Willy Knupp: The man who brought Formula 1 to RTL

Even back when RTL hadn’t yet considered launching a German television channel, Willy Knupp was regarded as the broadcaster’s motorsport face at the racetracks. And when his employer entered the television business, it was Willy Knupp who brought Formula 1 into our homes. He just managed to celebrate his 70th birthday on 19 October 2006; three weeks later, he lost his long and valiant battle with cancer.

Willy Knupp was as much a part of RTL as Cologne Cathedral. When I arrived in the Rhineland metropolis in 1969 to take up my post as sports editor at the then newly founded *Auto Zeitung*, my colleague Knupp, alongside Rolf Stommelen, was one of my first points of contact in a city that was still completely unfamiliar to me.

He was in close contact with ADAC North Rhine, but could also often be found in Düsseldorf in his small recording studio. From there, he broadcast motorsport reports for RTL Radio, at that time still better known as the ‘cheerful waves of Radio Luxembourg’.

We bumped into each other at almost every race weekend at the Nürburgring; he introduced me to his colleagues Frank Elstner and Jochen Pützenbacher and made sure that, during my track reports, I managed to get one or two of the station’s stars in front of the microphone.

At the light-hearted journalists’ rallies in Monaco in the days leading up to the F1 Grand Prix, we came up against each other as competitors. Willy competed in a Ford Capri RS with ZDF newsreader Jochen Breiter as his co-driver, or in his stunning Alpine A 310. He simply enjoyed the sport, whether he was reporting on it or getting behind the wheel himself.

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Willy Knupp quickly established motorsport reports as a regular feature of the RTL Radio programme and also skilfully positioned his station as a partner to teams and race organisers. For a long time, the RTL Radio logo was prominently displayed on Zakspeed’s Escort and Capri racing tourers. And the traditional ADAC Nordrhein Eifel Race at the Nürburgring received additional publicity for many years thanks to a close partnership with RTL.

All too often, the small RTL studio in Düsseldorf became a celebrity hotspot, because when Willy called, they all turned up. Back then, it was an honour for stars and starlets, professionals and amateurs alike to be invited for an RTL interview. “My time with Frank Elstner on the radio was the best of all,” he once told me, almost wistfully, as the wrangling over TV rights and tickets really began to heat up.

Coffee with Formula 1 promoter Bernie Ecclestone

He made his big entrance in connection with the launch of ‘RTLplus TV’ in Cologne in the mid-1980s. The radio presenter moved into the television business and, as one of his first acts in the role, secured Formula 1 for his channel. ‘Go ahead, but make sure it doesn’t get too expensive,’ the then head of RTL, Dr Helmut Thoma, told him as he set off to meet Bernie Ecclestone.

He proudly told me after Schumacher’s first World Championship victory in 2000 that he’d agreed on a “genuine bargain price” with Bernie “over a coffee” back then. “Under the terms of that deal,” he added with a smile, “you wouldn’t even get the rights to a short highlights programme today.”

Although RTL had lost the live rights to ARD and ZDF for a few years in between, from 1991 onwards it was Willy Knupp once again who, with the support of Dr Thoma, brought Formula 1 to Cologne once and for all. That said, in the early years, the Formula 1 department at the Cologne-based broadcaster was more of a ‘one-man operation’ than an editorial team. Willy took care of everything – travel planning, production, administration.

In the early years, he even commentated on the races himself, with his mates Werner Heinz or Norbert Haug taking turns sitting beside him as loyal assistants. ‘They did it for the fun of it and for my sake, and didn’t ask for anything in return,’ he always gave them great credit for these favours.

At the end of the 1992 season, he put the microphone aside, initially to make way for Jochen Mass, who was followed shortly afterwards by Heiko Wasser. In 1997, Christian Danner was brought in as an expert alongside him – the pair have been working together in this line-up ever since. The Wasser/Danner ‘TV F1 partnership’ is now heading towards a record-breaking 30 years.

First contacts with Michael Schumacher

Meanwhile, Williy Knupp, a sporting pioneer from RTL’s early days, was entrusted with the overall coordination of the channel’s motorsport coverage. Until his death, he represented RTL as an ambassador and point of contact at most Formula 1 races on site. After all, Willy had also established the first contacts with Michael Schumacher and, as early as 1992, ensured that a special long-term agreement was in place between Schumi and RTL.

This also meant that RTL was always given priority when it came to interviews. Willy Knupp was also a prolific and successful author. Around 20 specialist books on motorsport and Formula 1 were published with his involvement, either as an author or as an editor.

From 2003 onwards, Willy’s ordeal began, with several operations and repeated hospital stays. Michael Schumacher visited him quietly, secretly and unrecognised at a hospital in Cologne. As he was sometimes too weak even to drive, his old Cologne mate Richard Thiel – an amateur racing driver from his early Formula V days – often acted as his chauffeur, driving him to various events.

On a sunny and hot day in August 2004, I picked him up from his home to drive with him to Niederzissen for the funeral of our colleague Luki Scheuer. On the way back, he asked me out of the blue: “Will you be coming to my funeral too?”

I was shocked; what was I supposed to say? More out of embarrassment, I said, “Yes, of course – what did you think?” And I tried to make light of the conversation. I didn’t manage it; he saw my tears and simply said: “Don’t worry, I know my time is coming soon.”

By that point, he was actually fully aware of the extent of his illness and knew he didn’t have much time left. That’s why, in early December 2005, he asked Richard Thiel to drive him to Essen once more for a reunion of former racing drivers. There, he thoroughly enjoyed the evening and, at the end, bid farewell to almost everyone present with a firm handshake.

Some sensed the impending tragedy; after all, he had become thin and frail. He just managed to celebrate his 70th birthday with his last ounce of strength; three weeks later, on 10 November 2006, he passed away. Many friends and colleagues from the world of motor racing, and of course the entire RTL family, attended the memorial service at St Pankratius Church in Cologne-Junkersdorf.

Hugo Egon Balder, one of Willy’s very close friends at the broadcaster, once again paid tribute to the life and work of the great RTL motorsport pioneer in a wonderful speech, peppered with splendid turns of phrase in the Cologne dialect. That would have been right up Willy Knupp’s street, had he still been able to hear it.