500 drivers competing in eight different championship gathered in the weekend of April 20th and April 21st on the Hockenheimring in Baden Würtemberg to celebrate the 9th edition of the Bosch Hockenheim Historic – the Jim Clark Revival. The two-time world champion was tragically killed in an accident at the Hockenheimring on April 7th 1968.
Around 15.000 spectators could enjoy spectacular racing from the tiny ‘Battle of the Dwarfs’ to the very fast and loud single seaters of the BOSS GP Series. The event kicked off with a presentation of historic single seaters from RaceHistoryonTrack, a representative organization of historic single seaters, including former F1, F2, F3 and F5000 cars.
NK HTGT
The Dutch NK HTGT, a national championship for both historic gt’s and touringcars had their first race of the 2013 season in Hockenheim. Around 40 cars found their way to Germany including some guest drivers. The true battle for the lead was fought between the Ford GT40 of Georg Stummeyer and the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport of Dutchman Michiel Campagne. In the beginning Campagne could keep the lead but despite great driving skills Stummeyer’s Ford proved to be far too quick. On Sunday their second race proved to be a demonstration of the sheer power of the Corvette as Campagne raced a lonely race, as Stummeyer had to park his Ford after just three laps. No one had an answer as Campagne finished first creating a gap over 50 seconds in front of the Bizzarrini of Michael Ehrlich.
Battle of the Dwarfs (Kampf der Zwerge)
Tiny touring cars from the 1960s and 1970s up to 1300 cc find their way to several European tracks competing in regularity tests. Partner associations are the ‘Abarth Coppa Mille’, ‘British Car Trophy’ and the ‘NSU TT Trophy’. A large field of 51 Mini’s, Fiat Abarth and NSU TT’s competed in two regularity tests on Saturday and Sunday.
ADAC Graf Berghe von Trips Bokal
The German ADAC Graf Berghe von Trips Bokal is a series established in 1982 and open to historic Formula cars. Wolfgang Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips was a German racing driver, participated in 29 Formula 1 Grand Prix races. He was the first German ever to win a Formula 1 race. Von Trips tragically lost his life during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix at Monza after colliding with the Ferrari of Jim Clark. Von Trips crashed into a side barrier, throwing him from the car and killing fifteen spectators. Around 25 historic single seaters found their way to the Hockenheim track such as the Brabham BT28, Lotus 69, Merlyn, Delta and Royale. Mats Andersson from Sweden won the first race in a March 722/10 F2, Ian Foley (UK) finished second, Stuart Boyer from the UK scored a third place both in a Reynard SF79 FF2000. On Sunday it was Falk Künster from Germany winning the race in a GRD 374 F3. Ian Foley managed again second place as Bruno Huber from Switzerland gained a third place in an Argo JM1 F3.
STT H&R Cup
For the fans of cars from the modern era the German STT & HR Cup was present including a large field of high performance GT’s. Cars like the Dodge Viper, different Porsches, BMW’s etc drove two 25 minute sprint races that saw some tough battles keeping spectators warm suffering from light rain, a strong wind and quite low spring temperatures. German Ulrich Becker claimed victory in race 1 with his Porsche 997 GT3 RS, as Pertti Kuismanen from Finland finished second in his Chrysler Viper GTS-R. Rene Aeberhardt from Switzerland finished third in a BMW Z4 GT3. On Sunday it was Edy Kamm from Switzerland in a former Audi DTM beating Pertti Kuismanen with a 12 second gap claiming his first win. Daniel Schrey crossed the finish line third in a Dodge Viper GTS-R.
Super Sports
Just three former CanAm Big Banger V8’s found their way to Hockenheim but had to battle it out with a bunch of very fast 2.0 and 3.0 litre sports cars. It was great to see that the smaller 2.0 litre sports cars like the Osella as well as the 3.0 litre Lola T292 could make a difference competing against cars like the huge 8.0 liter McLaren M8. In race 1 on Saturday spectators could see a breath taking fight between the McLaren M8F of Peter Hoffmann, Lola T292 of Michele Liguori and the Osella of Silvio Kalb. In the end two 2.0 Osella´s of Silvio Kalb and Werner Frenz claimed the top spots as Alexander Lienau in his McLaren M6b had tot settle for a third place. During the second race on Sunday nobody could answer the sheer power of Peter Hoffmann´s McLaren as he celebrated his first victory of the season. Michiel Campagne claimed second spot (McLaren M8F) as Werner Frenz finished third in his Osella.
BOSS GP
By far out loudest and quickest cars of the weekend were the single seaters from the BOSS GP series. Big Open Single Seaters series are open to former Formula 1, Indycars, Champcars, GP2 as well as Formula Renault 3.5 cars from the World Series of Renault. An interesting and very strong battle was fought between Marijn van Kalmthout (Benetton B197 F1), Ingo Gerstl (Dallara GP2), Bernd Herndlhofer (Dallara GP2) and Gary Hauser (Dallara GP2). The Benetton was more powerful but in the wet the Dallara from Gerstl could keep up with the pace, and even attack for the lead. After a breathtaking fight for the lead it was Marijn van Kalmthout claiming victory in race 1, just 0.560 seconds ahead of Ingo Gerstl. Bernd Herndlhofer finished third. In race 2 the battle was even tougher as van Kalmthout and Gerstl battled it out once again. Van Kalmthout claimed his second victory of the weekend, just 0.294 seconds ahead of Gerstl. This time Gary Hauser from Luxemburg finished third.
FIA Lurani Trophy
The well known FIA Lurani Trophy was the very first historic formula series to be revived in 1975. In 1995 is was the first FIA Championship to be permitted by its own group. Historic single seaters such as the Lotus 22 and 27, Brabham BT2, Lola Mk.3, Lotus 18, Stanguellini and many, may more could be seen on the Hockenheim track, tributing the early days of single seater racing in Europe. In race 1 on Saturday the close battle for victory was fought between Urs Eberhardt from Switzerland and John Fyda from Scotland. Eberhardt crossed the finish line first in front of Fyda, Tommaso Gelmini from Italy finished third. In race 2 the man to beat was once again Eberhardt, but now he had to fight against his fellow countryman Marc Amez-Droz. In the end he claimed his second consecutive victory of the weekend. Amez-Droz finished second in front of Gelmini who scored his second podium finish of the weekend.
Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge
The Youngtimer Trophy from the Netherlands gathered the largest field of classic GT and touring cars, from the powerful Porsche 935 and BMW M1 to the small Trabant 601RS. Eyecatchers were the mighty Porsche 935 K3 of German Daniel Schrey and a rare BMW-March M1 IMSA from Dutchman Jan Bot. The 935 K3 however proved to be too much of anything for the other opponents, as German Daniel Schrey took victory in both race 1 and 2. Jan Bot scored a second place in race 1, Frenchman Marc Louail proved to be a very tough competitor in his Ford Falcon. Frank Metzger finished second during the second race on Sunday in a Cesca GRAC sports car, in front of Gotthard Mayer in a BMW M1 Procar.
We´re looking forward to the 10th edition of the Bosch Hockenheim Historic to be held in 2014.
© Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica.com
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