• 50 Years of the Formula Vee Championship
• Special Touring Car Trophy H&R Cup with a large field of race participants
• 100 years of BMW in the owners and enthusiasts club area
• Varied programme of supporting events
This coming weekend, the Bosch Hockenheim Historic will bring the fascination of the bygone era of motor sports back to the Hockenheimring circuit. Nostalgia and history will come alive when about 460 international participants from a variety of classes accelerate take off in their exclusive classic cars on the legendary asphalt of the Grand Prix track in Baden.
Thrilling motorsport offering, above all, a range of formula cars not to be found at any other historic event in Europe. The entry level class in formula racing was always Formula Vee. At this year’s Bosch Hockenheim Historic, we are expecting a starting field of 55 open single seaters with VW technology to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the championship.
The first Formula Vee championship in Europe was held in 1966. In the years that followed, this racing class, which was initiated by Porsche with technology from the Beetle car, became the most successful junior racing series in the world. Around 3,000 Formula Vee drivers competed against each other on all continents – and many top racing drivers earned their laurels at the wheel of the little open single seater – above all Niki Lauda, Keke Roßberg and Jochen Mass. Fierce battles raged on the racetrack and the motto of those early years was: “Live wildly and dangerously.”
One of the first “test drivers” for Formula Vee in Europe was the Porsche old hand Herbert Linge. In those days, the testing was done on the test track in Weissach as well as on the Hockenheimring circuit. In the anniversary year, Linge will be the Formula Vee guest of honour at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic.
The touring cars are also celebrating an important anniversary – the Special Touring Car Trophy has been a constant in the German motorsport landscape since 1986. Even 30 years after its launch, the traditional racing series is still very popular and, at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic, it will begin the anniversary season with a terrific starting field of 46 cars.
Owners and enthusiasts club area – where legends meet
Yet, it is not only spectators who will get their money’s worth here next weekend. Every year, Bosch Hockenheim Historic is delighted at the growing number of participants in the owners and enthusiasts club area. Here, at the Mercedes Grandstand, drivers of vintage classic cars, neoclassic cars and sports cars from all years get together for some serious car talk. There is a new event this year – the owners and enthusiasts club rally. Participants from the owners and enthusiasts club will be able to demonstrate their skills in five different competitions. Besides dexterity tests, such as “distance driving” and “regularity driving”, the programme also includes valuation price enquiries.
For all the fans of the “blue and white” brand from Munich, a special area will be set up this year with the sole and single purpose of celebrating 100 years of BMW – a birthday in the BMW family group. For this highlight, the Hockenheimring has brought on board the Vice President for the “automobile” section of the BMW Club Deutschland e. V. Denis Marasciulo and the entire team of the Club are working flat out to win over the German BMW clubs for the BMW special area in the owners and enthusiasts club area behind the Mercedes Grandstand.
Besides the many mini specials for the participating BMW clubs and individual drivers, and in addition to the exceptional “BMW Unique Model Special Prizes” for the most amazing cars from all years and classes, there will also be various BMW-specific programme points as well as guided laps round the Hockenheimring circuit.
Remember the style – Varied programme of supporting events
The comprehensive programme of supporting events near the racetrack will round out the happening. Autograph-signing sessions with motorsport legends such as Jochen Mass, Herbert Linge, Marco Werner and Ellen Lohr, a Jim Clark special exhibition and Pforzheim University’s design award ceremony are sure to delight visitors. Likewise, you can share in the experience of the teams close up as they go about their preparations in the freely accessible historic drivers’ camp with a flair of bygone days. Moreover, under the motto “Remember the Style“ all visitors are invited to relive the good old days. The organisers would be very pleased to welcome as many motorsport enthusiasts as possible dressed in the fashion styles of bygone days, whether in the style of the Golden 20s or various others, such as the fashion of the 60s. On the Hockenheimring covered pit roof there will be a photography exhibition with the theme “50 Years of the Motodrom”, where the atmospheric impressions from five eventful decades of the motorsport arena will be shown.
