Jasper Saetern

Jasper pre-race at Australia for Ford in 1997. It is the last known public photograph of him outside of his car.

### Born

Jasper Rolf Clemens Sætern III1 July 1969

Bergen, Norway

### Died

23 March 1997 (aged 27)

Melbourne, Australia

## Formula One Career

### Last entry

1997 Australian Grand Prix

**Jasper Rolf Clemens Sætern III** (1 July 1969 - 23 March 1997) was a Norwegian racing driver who competed in Formula One for Ligier, Tyrrell, and Ford. He was the uncle to Norwegian racing driver Thomas Saetern, who competed in Formula One for Sauber, Minardi, and Jordan.

Jasper Sætern passed away due to a basilar skull fracture following a lap one collision in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix.

## Early Years

Despite being born in Bergen, Norway. Sætern spent much of his early childhood at his grandparents home in Bekken. Somewhere around that time Jasper would learn to ride a motorbike left over from the Norwegian Resistance of World War 2. In doing so he would very quickly gain an interest in racing. By 1982 Jasper was considered to be one of the top young motorbike racing prospects in Norway alongside fellow competitor **Søren Vinter.** In 1983 Jasper attended the **1983 Italian Grand Prix** and afterwards made the decision to switch his focus towards racing in Formula One instead of motorbike racing.

## Racing Career

In 1986 Jasper Sætern moved to Liverpool in the United Kingdom to both improve his English and to race in the British Formula Ford Championship. He would share residence with nephew and Norwegian racing driver Thom Saetern. In his first season he managed to score a single point at the last race of the season. In 1987 Jasper scored much more frequently and finished 3rd in the championship. In 1988 Sætern would enter the International Formula 3000 for Footwork, and would take most of the season to feel comfortable within the car. Taking his first points at Brands Hatch with a fifth place finish, he would finish fifth again at Spa-Francorchamps, placing him 15th in the championship that year, and 8th the next. At the beginning of the 1990 Formula 3000 season Sætern signed with Paul Stewart Racing and until the 28th of July at the Hockenheimring would contest for the lead in the Championship. On July 30th Sætern publicly announced that he would not be continuing that years championship due to the unexpected death of then fiancé Adelaide Davies.

### Ligier (1991-1992)

###### 1991

In December 1990 Sætern intended to re-sign with Paul Stewart Racing. However, having found the seat filled for the 1991 season and still having finished 2nd in last season's championship, he decided to try and move to race in Formula One. After initial testing with Minardi, Ligier took notice of Sætern and offered to sign him until the end of the 1993 season at the cost of a lower salary than Minardi's offer. Notably, the contract held a mutual exit clause for 1993 should both parties be dissatisfied.

Debuting at Kyalami in the 1991 South African Grand Prix, Sætern was able to take advantage of multiple incidents to finish two laps down in 12th with his teammate Nazario Gabino finishing 13th with gearbox issues. Jasper was able to cut through the accidents at the start of the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix, elevating him into 14th before a major brake failure occurred on lap two exiting *Ferradura* in what could have been a more serious accident. Sætern would not race at the San Marino Grand Prix or the Monaco Grand Prix.

One race before the summer break, Sætern returned to the Hockenheimring for the 1991 German Grand Prix. Upon being asked about his long absence, Jasper cited internal reliability issues within the car. Despite this, there is existent evidence of both Jasper and teammate Nazario Gabino practicing for and making pre-qualifying attempts at the previous rounds. Sætern managed to qualify 13th but served a drive-through penalty at the start of the race for jumping at the start. On lap four Jasper would lose control on the straight before the *Mobil 1 Kurve* after dipping onto the grass, taking him out of the race. The wreck was caused by Sætern attempting to reconnect a loose drinking tube. Sætern suffered a concussion but would recover in time to enter the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix thanks to the Summer break.

After missing the Belgium Grand Prix due to more reliability issues, Jasper would race again in the Italian Grand Prix. On the opening lap of qualifying Sætern would crash into Ferrari's Fabiano Margheriti, drawing the ire of the of the Tifosi, an incident that would vilify Sætern amongst Italian fans for his entire career. It resulted in both cars having to start from the back. Jasper would race well but after light damage to the car would only be able to bring home 10th while two laps down, his first ever points in Formula One. The first points for Ligier in 1991 had come the race prior in Belgium by replacement teammate Ezequiel Zarco, who finished 5th. Jasper would not pre-qualify for the Spanish Grand Prix but would manage to qualify for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. After starting 13th, Sætern managed to finish in 9th, being the last car lapped by 1991 championship winner Fabiano Margheriti. Jasper would ultimately finish 25th in the championship, with Ligier taking 10th in the constructors.

###### 1992

In the 1992 season Jasper Sætern would team up with Ezequiel Zarco for the entire season with Renault taking over for Lamborghini as the engine supplier for Ligier. Early in the season the combination of the two camps seemed to be a promising challenger for the future as both Zarco and Sætern would take home a plethora of points finishes including an impressive 2nd place finish for Jasper at the United States Grand Prix, the first podium for Ligier since Seraphin Dufour won in 1989 at Suzuka. This would also be the last ever podium finish for the team following Ligier's collapse during the 2000 Formula One Season.

Unfortunately for Jasper, relations with team owner Guy Ligier would sour at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone. Apparently frustrated with the amount of sponsorship obligations Sætern had with his personal sponsor Sega, Guy Ligier would accuse Jasper of not being 100% committed to the team or Formula One. Sætern would ignore such comments publicly before the race but after a disappointing wreck for 4th position with Tyrrell's Eduardo Ventura Jasper was not as kind, claiming behind closed doors that Guy Ligier was "a bitter old man whose racing career never took off talking about things he's never had to deal with."

Relations would further sour at the next race in Germany after both Ligier drivers finished outside of the points, Guy Ligier would request Sætern to oblige their mutual exit clause for the 1993 season to which Jasper agreed. During the break between races Jasper would appear on Norwegian television to talk about Formula One and the situation between himself and Guy Ligier publicly for the first time.

At the Belgium Grand Prix Jasper would finish in 5th place for Ligier, his last points finish for the team. After the race, team owner Ken Tyrrell would approach Sætern about racing for Tyrrell in 1993, replacing Eduardo Ventura, to which the Norwegian accepted less than 24 hours later. Sætern would not finish higher than 15th with Ligier in the following three races.

### Tyrrell (1993-1996)

###### 1993

Adjusting to his third different engine powered car in three years, Jasper Sætern would line up alongside Yugoslavian driver Danilo Koren who had been with the outfit since 1990. The experienced Koren would prove of great help for Sætern, who while doing worse in the championship with more retirements than last year, would consistently finish higher. Only scoring points twice in Brazil and Monaco respectively, Sætern would claim that the environment at Tyrrell was much friendlier than at Ligier and that he was able to learn much more while still staying relatively competitive.

At the end of the 1993 season Sætern said he was proud of former Ligier teammate Ezequiel Zarco for winning the 1993 Drivers Championship with Jordan after once again taking a jab at Ligier in saying that there were only good things to come to those who leave Ligier. Jasper also mentioned that he was very happy to beat Ligier in the 1993 Constructors Championship, despite actually finishing below both Ligier drivers in the championship. He promised that 1994 would see a much more well-rounded Jasper Sætern, though not stating for which team he would be driving for as that situation would not be settled until the off-season.

###### 1994

On New Years Eve 1993 Jasper would be announced alongside South Africian rookie Austin Rodrigues to fill the Tyrrell seats, with Sætern moving from the #4 to the #3. The deal would keep Jasper on Ken Tyrrell's team until the end of the 1995 season. The duo would start 14th and 13th, with Jasper ahead, for the hastily put together Pacific Grand Prix. A scary suspension failure in practice saw Rodrigues pulling out, allowing British rookie and reserve Collin McDougall to step into the #4 for the rest of the season. Jasper would finish 10th in the Pacific Grand Prix, just behind the Ferrari of winning driver Alexsandro Pinho, albeit lapped at the time. He managed to push Pinho, who was on 19 lap old tyres, while Jasper had the benefit of slightly fresher tyres. Ultimately Sætern backed off, crossing the line just after the Ferrari as the highest lapped car finisher.

Jasper's season of misfortunes started at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Despite a promising start, Sætern would suffer from wing damage on lap two forcing him to pit early, leading to the fuel load of his first stop going into the car much earlier than planned. This resulted in the car being much heavier than it's competitors and he finished in 16th four laps down. In Imola Jasper would finish 12th, despite being quoted as not looking forward to the race itself. Sætern would miss the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix due to severe illness. At the Portuguese Grand Prix Jasper would wreck with suspension damage on the first lap and would leave the track frustrated, still wearing his full racing suit. During the month-long break between Grands Prix it was speculated that Sætern spent a majority of his time in America with CART team owner Chip Ganassi as well as his drivers for the Grand Prix of Portland. Things wouldn't fair much better at the 1994 United States Grand Prix for Jasper as the car would end up being lapped twice, before then breaking down on the last lap that caused a collision with the wall and the final result being a retirement.

The 1994 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim would be an exception to an otherwise disappointing season. Qualifying in 15th Jasper would see a decent launch from the starting line only to spin into a tyre wall just after the exit of turn one. The damage wouldn't be race ending however, as he was able to pit after lap one and then played catch-up for most of the race and kept everything clean apart from an incident with Alexander Parker that granted Jasper his only penalty point in Formula One. He would finish 9th after the disqualification of Ferrari's Enzo Leal.

    The British Grand Prix would be held at Donington Park and the race would be taken over by Sega sponsorship, Jasper's personal sponsor. As a result the pressure was on for Sætern to preform and on the first lap he would have a fantastic start, jumping from 13th to 10th before being squeezed off the road behind Zarco, beginning the start of many troubles that day for Jasper. He would finish in 11th. Due to the death of fellow Norwegian driver Soren Vinter, Sætern skipped the Belgium Grand Prix in protest of the FIA's safety regulations claiming that the regulations were too relaxed and was quoted as saying "someone will die again soon if nothing gets changed. First it's Alexsandro having the year of his life, now it's the guy I looked to whenever I wasn't sure what to do in my career. How much more of our blood needs to spill until you [the FIA] do something about this?"

To culminate Jasper's dreadful 1994 season, he retired at both Monza and Suzuka in a lap 6 and a lap 1 incident at both races respectively. Sætern then at the end of the season would call for Ken Tyrrell to make a change for the upcoming seasons denoting Yamaha's engines as it's main fault.

###### 1995

With the departure of Collin McDougall to the brand new Formula One team Margheriti for the 1995 season, Jasper would see another new teammate in the returning Hideki Takeda as well as moving back to the #4. At the start of the 1995 Formula One season, Jasper would finish in 15th, 16th, and 19th at the Pacific, Brazilian, and San Marino Grands Prix respectively. In Monaco, Sætern would put his Tyrrell in 10th, then after an 18th in Portugal would finish 9th in Austria for his final points finish of the season.

After finishing 16th at the German Grand Prix and 15th in the British Grand Prix Jasper would sign a one year extension with Ken Tyrrell for 1996 to secure himself a seat for that season. The last three races of the season would all fall short of points with a disappointing run in 18th in Belgium, 21st in Italy after a mismanaged strategy, and 12th in Japan after overtakes in the closing laps by Jan Krejci and Takeda put him out of the points positions.

###### 1996

In 1996 Jasper would have the same teammate for two full seasons for the first time in his career, which had spanned six seasons to that point. Sætern would finish in 14th in Australia and Brazil with a 12th place finish at Imola in the San Marino Grand Prix. In the Monaco Grand Prix Jasper's engine would blow up internally, though no damage would come to harm Jasper. After the race he would be quoted as saying that the Yamaha engines were still an issue and struggled on throttle. The next race in Portugal saw Takeda suffering a similar issue, seemingly proving Jasper's point. Jasper would finish 13th in Portugal and 15th in Austria before heading into the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. After a hard-fought race Sætern would push Tyrrell into their first and only point of the season by cutting through the field to get to 10th, which led to McLaren's Jack Wilson giving him the nickname "The Battle Axe of Norway" following the race.

For the rest of the season Sætern's Tyrrell wouldn't get far with a 16th place finish at Silverstone, 14th in Belgium and Italy, and 13th in the Japanese Grand Prix thanks to a last second retirement from Katashi Kimura. Near the end of the season Jasper made it clear that he wanted to move on from Tyrrell due to Ken Tyrrell's reluctance to move on from the Yamaha engines. Tyrrell was set to switch to Ford engines. While deal developed between Ford and Tyrrell, Jasper began speaking with upcoming Ford team boss Günther Steiner personally, eventually settling on a deal to land him with the brand new Ford works team.

### Ford (1997)

###### 1997

Sætern started 1997 with the brand new Ford works team alongside Austrian Stefan Scherz. Jasper stated that he thought it was a great opportunity to start fresh. A new personal sponsor, Reitan Group, joined him alongside long-term partner Sega. It is believed that Sætern leaned heavily on his sponsorships and his experience to get the seat with Ford. The contract would have lasted for only the 1997 season before expiring.

## Death

### Crash

The 1997 Australian Grand Prix was held on the Albert Park Circuit, a street circuit located in Melbourne, Australia. The race was held on 23rd March 1997. This would be the second time the race would be held in Melbourne after the event returned in 1996. The Australian Grand Prix had previously used the Adelaide Street Circuit, with the last race there taking place in 1985 in which Vivaldo Margheriti had passed away. Sætern had practiced nearly over 100 laps around the track in preparation for the event in order to gather data for Ford Grand Prix.

Sætern, starting 23rd on the grid, was pushed to the inside wall as the lights went out and was held off by the Arrows of rookie and future World Drivers' Champion Tatsuno Takamori. Coming from the right side of turn two, Jasper looked to file in behind Dieter Ludwig Jr, but had not anticipated the spin of former teammate and Ferrari driver Ezequiel Zarco or the slowing down of the field. He drove blindly into the smoke just as Ligier's Rico Filippi bounced into his path. Upon contact with the Ligier, Jasper's head hit into his steering wheel and the car bounced into the air as all four tyres left the ground. Unconscious, Sætern's Ford backed into his teammate Stefan and also took him out of the race.

During a pre-race interview Jasper claimed to be content with his life to that point. In the crash he had sustained a basilar skull fracture and his death was formally announced after life support was turned off in The Alfred Hospital at 7:29pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, just as the sun set.

### Aftermath

Following the Australian Grand Prix, Jasper's funeral was held in Bergen, Norway on 29 March 1997. He is currently buried in Wolverton Cemetery in Milton Keynes alongside fiancé Adelaide Davies. Former team boss Guy Ligier attended despite their rocky history. Daniel Sætern would be put off from racing after the death of his father and would not compete again except for charity events starting in 2012. Sætern's seat would be given to acquaintance and CART race winner Heather Misako, who had raced for Chip Ganassi and had been paid to sit out for a season. Ferrari driver, 1993 World Driver Champion, and close friend Ezequiel Zarco would take a sabbatical from motorsport following the race, leading to Australian Grand Prix winner Mistral Vernati joining Ferrari in Zarco's place.

Jasper's racing reputation following his death is divisive, with some believing he never had a chance to live up to what he was capable of while others claim he wasn't all that special.

Thomas Saetern, Jasper's nephew, was not as discouraged. He is quoted as saying "my uncle was my hero, and I know he'd want me to keep going no matter what. I had hoped to race [with] him in Formula One before his time was up and now I only want to pick up where he left off. If I can get into Formula One, I'd be at peace I think." Thomas would spend seven seasons in Formula One just as Jasper had. Though less successful, Thomas stated that he looked back on his time in the sport fondly.

In 2011, Jasper's son Daniel released a memoir that contained journal entries, ideas, deals, conversations, relationships, and the details of his relatively private life. The entries span from 1976 to the evening after final practice at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. Sætern's memoir finishes with a final entry from Daniel that was started in 2003 and then completed in 2011. His memoir released to decent commercial success and was favorably reviewed.

## Personal Life

In 1988 upon moving to an apartment in Milton Keynes, he dated his next-door neighbor and English tutor, Adelaide Davies. In 1990 the pair intended to marry at the end of the season until her untimely death in a car accident which was also caused due to a basilar skull fracture. Upon her death it was revealed that the pair had secretly birthed a child in 1989, Daniel Sætern. Daniel traveled with his father to most races along with his nephew Thomas Sætern.

Jasper was a fan of Arsenal and SK Brann in football, but claimed not to watch it as often and preferred watching the Bergen IK in ice hockey. Prior to passing away, Sætern wrote that he had begun watching the NHL and had become a fan of the Hartford Whalers in preparation for the arrival of fellow Norwegian Espen Knutsen. Knutsen would never play for the Whalers, and the Whalers would relocate following the 1997 season.

Sætern's memoir revealed that he had intended to retire from both Formula One and motorsport around 2002 due to wanting to spend more time at home with his son. His memoir also states that his favorite tracks were Road America, Hockenheim, and Suzuka.

### Sponsorship with Sega

Apart from racing, Jasper enjoyed playing games with his son on a Sega Mega Drive, which he brought from race to race to spend free time and for his son. Sætern's openness on his enjoyment of Sega products eventually led to a personal sponsorship beginning at the 1991 Italian Grand Prix where Sætern's helmet received an update promoting their new mascot Sonic the Hedgehog. In 1992 Jasper's name would be associated with a video game series starting on the Mega Drive known as *Sætern Grand Prix Racing* in all areas of the world except for Italy, where the title would be *Sega Grand Prix Racing* due to the general unpopularity of Jasper in the country after wrecking with Margheriti in 1991. Sætern would also frequently appear in Sega advertisements and at events hosted by the company, the latter compromising his seat with Ligier.

In 1994 Jasper would help negotiate a deal between Tyrrell and Sega, placing their logo on the front of both Sætern and McDougall's helmets. Later that year, a few weeks after the Japanese release of the Sega Saturn, Jasper would appear in a select number of print advertisements to promote the system in both Japan and Europe as well as to promote the game *Sætern Grand Prix Racing 1994*. In Italy, the game would be known as *Saturn Grand Prix Racing,* though Jasper would still feature on the cover for the first time.

The 1994 British Grand Prix, held at Donington Park, saw the circuit walls being completely covered with Sega sponsors and advertising. It is believed that this was done to help recuperate some losses from Jasper's dreadful 1994 season. Jasper would be involved with almost all press relating to Sega's partnership with Donington Park resulting in Sætern jokingly stating that he had made more money from sponsorship events that week then Ken Tyrell was paying him that year. It is unknown if this was just a joke or actually true.

Throughout the console's and Jasper's life, he would more frequently appear in advertising for the Sega Saturn due to sharing a last name phonetically with the console.

In 1997, on what would have been Jasper's 28th birthday, Sega would release *Jasper Sætern's Legacy Grand Prix* to the entire world including Italy. It would feature all of the 1997 Formula One grid as of that point as well as a selection of Jasper's cars from 1991, 1992, 1994, and his 1997 Ford. In 2000 the finale of the series would be released for the Dreamcast. It was named *Jasper Sætern's Millennium Grand Prix* and was based on the 2000 season. Jasper would still make an appearance as an unlockable driver in a special Sega branded car after the player gets a win at the United States Grand Prix track. He was also unlockable by naming your driver "Jasper Sætern" in the game's season mode, which included exclusive in-race commentary for his name despite his passing. Both the Legacy and Millennium Grand Prix games feature a museum of content about their respective seasons and some never before seen photographs, interviews, and videos in the case of the Dreamcast's offering of Jasper and his time at various Sega related promotions and events.

## Racing Record

### Racing Career Summary

**International Formula 3000**

\* Jasper pulled out of the 1990 season after the seventh race

**Complete Formula One Championship Results**

†*Saetern passed away due to an accident during the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, and as such was not able to compete in the rest of the season.*