36th AvD OLDTIMER GRAND PRIX
Nürburgring 8th to 10th 2008

August in the Eifel Mountains gave us the usual unpredictable weather, ranging from unbearably hot and humid to torrential rain.  The paddock arrangements had been altered for this year with a similar set up to Silverstone Classic.  The motorhomes were in a car park some distance walk from the race car pavilions, but unlike The Classic there was no electricity and water on site.  The trailers and tow-vehicles were elsewhere which opened up the paddock for spectators but did provide a logistical headache for the entrants.

Scrutineering was problematic for Brian Mitcham as he did not have complete HTP papers, but an anxious phone call to Marcus Pye plus the wonders of the internet allowed him to run.  Unluckily for two of our German drivers, Jan and Ivo Göckmann, their National papers were not acceptable for a FIA race.  The other major emphasis was that fire-extinguishers were in date and of the correct specification.

The rear-engine FJ cars took to the track on Friday, sadly a little short on cars with a field of only twenty-four; a sigh of relief was emitted when all cars survived to run on Saturday.  Marcus Mussa again was dogged with bad luck when a drive shaft broke but a replacement was sourced.  John did his usual marvelous job of fixing it, using a spare prop shaft from Brian Lambert’s MGB (which had the right spline), cutting it and using it like a splint to weld back the broken drive shaft.   As a result of this Marcus had to start from 18th on the grid.  Martin Walford suffered a stuck throttle cable and was saved by the kitty-litter; he thought this was caused by going wide at the previous corner and maybe a stone lodged in the linkage. 

Saturday, race day, I will allow Marcus Mussa to give his description of his race as it also is representative of the front battle. “The start was by flag – which is something I must say I have absolutely taped!  I passed 6 cars before turn one and ended the first lap in 9th position. I then plugged on and what with this and that, I found myself 3rd.  Unfortunately I had passed Christian Traber twice in the process and the second time he latched on and we passed and re-passed a few times. He got by me a last time at the start of the final lap and we even caught the two leaders, who were scrapping away just in front.

Urs seemed to lead quite easily from the start but gradually got caught by Tonetti, who had also started further back than I would have expected! On the last lap Urs' tyres were going off, and with a lap to go Tonetti went ahead. Urs made an amazing late braking move to repass at the Chicane, but Tonetti regained the lead on the last corner to win by a whisker.
Traber was 3rd and yours faithfully 4th, about 2.5 seconds behind Tonetti. Traber just got fastest lap (on the final one) a few 10ths faster than me.
Pole-position man, the surprising Jorgen Carlsson lost the plot at the start and changed from 1st to 4th. He has mitigating circumstances however, announcing his engagement at prize-giving! Martin Walford’s throttle stuck open (again) and he went off and retired. Bruno Ferrari in the red Branca spun just in front of me on lap 5 (Traber and Jens Rauschen got back past me as a result of that – I had gone the wrong way to avoid Bruno). Krag went superbly but ran out of brakes (I did not think he used them!). He won his class of course. He is a seriously quick driver.
The podium was covered by just 0.335 seconds, and gave the spectators a thrilling finish.  Piero Tonetti has to be congratulated for returning his Brabham BT6 to both winning and concours condition after his unfortunate clash with the spinning Chris Drake at the Silverstone Classic meeting just two weeks ago.  Urs Eberhardt was having traction problems with the Lotus 27 which maybe allowed Tonetti to pass, and take the win.
The front-engine cars came through Scrutineering relatively unscathed with no-one being excluded from racing. Twenty-eight cars qualified on a dry track though some would need fettling to achieve improved performance in the race.  Dan Collins’ Lotus 18 had a trip into the barrier, bending the frame and breaking a wheel, but was repaired in time to race after a complete rear end strip down, by Dan and his Team Lotus colleagues. David Stevenson had managed to solve his head gasket and ignition timing which the U2 suffered at Silverstone and was pleased to qualify tenth.  Stuart Roach had claimed pole with the Alexis MK II a good 0.8 seconds ahead of John Delane’s Lotus 18 and more than two seconds faster than Tony Goodwin’s Gemini MKII with the Lola MK II of Tony Steele alongside.

The track was wet in places at the start with intermittent showers: by lap eight a visible dry line had appeared which was reflected in the much improved lap times.  Stefano Rosina’s Moretti Branca was the only qualifier not to make the start.  The remaining twenty-seven cars lined up for the flag start and Tony Goodwin had a blistering start, leading into the first corner, but his glory was short lived as Roach sped past him on the exit.  The Alexis then extended the lead lap on lap to win by forty-four seconds; the only problem Roach encountered was avoiding the battles for position between the backmarkers, in the process all but nine cars were lapped at least once. 

John Delane managed to ease in front of Tony Goodwin as the track dried and extended his lead to nine and a half seconds to take second, and Class C win from Goodwin in third.  Jason Wright brought his Stanguellini home in fourth to take the Class A win, a mere whisker away from a podium. Positions throughout the field changed time and time again as the conditions changed and cars spun only to be retaken.

Congratulations to Stuart Roach for his win; a superb demonstration of car handling in mixed conditions.

Thank you to the drivers who were kind enough to send me details of their race I am only sorry there is not room to include them word for word, but hope this is a true reflection of the weekend.

I would like to end with personal thanks to Tony Goodwin and Michael Ashley-Brown who went out of their way to return us to Blighty after my car was written off by a young German driver as I was returning to the Ring Saturday morning.  Also to everyone else who offered their help in so many ways.  Thank you FJ - you are truly a good family.

Report by Jill Carter 14th August 2008

Photos by Colleen Conway