Race Report from the 34th Oldtimers Grand-Prix meeting at Nurburgring 11-13th August 2006

The weather did not manage to stop the racers and spectators enjoyment of the three day meeting, The majority of Formula Junior arrived during the afternoon and evening of Wednesday and with the assistance of the paddock assistants swiftly established their base camps.  Cars were given a polish to set them off at their best for the knowledgeable spectators to view as well as to query enable them to slice cleanly through the air and reduce their lap times.

Friday qualification: whilst in assembly we could see the rain advancing across the valley so it did not come as much of a surprise when rain began to fall on lap two.  The canniest of our runners managed one quick lap at the start which proved to be the fastest possible under the torrential conditions that prevailed for much of the session. .  All forty-two runners managed automatic qualification, with Urs Eberhardt s Lotus 27 taking pole from Michael Hibberd, also driving a Lotus 27 and Jorgen Carlsson’s Lotus 20, so with only 41 allowed on the grid, it looked as though David Brown (BT6), as first reserve , would be the unlucky one. 

The spectators were equipped for a wet bank holiday in Whitby rather than mid-summer in Germany!  By mid-morning the rain had stopped and glimpses of the sun were caught through chinks in the somber clouds.  However the weather continued to try and dampen the enthusiasm with thunderstorms and intermittent rain throughout Friday and much of Saturday.

Race one on Saturday took place on a damp track with the start of a drying racing line. Urs Eberhardt took an early lead and sustained it to take the flag from a battling Emanuele Benedini (Brabham BT6) and a fast improving Chris Drake (Lotus 20) who elevated himself from 12th on the grid to claim the 3rd podium place.  Andrew Hibberd (22) had been going very well and was up to 3rd position in the early stages of the race but spun out on Lap 7 at the Ford curve to end his race in the gravel trap.  His father Michael (27) also spun on Lap 2 but managed to gather things together and finish in 9th, Michael fought to regain position but found it difficult to pass slower cars as to go off the racing dry line almost surely risked a spin.  Mark Woodhouse (20) was slowed by an intermittently sticking throttle which caused him great consternation and was to plague him in race two.  Martin Walford (Elva 200)  kept out of trouble and won his class (C) as did Martin Carter (Lynx 3 – Class D),  Jason Wright (Stanguellini) took the honours in the front-engined cars with Italian engines. Kevin Musson’s 18 was the only permanent casualty, with a broken upright, after contact with Marc Buhoffer following a spin , although poor Marc found  ( too late ) that he , too, had suspension damage , when he T-boned Duncan at the chicane, fortunately without terminal consequences, thanks to some spirited assistance from Urban Fassler’s team, orchestrated by Tony Steele
Race 2  Sunday morning found the paddock almost in whiteout conditions from fog.  In the media centre several of the televisions were broadcasting an almost blank screen which gave a good indication of conditions around the circuit.  Unsurprisingly racing was postponed until 10 am.  This suited Don Thallon who had worked most of the night to install a borrowed gear-box into his Cooper T56 and was now able to make it to assembly.  Finally the juniors assembled , with David Brown replacing Kevin, but more drama was to occur when the officials discovered that Peter Strauss was improperly dressed,( it seems they just throw on a kangaroo skin down under !! ) Peter Larder managed to borrow regulation underwear from Robin Longdon, and a quick change behind a tent enabled him to make the grid by the skin of his teeth, although all this excitement was to prove too much, as Peter expirted up the pit road after one race lap, perhaps having flicked the “off” switch in error  This time the track was dry but it was very cold for the team members on the pit-wall.  Urs Eberhardt stormed away and took the flag over seven seconds ahead of the second placed driver Michael Hibberd who nine seconds in front of Robin Longdon (Lola Mk 5A).  Many drivers were having their own little head to heads during the race and one in particular caught the imagination of the commentator, Johannes Hubner, who broadcast “the Dutchman van Gelder has just had the Englishman for breakfast – ah! – Just a moment – the breakfast was too much for him, he spun off!”  Robin and Erwin van Gelder (Lotus 20/22) tussled for several laps before Robin took the advantage of Erwin’s spin to claim the final podium place. Chris Drake could not consolidate his third place of race two, being let down by a broken driveshaft on lap five.  Don Thallon had gear selection problems that prevented him challenging Martin Carter who won Class D, with a lap advantage over the  fast improving John Chisolm (Gemini Mk 111A) second, all Martin had to do was keep the car on the island and cruise to the line.  Following the drama in assembly, Peter Strauss’s day only deteriorated, all this excitement proving too much, as Peter expired up the pit road after one race lap, perhaps having flicked the “off” switch in error  but wary of possible expensive noises from his engine .Peter has now  returned to Australia bur vows to return again in 2008.  Martin Walford drove carefully to ensure first place in class C.  This gave him a further 10 points in the Lurani trophy, five out of races with maximum points, thus unassailable with two rounds to go.  Michael Ashley-Brown (Volpini) sheared two spark plugs in yesterday’s race and today stopped with a loss of oil pressure.  Giancarlo Galeazzi (Lotus 22) had a lucky escape when a stone flew up and broke his glasses; he finished the race with blood streaming down his cheek and unable to see out of one eye.

RESULTS
                         1st                                2nd                               3rd
Race 1
Class A:     Jason Wright              Bruno Ferrari          Michael Ashley-Brown
                    (Stanguellini)             (Stanguellini)           (Volpini)
                     2:30.064                      2:36.039                  2:34.672
Class B:    Tony Goodwin            Tony Steele            Heinz Stege
                     (Gemini Mk 11)         (Lola Mk 11)           (Elva 100)
                     2:22.582                      2:27.548                 2:28.337
Class C:     Martin Walford          Peter Knöfel           Andrew Taylor
                     (Elva 200)                  (Emeryson)              (Britannia)
                     2:24.721                      2:27.730                 2:28.821
Class D:     Martin Carter              John Chisholm       David Pratley
                    (Lynx Type 3)              (Genini Mk 11A    (Lola Mk 11)       
                     2:23.001                      2:24.391                 2:29.925

Class E &   Urs Eberhardt              E. Benedini            Chris Drake
Combined     (Lotus 27)                  (Lotus 27)              (Lola Mk 5A)
                      2:14.989                      2:14.459                 2:17.430          
Race 2
Class A:     Jason Wright                Bruno Ferrari          Maurizio Piantelli   
                   (Stanguellini)                (Stanguellini)            (Stanguellini)  
                     2:24.101                        2:29.880                     2:32.059       
Class B:     Erik Justesen                  Tony Steele           Heinz Stege
                    (Mallock U2)                  (Lola Mk 2)            (Elva 100)
                     2:17.366                          2:18.714                    2:18.647
Class C:     Martin Walford               Peter Knöfel          Andrew Taylor
                    (Elva 200)                         (Emeryson)            (Britannia)
                      2:12.909                         2:21.002                    2:20.638
Class D:      Martin Carter                  John Chisholm      David Pratley
                    (Lynx Type 3)                   (Genini Mk 11A)    (Lola Mk 11)       
                      2:20.822                          2:17.533                   2:23.639
Class E &     Urs Eberhardt                  Michael Hibberd    Robin Longdon      
 Combined      (Lotus 27)                          (Lotus 27)               (Lola Mk 5A)
                        2:06.949                              2:05.851                2:07.547

Results            
Race 1&2  
Class A:       Jason Wright                   Bruno Ferrari                      Maurizio Piantelli
Class B:       Erik Justesen                   Tony Steele                         Tony Goodwin
Class C:       Martin Walford               Peter Knöfel                        Andrew Taylor
Class D:       Martin Carter                   John Chisholm                    David Pratley
Class E &
Combined      Urs Eberhardt                  Emanuele Benedini              Marcus Mussa

Once again the Oldtimer Grand Prix proved to be a hit with Formula Junior despite the weather. All drivers plus a guest were given a pass to the driver’s club which provided breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea as well as local wine and beer and soft drinks all weekend.

SNIPPETS:
Thanks to Robin and Sue Longdon for the loan of their scooter, and Tony Steele for volunteering as chauffer to taxi me to the media signing on hotel.  Tony’s bike skills saved our bacon when, riding through the tunnel under the track we found a lake of oil and safely snaked through.

Andrew Hibberd is trying to turn this write up into a lonely hearts column – so as promised Andrew! –“Wanted young lady interested in cars, historic motor racing, preferably independently wealthy or with expectations, GSOH to meet young petrol head with car”.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTIN WALFORD – LURANI TROPHY CHAMPION 2006

Jill Carter August 2006