Hockenheim Historic

The Hockenheim Historic Jim Clark Revival signalled the debut of the historic event under the ADAC’s name.  The boom in historic motorsport continues, with nearly 400 participants in nine racing series offering plenty of everything to the 33,000 spectators that filled the grandstands, exceeding all expectations, on both Saturday, when the weather was beautiful, and on Sunday when, despite changeable weather conditions, the public remained present.  Marcel Hundscheid reports….

Photo Marcel Hundscheid

After qualifying on Friday, the program started on Saturday morning with the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Revival, which brought the audience to their feet.  As expected, both races were dominated by the monstrous Group 5 cars, with Ralf Kelleners’ De Tomaso Pantera GTS Gr.5 on pole, which he took by over three seconds.  On Saturday Dennis Busch, could only follow in his Porsche 935 K3, while Michael Kammermann from Switzerland finished third in his beautiful fire-breathing BMW M1, 30 seconds down the road from the two leaders. The second race initially looked like it might go Busch’s way.  Looking for revenge, the Porsche driver got the jump on Kelleners immediately after the start and seemed able to make it stick, but bad luck lurked around the corner and exactly one lap before the flag the Porsche retired, leaving Kelleners to take his second victory of the weekend.  Ronny Scheer finished second after a masterful catch-up race from 22nd place in the beautiful Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo Gr.5.  Michael Kammermann again finished third.

Photo Peter Heil

Another highlight of the weekend was the presence of more than 40 touring cars in a pair of Tourenwagen “Golden Ära” races.  These cars, from the good old days of the DTM, STW or DTC championships, included the presence of old school warriors such as Altfrid Heger, Kris Nissen, Olaf Manthey, Harald Grohs or Roland Asch. 

Rear Marcel’s report in the June issue of Historic Motor Racing News…