Hans Herrmann, one of endurance racing’s most decorated and enduring drivers, passed away on January 9, 2026 at the age of 97. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Hermann earned more than 80 overall and class victories, most of them for Porsche. After retiring from competition, he served as a test driver at Porsche’s Weissach Development Center.
Born in Stuttgart on February 23, 1928, Hermann initially trained as a confectioner. As a 24-year-old he revealed his true calling in 1952 by winning his first circuit race at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 356. Momentum followed quickly: a class win at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 550 Coupé and the 1953 German Sports Car Championship title. Later recruited by Mercedes-Benz, he raced alongside legends like Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.
After Daimler-Benz withdrew from motorsport, he drove and won for other European manufacturers including Maserati, B.R.M., Borgward, and Abarth. He returned to Porsche frequently in this years, adding major class successes at the Carrera Panamericana and Mille Miglia, famously slipping a 550 Spyder under a closing railway barrier.
Herrmann’s peak years included Porsche’s first overall World Sportscar Championship win at Sebring (1960), a Targa Florio victory, and the Formula 2 European Championship. His return to Porsche’s factory team put him in the company of fellow racing legends Jo Siffert, Vic Elford, Rolf Stommelen, Udo Schütz, and Gerhard Mitter. He sealed his legacy by winning the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans with Richard Attwood in the Porsche 917K — Porsche’s first overall Le Mans triumph — before retiring immediately afterward.
