It had been a long gap since the penultimate round of the FIA Lurani Trophy at Dijon till the cars arrived at the ‘new’ Nurburgring, the outside infrastructure almost unrecognisable with new hotels, a casino (empty!!), a roundabout (at last!) as you enter the paddock, and the familiar Bankomat disappeared! The ADAC had organised a (larger) tent for the cars, inside parking of the motorhomes (that is, Chris Drake and Robin Longdon) and the campervans, and some splendid food in the Audi Lounge overlooking the track.  The front engined classes were a little thin, with Goodwood only three days previously but Duncan and Michael Ashley-Brown (Volpini) both under the care of Iain Rowley, and Heinz Stege (Elva 100) had managed a change of clothes – though Lederhosen seems now no longer de riguer – maybe still with AvD – but not ADAC!  Appropriately, in view of Paul Hawkins’ famous Alexis F2 victory in the Eifelrennen in 1965, Stuart Roach brought the Mk2 Alexis.  A very welcome returnee in Class C was Ingvar Malm in the Focus III with Peugeot motor, but sadly Ingvar was smitten by a bug after ‘free’ practice and was too unwell for further participation – Lars-Göran Sjoberg in the Swebe Cooper, Peter Knöfel (Emeryson) and Dr Dietrich Merkel (Britannia) from Germany were ranged against the familiar Elva 200 of John Dowson, and a bevy of Lotus 18’s, for Champion elect, Dan Collins, John Hutchison, tended by Sarah and John Junior, and Luc Deneve in the ex-Daan de Smedt car, while in Class D, Sir John Chisholm (Gemini IIIA) had to contend with Chris Drake (Elva 300) still with an outside chance of class championship victory, a very smart looking Lola Mk3 of Hans Jörgen Krag, repaired and repainted after its fire at Lausitz, Alex Morton’s Ausper T3, and Ivo Göckmann’s Jolus now fully repaired and straightened after its pre Spa accident.  Last but not least were Steve and Carol Futter from Aberdeen in their Lotus 20, gearbox repaired (again).
Class E made up more than half the field.  Here was a great battle in prospect with Tonetti (Brabham BT6), only one point ahead of Ebehardt (Lotus 27), and John Fyda (Lotus 22) still with an outside chance.  All the regulars, except Philip Buhofer, who had work commitments, were present, Marcus Mussa had a new ‘Richardson’ in his Brabham BT2, and Gerald Ludwig (with Edith)  - BT6; young Pete Morton in the Lightning Envoyette, Dr Giancarlo Galeazzi (Lotus 22) and BabaSan (Foglietti) were the only ‘irregulars’ with Christian Cane (ex Thomas Duchene Lotus 22) back again after his Dijon debut.
The majority of the cars arrived and scrutineered on Thursday in time for morning free practice, on Friday – cold, but dry. Urs Eberhardt was a resounding 2 ½ seconds faster than anyone else, but only 2 seconds separated the next eight contenders, headed by Fyda and Tonetti, and Pete Morton was signalling his talent in the Lightning with only drums at the rear, in 4th spot.  There were several spins, including Collins (off after 3 laps), Eberhardt and Futter, with Merkel having clutch trouble, the Swebe consumed a plug, poor Giancarlo Galeazzi overreved changing from 3rd to 2nd by mistake, so with a head gasket gone and possible rocker bits inside the engine, he called it a day rather than cause further damage.  Most unlucky was Alex Morton in the Ausper T3 who backfired in the line up, the rear of the car caught fire, and Alex made a lightning (!) escape pulling the extinguisher as he emerged.  The fire marshal had to rush back for his extinguisher before returning and dousing the car with further foam. A huge FJ “team” effort by all concerned had the car cleaned up, new jets located, and read, seemingly as smart as ever for the following day’s qualifying.

DCPR