Walt Bohren

[26th-Z]

Just learned this: Walt posted on this site for a while some years ago. I knew him from his time with the Racing Beat Mazda RX-7s.

Former Hunterdon resident Walt Bohren, Mazda car racer for many years, drowns in British Virgin Islands

February 10, 2011

Hunterdon County Democrat

Former Hunterdon resident Walt Bohren, an auto racer in national events in the ‘70s & ‘80s, died Tuesday in an apparent accidental drowning near Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands.

Bohren, 63, who had retired to Tortola & lived on his catamaran, was last seen alive by his girlfriend when he left their boat & took a small dinghy to go ashore, according to a report on speedtv.com.

He was found floating in the water Tuesday evening & an autopsy is being performed by the BVI medical examiner to determine his cause of death.

Bohren was a son of Frank Bohren, the civil engineer who headed the Flemington firm of Bohren & Bohren Engineering Associates for many years. Frank, who lived in Raritan Township & was the township engineer for many years, died in 2000. Early in Walt’s racing career, Frank was his financial backer.

Bohren was a staple in the early years of International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) racing, competing during its formative stages in the Baby Grand division. Known for his association w/Mazda, Bohren drove Mazda RX-2s & RX-3s before graduating to RX-7s, which dominated the GTU category for nearly a decade.

Driving for the Racing Beat team, Bohren won 5 GTU races en route to the 1980 championship. Another notable win came in the GTU class at the 1981 12 Hours of Sebring at the wheel of an RX-7, speedtv.com reported.

Bohren moved to bigger cars for the 1984 IMSA season, driving V8-powered American machinery in the GTO class for the Dingman Bros. He would win his 2nd race for the team that year in Miami, & would also make his 1 & only start at Le Mans, sharing a Rondeau M482 w/American Jim Mullen & French ace Alain Ferte where they finished 13th.

He would later race for Buz McCall’s Skoal Bandit Racing GTO team, driving a Chevrolet Camaro thru 1987, his last season in IMSA. By the end of his IMSA career, Bohren had earned 8 victories in GTU & GTO competition.

His final race would come in a Porsche at the 1996 12 Hours of Sebring, altho he would later test a Daytona Prototype prior to the 2005 Rolex 24 At Daytona before hanging up his helmet.

He got his start in racing in 1969 w/motorcycles, then in 1973 opened his auto racing career in a Formula Ford before switching to Mazdas in 1975. At the time, his "day" job was selling cars for the Z&W Mazda dealership near Princeton.

In 1976, he sped his Mazda to victory in the Daytona 100, the final duel in the Challenge 100 series that year.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

[black gold man]

R.I.P Walt Bohren