Gallery & Report: Buckle Up for the 44th Edition of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix!
by Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica.com
The 44th edition of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix held last weekend was a true festival of motorsport history at the Nürburgring. A good 500 race cars from seven decades found their way to the track and went into the 20 races and regularity tests.
Over the weekend 51,500 enthusiastic spectators saw many automobiles with great history and unique race cars in exhibitions and demonstration rides. Amongst them were, for the very first time, rally cars that threw a spotlight mainly on the legendary Group B era.
New on the programme was a track day that also caused an atmospheric opener on Friday, when met in parallel with the training sessions on the Grand Prix circuit around 120 classic and modern sports cars on the Nordschleife. This meant that there was no room for the Marathon that was raced on this legendary track over the past editions.
Amongst the racing programme was a packed field of pre-war racing cars, but also the 2-seat Le Mans sports cars of the ’50s and early ’60s racing on Saturday evening between sunset and the early darkness. True public-magnets were the two rounds of the FIA Historic Formula 1 Championship and the one-hour race of the FIA Historic Sports Car Championship.
Strong fields were presented from more recent racing history in a F3 race for cars from 1964-1984 as well as the DRM (Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft) Revival and DTM-STW Revival.
In the DRM Revival it was Peter Mücke who took an early lead in his powerful Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo. Technical problems however forced him to retire. In the end it was Kelleners who claimed victory in a De Tomaso Pantera.
FIA World Endurance Championship factory driver Stefan Mücke drove a splendid looking and sounding Ford Capri RS3100 to a second place, as third place went to the Porsche 935 of Pierre-Alain Thibault and Urs Beck. During the second race on Sunday the Zakspeed Capri suffered again from technical problems and had to retire.
An atmospheric highlight was the race of the 2-seat racing and GTs until 1960/61. The field of 38 sports car was the final race on Saturday evening presenting a one-hour run which ushered in the sunset. One of the most famous participants was former Formula 1 driver Jochen Mass, who drove a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL from 1955.
Another highlight was the field of more than 40 pre-war racing cars. Together with the organizers it was the ASC which, with their original vehicles, brought many participants to the “Ring”. Amongst the cars was a Mercedes-Benz 680 S in which Rudolf Caracciola won the opening race of the Nürburgring back in 1927.
In the Formula 3 grid from 1964 until 1984 there was a remarkable car on track driven by Briton Mark Martin. The particular car was a Ralt RT3/82 of the unforgotten legend Aytron Senna.
Martini heir Manfredo Rossi di Montelera had a very succesful weekend. The Italian count won both races in his Lotus 22 entered for the FIA Lurani Trophy and grabbed victory in the single 1-hour race of the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship. Di Montelera defeated the Lola T70s in his Abarth-Osella PA1 and claimed the third victory of the weekend.
In the Jaguar Village, visitors could admire the XJ13 from 1966. The now 96-year old former chief tester and developer Norman Dewi, who was at the Nürburgring as a guest, had once developed the picturesque sportscar for Le Mans, where it was never used.
Opel was present with the legendary Cliff-Calibra V6 in which Manuel Reuter won the ITC Championship back in 1996 beating both Alfa Romeo and Mercedes. For the occasion the car was driven by crowd pleaser and former touring car ace Joachim “Jockel” Winkelhock. The Calibra produced an epic 6 cilinder roar as Winkelhock powered the black coupe over the track. The car brought back the good memories of the DTM and ITC championship from that era.
Besides famous cars you would also run into well known people in the paddock area. We’ve already mentioned German Jochen Mass driving for Mercedes. Porsche invited five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell who give interviews and signed many autographs but also participated in a Porsche 924 GTP as part of a 80 car parade celebrating Porsche Transaxle cars. Former F1 driver Christian Danner presented the new Formula E single seater from Jaguar.
Results:
FIA Masters Historic F1 Championship
Race 1
1) Nick Padmore – Williams FW07/C
2) Loic Deman – Tyrrell 010
3) Steve Hartley – Arrows A4
Race 2
1) Nick Padmore – Williams FW07/C
2) Loic Deman – Tyrrell 010
3) Simon Fish – Ensign N180
FIA Lurani Trophy Formula Junior
Race 1
1) Manfredo Rossi de Montelera – Lotus 22
2) Gregory Thornton – Lotus 22
3) Philipp Buhofer – Lola Mk. V A
Race 2
1) Manfredo Rossi de Montelera – Lotus 22
2) Andrew Hibberd – Lotus 22
3) Stuart Roach – Alexis Mk. IV
FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship
1) Manfredo Rossi di Montelera – Abarth Osella PA1
2) Jason Wright – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB
3) Mike Donovan – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB
Revival Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft 1972-1981
Race 1
1) Ralf Kelleners – De Tomaso Pantera
2) Stefan Mücke – Ford Capri RS 3100
3) Urs Beck / Pierre-Alain Thibault – Porsche 935
Race 2
1) Urs Beck/Pierre-Alain Thibault – Porsche 935
2) Ralf Kelleners – De Tomaso Pantera
3) Michael Kammermann – BMW M1 Procar
2-seat sport cars & GT´s until 1960/61
Race 1
1) Lister Chevrolet – Mark Lewis
2) Julian Majzub – Sadler Mk.III
3) Tony Wood / William Nuthall – Lister-Jaguar Knobbly
Race 2
1) Tony Wood / Lister-Jaguar Knobbly
2) Julian Majzub – Sadler Mk. III
3) Wolfgang Friedrichs / Simon Hadfield – Aston Martin DB4 GT
Historic Grand Prix Cars until 1960
Race 1
1) Julian Bronson – Scarab Offenhauser
2) Tony Wood – Maserati TecMec
3) Tony Smith – Ferrari 246 Dino
Race 2
1) Julian Bronson – Scarab Offenhauser
2) Tony Wood – Maserati TecMec
3) Josef Otto Rettenmaier – Maserati 250F 2533
Jaguar Classic Challenge
1) Marcus von Oeynhausen – Jaguar E-Type
2) Joaquin Folch / Jeremy Welch – Jaguar E-Type
3) Rainer Vorköper – Jaguar E-Type
Formula 3 1964-1984
Race 1
1) Michael Ringström – March 753-Toyota
2) Fred Lajoux – Chevron B43-Toyota
3) Eric Martin – Martini Mk.39-Alfa Romeo
Race 2
1) Fred Lajoux – Chevron B43-Toyota
2) Daniel Hornung – Ralt RT3/83-Toyota
3) Christian Olsen – Martini Mk.39-Alfa Romeo
Gentlemen Drivers (GTs until 1965)
1) Michael Gans / Andrew Wolfe – AC Cobra
2) Julian Thomas – Jaguar E-Type
3) Nicky Pastorelli – Ferrari 250GT
AvD Touringcar & GT Trophy
1) Mike Stursberg – Ford Escort RS1600
2) Sebastian Glaser – Ford Escort RS1600
3) Bengt-Ake Bengtsson – Lotus Elan S2
Vintage Sports Car Trophy (regularity tests)
RT1
1) H-G Kohl – Alvis Speed 25
2) Volker Erdle – MG TA Q-Type
3) Thomas Kern – Mercedes-Benz 720 SS
RT2
1) Ulrich Sauer – BMW 328
2) Christian Haas / Kerstin Haas – Bentley 4 1/4 1
3) Thomas Kern – Mercedes-Benz 720 SS
DTM-STW Touringcar Revival
1) Friedhelm Tang – BMW M3 DTM Replica
2) Bernhard Schmittner – Opel Manta 400
3) Jürg Dürig – BMW 635 CSI
The 44th edition of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix was again a success story supported by a true celebration of motorsports. We are already counting down the days for the 45th edition to be held in August 2017.
