He has been known as an engineer for 26 years - but how many realize what he is like and what is hidden behind this likable, often cryptically-smiling face as far as inclinations, thoughts and passions go, apart from that rich trove of knowledge and experience when it. comes to race technology?
The best idea is to penetrate his innersanctum via the facts. Norbert Singerwas born in Eger on 16 November, 1939and grew up in Wurzburg. After leaving school he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical College in Munich, specializing in the fields of aviation and space, apart from vehicle technology, on his way to his master's.
A verbal excursion into space indicates even now how great his fascination
still is for extraterrestrial science. Singer: "This crazy world fascinated
me." It was the era of the moon landings and thus an era which caused others
besides scientists to look to the sky. But for Singer it was clearly men
such as Professor Oberth, considered the father of spaceflight, or his
famous student Wernher von Braun, who captured student attention with their
high-caliber knowledge and naturally also their fascinating way of relating
the tales. 4000 people in a university auditorium which only held 2000,
listening to Professor Oberth, already well along in years. Hours passed
and when a few dozen of the interested were left in the hall outside where
the janitor threatened to have them removed, they suddenly noticed how,
starting with pure science, they had largely left the planetary orbits.
"All at once," Singer says, "we had landed on religion via philosophy."
Typical of Singer: he is enthusiastic when horizons open. He doesn't hesitate before the most unusual inputs when it serves to reach a goal. This has nothing to do with dreaming, but rather with the awareness that it will get you further when you realize how things interact.
Even so, it was a hard landing. The aviation and spaceflight technology student had to painfully abandon any thoughts of a profession among the planets. Instead, he remained firmly on the ground - and faced facts. He let competent people convince him that a space travel expert hardly had much chance in Germany, due to a lack of financial backing and the economic dependency of this field on the government. Singer: "In Germany we had an automobile industry."
It was "farewell to a dream" (Singer). Even so, he continues to follow spaceflight developments with great interest. But his professional career kept him on the roads. In one sense he did manage something he appreciates in race cars: high speeds, straight runs and adhesion.
When he heard about the possibility of joining Porsche in the race department, next page->