finishing runner-up to Ryan Briscoe in the previous year’s Formula 3 Euroseries – ahead of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Timo Glock, Bruno Spengler and Nicolas Lappiere, to name but a few. In the other, 23-year-old Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, who wiped the floor with the opposition in the final season of Formula 3000, only once failing to take pole and winning seven times.

In the end, it was decided that the two would share the seat, with Klien starting the season and Liuzzi taking over from the European leg in San Marino, each aware that any mistake could spell the end. But despite everything that was at stake, their relationship was surprisingly amiable.

Liuzzi and Klien converse with Red Bull team boss
Christian Horner at Bahrain in 2005 (Motorsport.com).

“I have known Christian since 2001 or 2002 and we became friends straight away,” says Liuzzi. “Even though for many years we were fighting for the same seat and both realised that obviously when you close the visor you are fighting for your career, we were always good friends and had a good relationship.”

“At that time, you could easily become enemies because you are racing for your career, but for us it was good outside the track,” agrees Klien. “Everything was normal and that was of course a benefit for us.”

But for whatever reason, unfortunately neither of their Formula One careers would live up to its early promise. Klien outqualified Coulthard 8-7 in 2005 and was in line to score Red Bull’s first podium at Monaco in 2006 before transmission failure struck. He was eventually replaced by Robert Doornbos for the final three Grand Prix of the season, only returning to F1 in 2010 for a three-race stint at Colin Kolles’ fledgling HRT team. Liuzzi would also race for Kolles at HRT in 2011 alongside a fresh-faced Daniel Ricciardo, having been dropped by Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso at the end of the 2007 season despite a sixth place in China. He would match that result for Force India at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, before teaming up with Kolles again in the new World Endurance Championship in 2012. 

Motorsport is a funny old business at the best of times, so it was only apt that it took the perfect storm of French air traffic control strikes – which threatened to ground ByKolles’ second driver Simon Trummer – and the last-minute withdrawal of Klien’s original team due to contractual wranglings for the pair to finally be reunited at the WEC’s season-opening 6 Hours of Silverstone, naturally with Kolles again at the helm. Klien takes up the story:

The CLM P1/01 on track at Silverstone. Reliability and a lack
of downforce have been problematic so far (ByKolles). 

“The good thing is that in endurance racing we don’t have to fight for the seat!” he joked. “There was obviously a bit of a drama, so I was here anyway just to sort things out. I was around the paddock and on Friday morning [ByKolles director of operations] Boris Bermes called me to ask if I was available. I said ‘right now I’m in bed but I can be in one and a half hours!’ so I came straight here. Thankfully Sard-Morand were fine with it, so it’s good to race.”

However, the CLM P1/01’s lack of downforce and struggles to get heat into the tyres meant scoring a result against the manufacturer entrants around the high-speed Silverstone was always going to be a tough ask, and qualifying amongst the LMP2 pack confirmed their worst fears. An extended stay in the garage after sustaining floor damage from a kerb on the opening lap meant things didn’t get much better therein, before the glorified test session was eventually cut short forty minutes before the end by engine failure.

“Silvestone is really the worst conditions we could have, so this weekend will be a chance to get information about the car and put more laps on it,” Liuzzi admitted. “We still have a long way to go and when you are racing here and you are ten seconds off the pace it’s not so nice, but Christian and I believe in the job Colin is doing. This is good preparation for Le Mans.”

ByKolles at least managed to outqualify the fastest LMP2 entry at Spa with revised bodywork and a new gearbox and suspension, before mechanical gremlins again struck. But despite the travails, it is evident that both men have nothing but respect for Kolles, whose roster of drivers down the years resembles something of a who’s who of motorsports, with the likes of Adrian Sutil, Andre Lotterer, Narian Karthikeyan, Pierre Kaffer and James Rossiter among his list of alumni. From the junior formula to DTM, sportscars and Formula One, you name it, Kolles has done it, often on a tight budget and with the odds stacked against him.

Klien and Liuzzi were finally reunited at ByKolles (own photo).

“He’s always managed to put a team on the grid, which is never easy, especially here when you’re having to fight against manufacturers,” says Klien. “You cannot compare a private team with the resources they have to manufacturers; you can only compare it to Rebellion in the end. Even in Formula 1 in the really difficult times like in 2010 with HRT, he made it possible for the team to race. He just lives for the sport.”

“He offered me the opportunity to race at Macau in Formula 3 in 2002, so I’ve known him for many years and I’ve always respected him a lot as a person and a businessman,” Liuzzi adds. “With him I always felt that black is black and white is white. He always was very serious and straight-up. He likes a challenge because many times he has been on board with projects like HRT or Caterham or this one, which is really difficult because you are fighting against manufacturers or teams with a huge budget. But he always made a good job with the resources he had, so I’m sure he will find the right way. It will take time, but sooner or later we will find out way out of the tunnel.” 

However the latest Kolles adventure pans out in the end, you can bet that Klien and Liuzzi will have relished their surprise reunion; if only to recapture the youthful exuberance which saw Liuzzi lay claim to the crown of the ‘paddock’s best dancer’.

*It was announced before e-Racing went to press that Tiago Monteiro would join Pierre Kaffer and Simon Trummer in the ByKolles lineup at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It is unclear whether Liuzzi and Klien will return to the project later in the year.