Report & Gallery: The Bosch Hockenheim Historic 2023

By Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica

The Bosch Hockenheim Historic 2023 was held on the first weekend of May at the Hockenheimring. With a spectator record of 35,000 visitors and 500 participating historic cars, along with the presence of the British Masters Historic Racing organisation, history was written.

In the paddock, the times of yesteryear were relived. Race cars had to literally make their way through the crowds of fans, a fact that you hardly encounter in current motorsport. Another aspect is the growing group of former professional drivers who have found their second vocation in historic motorsport. For example, the now 71-year-old Swede Stanley Dickens was present in the Group C Supercup. Dickens won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1989 together with Manuel Reuter and Jochen Mass. Former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia has now found his way into the BOSS GP Series. We should also not forget three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner, who entered a Lotus 87B in the Masters Racing Legends, a Gebhardt C88 in the Group C Supercup and a Lola B12/80 LMP2 prototype in Masters Endurance Legends.

In Masters Endurance Legends, the Peugeot 90X LMP1 prototypes of Steve Brooks and Stuart Wiltshire left their mark on both races. Brooks took the lead in the race from pole position and there was no holding back even after the mandatory pit stop, coming close to to his qualifying time. Brooks’ lead over Wiltshire was no less than 24 seconds at the finish line.

A day later, Brooks treated himself to his second win of the weekend. Still, he was put under a lot of pressure on the opening lap by Stuart Wiltshire, who spun on his own cars’ fluids. However, unlike in the first race, Brooks was unable to create a gap. He was put under a lot of pressure by local hero Christian Gläsel in his MG Lola EX257. The German managed to come within a second of Brooks, although he eventually had to admit his superior in the French diesel with a minimal difference of 0.4 of a second on the finish line.

During the very first performance of the Masters at the event, no less than 23 Formula 1 cars from the period 1966-85 travelled to Hockenheim. Nick Padmore took off with a surprise victory in the first race of the Masters Racing Legends. Padmore benefited from the bad luck of both pole sitter Marco Werner (Lotus 87B) and Steve Hartley (McLaren MP4/1), going on tobuild up a lead of seven seconds in his Lotus 77. Ten minutes before the finish flag, Jonathan Holtzman’s Tyrrell P34 and Paul Grant’s De Tomaso 505 stranded, forcing the safety car to intervene. As a result, Padmore’s lead literally evaporated. With 2.5 minutes left on the clock, the green flag was waved again. Padmore sat down again and took the win ahead of Michael Lyons in a Lotus 92.

Masters Historic Racing was also present with the combined starting grid consisting of the Gentlemen Drivers and the Pre-66 Touring Cars. Robin Ward and Ron Maydon made their mark on the Gentlemen Drivers race by driving their Ginetta G4R to victory by over a minute. The duo also received unplanned help from the TVR Griffith (Ollie Reuben/Harry Barton) because they missed the mandatory pit window and had to go to the pits a second time. In the Pre-66 touring car category, Swedish duo Johan Rosendahl and Nils-Fredrik Nyblaus took victory in their Ford Falcon.

Another crowd puller were the touring cars from the 1980s, about forty of which appeared at the start in Touringcars Golden Era. Cars from, among others, the DTM championship and STW treated the public to two interesting races. Michael Kammermann drove a dominant first race on Saturday in a very nice BMW 3.5 CSL. Paul Mensley’s Ford Sierra RS500 followed nearly ten seconds behind.

In the second race on Sunday, however, it was the Ford Mustang GT of Michael Lyons who claimed victory. Marc Seesing’s BMW M3 E30 Group A followed just half a second behind.

Outside of the Formula 1 cars from the period 1966-85, single-seater enthusiasts could indulge themselves with the presence of BOSS GP, HSCC F2, Historic Racecar Association and Formula Junior. Before we give you an overview of the several results over the weekend we focus on some of the interesting cars that were present.

The Ferrari 640 designed by John Barnard competed in the Formula 1 World Championship from 1989, driven by Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger. The car was powered by a Ferrari 035/5 3.5 litre V12 generating 660 horsepower. Nigel Mansell drove the car straight to victory during the debut race at Interlagos in Brazil. From that point the Ferrari 640 suffered from reliability problems and Mansell retired for the next four races. Berger retired during the first ten races in 1989. Mansell scored a second victory in Hungary as Berger won the Grand Prix in Portugal that particular year. Berger finished only three races, Mansell finished fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Another remarkable car was this unique Astur-Ford Group 7 from 1965, in fact one of only two cars race ready. Ron Steis, a draftsman with DeHavilland Aircraft in Canada built the car. Group 7 was the predecessor to the well known CanAm-series.

Also present was this beautiful BMW M3 E30Evo, the winning car from the Guia Race Grand Prix in Macau in 1991. Emanuele Pirro drove the Watson’s Team Schnitzer car to victory. Pirro would win the race again in 1992 in a Schnitzer Motorsport M3 Evo.