BY THE TIME RUDY BARTLING WAS INDUCTED into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2012, he was widely being referred to as Canada’s most experienced endurance racer. He had come a long way since arriving in Canada on a ship in 1957 as a 21-year-old all by himself.
Well, with some German compatriots, of course.
My friends Hank Franczak and Dan Proudfoot, the latter a well-known Toronto automotive journalist and fellow UCR member, and I had gotten it into our heads that Rudy really deserved to be inducted into the Hall. Hank and I set out, with Hank drumming up whatever support needed to be generated and with me doing all the research regarding Rudy’s racing endeavours and results. Out of the three of us, I had certainly spent the most one-on-one time with Rudy and had heard all the stories of his past in automobile racing, as we went traveling around North America throughout the ‘90s to run my cars in vintage racing events, while he truly was my mentor and inspiration.
LEFT PHOTO: The 2012 inductees to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Rudy Bartling is in the front row, second from right; Michael Andretti is in the back row, at left. RIGHT PHOTO: Rudy Bartling with Dan Proudfoot and longtime friend and fellow racer Horst Kroll, from left, at Rudy’s induction to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2012. Photography by Andreas Trauttmansdorff.
Hank Franczak went around and cleared what needed to be cleared with the Hall of Fame; small matters like the fact that Rudy was still a German citizen, although he truly always drove for Canada and would always carry the Canadian flag on his cars, and he would be quite outspoken about having to show our friends south of the border what we Canadians are made of. Hank also made a point of speaking with some of the many racers whose lives Rudy had touched, either by driving with them or by working on their teams or by simply giving them his support and advice in the paddock — from Scott Goodyear and Bill Adam to his old friends and compatriots, Horst Kroll, of course, and Horst Petermann, David Deacon, the Bytzek brothers, and Ludwig Heimrath too. Plus, many more, myself included.
Unlike another famous Canadian-German driver…Rudy was always smiling, gracious and a delight to be around. He was someone who I always looked forward to seeing and racing with.
Said Bill Adam about Rudy: “The thing that I recall most vividly about him was his class. Unlike another famous Canadian-German driver…Rudy was always smiling, gracious and a delight to be around. He was someone who I always looked forward to seeing and racing with. Completely trustworthy on the track, he was both quick and intelligent.”
Added Scott Goodyear: “When I entered car racing in Canada in 1980, I asked people in racing who I should speak to so I could get a strong understanding on what challenges were in front of me, trying to become a professional driver. There was only a handful of people in the racing industry who were considered experienced enough to share the ups and downs of the business, Rudy was one of them. I got to know Rudy over the years competing at events from Mosport Park in Canada and as far south as the Daytona 24-hour event. Rudy was always pleasant and very open to sharing his lifelong experiences both on and off the track. Motor racing is tough enough on the track, but with the added responsibilities of promotion and sponsor relations, any advice to take some short cuts along the way is a huge help. Rudy was one driver always willing to assist, and I am very appreciative of his assistance.”
Once I had amassed all the racing results that I could find from Rudy’s own files and copies of newspaper articles he had saved, as well as what I could find on the Internet, we asked Dan Proudfoot to put all this information into one write-up that was required to go along with the application for induction.
From my own time of nearly 35 years that I spent with Rudy, I would say that the night of the induction was his proudest-ever moment. He knew he deserved it, he owned it, but he never would have asked anyone to make this happen for him, he was far too humble for that. From our many conversations during the days at the race track and nights hanging out, I knew that this was what he wanted.
It was a happy circumstance that Rudy’s induction was to happen for him at the point in his life that it did, as he was shortly thereafter diagnosed with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, with the path of that horrible illness being nothing but a one-way downhill street. Something that was just so sad to witness over the next eight years until his passing in September of 2021, particularly in someone who had always been so full of life and vigor and, yes, the stories he loved to tell of his racing life.
When he flew past the last checkered flag and decided to hang up his professional racing helmet for good at the end of 2000, Rudy had amassed quite a variety of racing records. Seventeen starts at the 12 Hours of Sebring, nine starts at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 45 IMSA race starts, 16 starts in the World Championship for Makes.
When he flew past the last checkered flag and decided to hang up his professional racing helmet for good at the end of 2000, Rudy had amassed quite a variety of racing records. Seventeen starts at the 12 Hours of Sebring, nine starts at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 45 IMSA race starts, 16 starts in the World Championship for Makes. He also raced in countless amateur and regional races, which included winning the BEMC Indian Summer Trophy, and finally competed in the Canada GT Challenge Cup for three seasons, and the list goes on.
Alwin Springer, who is the ‘AL’ in the name of the famed Porsche racing shop of Southern California, ANDIAL, and who would go on to become the president of Porsche Motorsport North America for seven years until 2004, first came to North America via Canada, where he met Rudy and the gang of other Volkswagen and Porsche compatriots in Toronto in 1965. In an interview published in the May 2003 issue of PCA’s Panorama magazine, Alwin mentions the fact that he met Rudy when he arrived in Toronto and got involved in Porsche racing by helping Rudy with the running of his Porsche RS Spyder racecar. When Alwin heard of Rudy’s passing last September, he said to Rudy’s wife, Beverley to be sure to give Rudy credit for the fact that it was he who got Alwin involved in Porsche motorsport in the first place.
While first he’d appear quite gruff, even standoffish, Rudy would, as you got to know him better and he you, become more and more pleasant and talkative and could be a very charming man with his stories and input about your car. But he could also be very direct and honest and not hold back his opinion. When asked by someone in the Mosport stands at corner one, how I was doing while taking my stint in my GT3 R in the ALMS race in 2001, he reportedly responded, “I don’t know, I don’t have a calendar with me.” And that is why you had to love the man. </>
