Hockenheim Historic: CanAm and Interseries Cars Rocked the Motodrom

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on May 3, 2016

by Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica.com

Enjoy our report about a stunning historic motorsports weekend at the Hockenheim Historic – the Jim Clark Revival and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian American Challenge Cup.

The Hockenheimring in Germany hosted the yearly Bosch Hockenheim Historic – The Jim Clark Revival in April, attracting around 460 registered drivers who were cheered on by some 15,000 spectators. Despite the unsettled weather spectators enjoyed fantastic motorsports including an interesting support programme and remarkable cars.

Hockenheim attracted some very special cars to celebrate 50 years of Canadian American Cup as well as the 50th anniversary of Formula Vee. Amongst the hundreds of cars were a stunning Porsche 917-030 CanAm, a Porsche 917 and a Porsche 936 Lang Heck.

BOSS GP

The fastest cars on track were the single seaters of the BOSS GP series, featuring former F1, IndyCars, GP2, World Series by Nissan and Renault cars, as well as cars from the former Superleague Formula series. Both on Saturday and Sunday morning heavy rain showers nearly flooded the track resulting in water fights. In the afternoon, however, the track dried out and this was reflected in fabulous lap times. Gary Hauser was quickest during a wet qualifying session on Saturday in his Dallara GP2.

On Saturday afternoon the track was dry. Dutchman Klaas Zwart drove in a league of his own in a Jaguar-Cosworth R5 Formula 1 car, scoring a 1:24.504 in his fastest lap and claiming victory. The slowest lap time during the 2014 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring was just 0.4 of a second quicker!

Austrian Ingo Gerstl scored second place in his Toro-Rosso STR1 Cosworth and Gary Hauser from Luxemburg finished the race in third in a Dallara GP2.

On Sunday it was Ingo Gerstl who crossed the finish line first after a stunning battle with Klaas Zwart. The Austrian crossed the finish line just 0.8 seconds earlier than Zwart. Along with his well deserved victory he scored a 1:23.499 that would put him on the grid of the 2014 German Grand Prix! Austrian Bernd Herndlhofer managed third in a Benneton B197 F1, nowadays equipped with a Judd 4.0 V10 engine.

CANADIAN-AMERICAN CHALLENGE CUP

Hockenheim hosted the golden anniversary of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, formerly known as CanAm-Cup. Besides two races in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, there was a special demonstration of both CanAm and Interserie cars.

Interserie was the name of a European-based motorsports series created back in 1970 by German Gerhard Härle. Hockenheim attracted some V8 big bangers such as the March 717, McLaren M8C and M8F, as well as a Lola T310.

Sadly the weather affected the lap times of these stunning vehicles. Although both the McLaren M8F and the March 717 drove quick lap times, drama struck on Friday. UK resident Andy Newall came off track in his McLaren M8F after a stone blocked the throttle linkage. The engine of Richard Dodkins’ March 717 blew up that dropped him out of the competition. In the end it was Italian Michele Liguori who scored the pole position, and claimed victory during both races in his Lola T292-DFV.

On Saturday, former Audi factory driver Marco Werner finished second in a remarkable Kremer- Porsche 936T. This particular car was raced back in 1982 by the late German drivers Stefan Bellof and Rolf Stommelen. The car was still in original condition, left back in ’82 by Bellof who used it during his very first sportscar race on August 29th at Hockenheim. Swiss man Felix Haas finished third in a Lola T294. Haas’ fellow country man Toni Seiler scored a third place during the second race in his Lola T70 Mk.II Spyder.

FIA LURANI TROPHY

In a field of nearly thirty Formula Junior cars it was Italian Piero Tonetti in his Brabham BT6 who lapped the Hockenheimring quickest.

Tonetti and his fellow countryman Manfredo Rossi di Montelera fought an immense battle for victory, but in the end it was Tonetti who came first under the chequered flag with just a 0.2 second lead in front of di Montelera in his Lotus 22.

Britain’s Richard Smeeton scored third place in a Wainer 63. Di Montelera proved to be unbeatable on Sunday as nobody could answer his speed. Swiss driver Bruno Weibel finished second in a Lotus 20, as Pierro Tonetti scored his second consecutive podium finishing third.

TRIUMPH COMPETITION & BRITISH GT

Thirty-five classic Triumphs and British GTs gathered for their two races including Jaguar E Types, Austin Healeys, a Lotus 26R, Lotus Cortina, Marcos GT, a Warwick GT350 and lots of different Triumphs and MGs.

German Rainer Vorköper was quickest in qualifying in his Jaguar-Type, in front of Germans Count Christian von Wedel (Austin Healey) and Georg Nolte (Jaguar E-Type). In a downpour on Saturday however it was the Triumph TR4 of the combination Vermast and Lübbert who claimed the overall win. On Sunday both drivers proved to be unbeatable as they scored their second consecutive victory of the weekend.

YOUNGTIMER TOURING CAR CHALLENGE

The YTCC was divided into two divisions, smaller than 2500 cc and larger than 2500 cc. In the big division several American muscle cars entered the grid to battle against different Porsches, BMW M3s etc.

German Daniel Schrey was flying in qualifying and three seconds quicker in his Porsche 935 K1 than a muscular Pontiac Trans Am, driven by Swiss driver Roger Bolliger.

Schrey was the man to beat during the entire weekend. On Saturday he drove a lonely race as Bolliger spun. The Swiss driver managed to work his way back to second place as he went off for the second time. As a result Hubert Färber finished second in a heavily modified Ford Mustang. German female driver Alexandra Irmgartz finished third in a Porsche 964.

For the second race on Sunday it was Schrey again who drove straight on to his second victory of the weekend. Bolliger drove once a again a fabulous race, starting from the last position. This time he managed to keep his Tran Am on the track resulting in a second place. Dutchman Jan Bot finished third in a BMW M3 Linder. In the smaller division it was Belgium’s Bas van Elderen in his BMW 325i who managed to lead an armada of Porsches in both races.

FORMULA VEE

Fifty-five Formula Vee and Super Vee drivers found their way to Hockenheim to celebrate the 50th anniversary. The Formula Vee class is based on a pre-1963 Volkswagen Beetle, using a VW engine, including transmission, front suspension, brakes and wheels. A related category, Formula Super Vee, is equipped with a water-cooled 1.6 litre VW 4-cylinder engine in more high tech and faster cars.

In qualifying the Formula Super Vee cars proved to be the quickest on track. Pole position was claimed by German Joe Welzel in a DRM PRT. The first regularity test however was won by a Karringer HK1 Formula 1, driven by German Andreas Kohler. Marco Wittkuhn won the second regularity test on Sunday in a Kaimann Formula Vee 1300.

SCUDERIA ALFA CLASSICO

Scuderia Alfa Classico is a German based series open to all cars from the Fiat Group, although the main focus are classic Alfa Romeos. The series is divided into two separate divisions, Division 1 (modified classics, engine capacity from 1600 up to 2000 cc) and Division 2 (modified, engine capacity divided into three groups, up to 2000 cc, up to 3000 cc and a special Group H.

Around 32 cars participated in qualifying seeing Giulias, 75s, 155s, Alfasuds 147 GTAs. Pole position was claimed by Dutchman Lars van ‘t Veer in his 155 V6. Both races however were dominated by Dutchman Bart den Hartog in a 147 GTA Cup. Swiss driver Rene Hadorn finished second in a lovely Alfasud Sprint 16V as Cédric Richard finished third in a GT Nuova. On Sunday Richard managed to score a second place, as Walter Mehring crossed the finish line in third in a 147 GTA Cup.

Along with racing, spectators were treated with a presentation of the Herbert Linge Trophy, featuring a beautiful range of early Porsches. As an employee of Porsche, Linge was involved in many events, and later also in motorsport safety. He took part in many 24 Hours of Le Mans races in the 1960s, even with a Porsche 917.

Linge became famous for being the co-driver of Hans Herrmann in the 1954 Mille Miglia, when their low Porsche 550 passed under a closed railroad crossing while both men ducked under the dashboard. In 1960, Linge won the Tour de Corse rally in a Porsche SC 90. He is still the only German to win the event. Herbert Linge was there for the whole weekend and signed autographs, as did his racing colleagues Jürgen Neuhaus, former F1 and Le Mans winner Jochen Mass, former Audi factory driver, Marco Werner, Michael Bartels, former F1-driver Martin Donnelly and former DTM lady driver Ellen Lohr.

Another special car that was present during the weekend was this Porsche 917/30, meant to race in the CanAm Cup. The particular car, chassis 917/030-006 was built in 1973 as a ’74 Penske team chassis. Because of rule changes the build was suspended. In 1982 parts of the chassis were sold to Vasek Polak. In 1995 Polak made a bodywork copy. In 1998 the car appeared in the red/white Bosch livery. The car never actually raced in the CanAm series but it was very welcome to see it in action on a track.