Nursery of a World Champion
Talent behind the wheel and enthusiasm for special cars run in the Rosberg family genes. In 1995, Keke Rosberg ordered a NEOPLAN Skyliner as the rolling command centre for his own racing team.
In Brazil, in November 2016, Nico Rosberg became the third German, after Michael Schuhmacher and Sebastian Vettel, to be crowned Formula One World Champion. Talent behind the wheel and enthusiasm for fast cars run in the Rosberg family genes: 1982 saw Nico Rosberg’s Finnish father, Keijo Erik “Keke” Rosberg, cruise to the Formula One title for Williams. Yet for Keke, travelling to races was less about speed and more about comfort.
In 1995, he founded his own racing team and ordered a 379 HP NEOPLAN Skyliner as a luxury race-team vehicle for the German touring car championships and other European races. The 12 metre-long and 4 metre-high Team Rosberg command centre had six televisions, a satellite system, power set and a presenter’s table with the equipment for live transmissions. Although this sounds like standard fittings today, at the time it was the height of technology! Keke Rosberg and the engineers would prepare for races in the three conference rooms, while the luxurious lounge and the large accessible roof-deck, made of stainless steel with fold-out railings, created the perfect space in which to switch off and relax. That bus really was worthy of a world champion. Today, the bus can still be seen on the roads, travelling to exhibitions and can also be hired as an event vehicle.
