At the Bosch Hockenheim Historic – The Jim Clark Revival, last weekend, spectators enjoyed fantastic motorsport and an interesting programme of supporting events. There was also considerable support for the event from participants: around 460 registered drivers lined up at the start last weekend. They were cheered by around 15,000 spectators who, despite the unsettled weather, had come to the Hockenheimring circuit with its stadium-like Motodrom which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

 

The eager anticipation with regard to the individual racing classes was second to none in this anniversary year. After water fights in the morning, on both Saturday and Sunday, the track dried out by around 2 pm each day. The Boss GP took place during this time window and this was reflected in the fabulous lap times. The Dutchman Klaas Zwart in a Jaguar Cosworth and Austria’s Ingo Gerstl in a Toro Rosso Cosworth provided a head-to-head race. On Saturday, the winner was Zwart who, by the way, prepares for the incredible physical stress of lateral acceleration by running half marathons. On Sunday, Gerstl took the first place with the fastest lap of 1:23.499 minutes.

 

The wet track conditions affected the lap times of the CANADIAN-AMERICAN Challenge Cup. The big bangers needed a little under two minutes per lap. Although the two fastest vehicles had already had some bad luck during training. Britain’s Andy Newall came off the track in his McLaren M8F after a stone blocked the throttle linkage, and the engine of Richard Dodkins’ March 717 blew up. Therefore, Italy’s Michele Liguori in his Lola T 272 could not be beaten. Incidentally, Marco Werner in his Porsche 936 “Langheck” (“long tail”) was yet another professional who competed in this fascinating race.

 

The top placings in the FIA Lurani Trophy were shared out between the Brabham BT6 and the Lotus. The first race was won by Italy’s Pierre Tonetti in the Brabham and his compatriot, Manfredo Rossi Di Montelera, won the second race. Perhaps the historical background had spurred on the two top ranking drivers from Italy. The roots of this series go back to the year 1958 when Count Johnny Lurani established a junior class for Grand Prix drivers in Monza, Italy.

 

The three brand-specific races also presented motorsport at its finest. In the Lotus Cup Europe, the Evora GT 4 of Britain’s Jonathan Packer was unbeatable; in the Scuderia Alfa Classico, the Dutchman Bart Den Hartog dominated in his 147 GTA Cup. Moreover, the winners of the Triumph Competition and the British HTGT were Belgium’s Paul Lejeune in his TR4 and Philippe Vermast, from Luxembourg, in his TR6.

 

In the special touring car Trophy H&R Cup, Jürgen Bender with his Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 R was able to beat the Porsche 997 GT3 R. In the Yougtimer Touring Car Challenge up to 2500 ccm, Belgium’s Bas van Elderen in his very well maintained BMW 325i, from 1988, took the lead ahead of an armada of Porsche vehicles. In the engine size class above 2.5 litres, Daniel Schrey in the Porsche 935 K1, from 1979, with lap times of approx. 1:51 minutes could not be beaten.

 

With 55 starters, the evenness race of the Formula Vee provided a fantastic array of open single seaters based on VW technology. Furthermore, in this year, too, the Raceclub Germany Historic presented almost five decades of formula racing. This was rounded off with its own presentation of Toyota Formula 1 bolides.

 

CanAm meets Interserie, a special race, exhibited among other things a variety of Porsche sport prototypes rarely seen in Europe. The range of models included: Carrera 6, 904, 910, 908 Flunder, 908 Coupe 917 and 917/30 Turbo with around 1000 hp.

 

In the Herbert Linge Trophy, spectators also saw a beautiful range of early Porsche cars. Apropos of which, Herbert Linge was there for the whole of the weekend and signed autographs, as did his racing colleagues Jürgen Neuhaus, Jochen Mass, Mario Werner, Michael Bartels, Marti Donnelly and Ellen Lohr. Indeed, the programme of supporting events at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic was varied as never before. It also included a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jim Clark memorial with his associate Warren King and Georg Seiler, the Managing Director of Hockenheim-Ring GmbH. Many dealers, exhibitions, a big slot car track as well as a large owners and enthusiasts club area provided much variety for big and small racing spectators.

 

Pforzheim University’s design awards, in connection with the transportation design degree course, were presented this year by Prof. James Kelly to Harry Read for his McLaren in the sports prototype category and to Dutchman Floris-Jan Hekker for his Rayberg Formula Junior in the formula racing car category. A Porsche 911, Martini edition, received the design award for the most beautiful GT car.

 

You can find all results here…