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X. AvD/MVBL-Rundstreckenrennen „Bergischer Löwe“

Zolder, Belgium

Date: 11/3/1979
Track length: 4.261 m
Attendance: 10.000
Entries accepted: 20 (Div. 1); 41 (Div. 2)
Starters: 15 (Div. 1); 29 (Div. 2)
Finishers: 13 (Div. 1); 20 (Div. 2)

Pole position: Ludwig in 1.31,77 (Div. 1); Ertl n 1.34,85 (Div. 2)
Fastest lap: Ludwig in 1.31,77 (Div. 1); Ertl n 1.34,85 (Div. 2)

Distance: 24 laps
Average speed: 139,51 kmh (Div. 1); 135,55 kmh (Div. 2)
Weather: Rain
Ruleset: Group 2-4 and 5
Car info: 1979 Cars

Pictures

The 1979 season kicked off in Belgium at the now traditional “Bergischer Löwe”. And the field had changed a lot since the 1978 final. For group 2 and 4 cars there was a separate “Rennsporttrophäe” championship, so full fields were guaranteed.

Division 1
Max Moritz had pulled the plug on Group 5, so Schurti was left out of a drive, but landed at Loos’ team, together with Fitzpatrick and Wollek who had been lured away from Kremer. Loos had new cars, with the gearbox now upside down and the car lowered 2,5 centimeters. Fellow Cologne team Kremer had thought of something else: the “K3”, with a new body style with refined aerodynamics and place for an air/air intercooler. It was driven by Ludwig who signed a 2-year deal, and Ludwig delivered with a pole, over one second faster than Wollek. The Liqui Moly Joest team had two cars here, for Stommelen and Merl, with Stommelen qualifying fourth, behind Fitzpatrick.

Race division 1
Loos had ordered special Goodyear rain tires from the USA in fear of Dunlop’s strength in the wet and both Wollek and Schurti had radios in the cockpit, so the Chief could give his orders in private. Times set in the warmup were encouraging, but at the start the rain had stopped though the track was still very wet. Ludwig set off in the lead, followed by Wollek, Stommelen and Fitz. The last two met and the chicane, with Stommelen forcing his way past - and a little later Wollek had to give in too. The Loos cars dropped back, were passed by Merl, Bourgoignie, Plankenhorn and Fitzpatrick was even beaten by Schornstein. The tires were not the right ones after all. Ludwig was unmoved by all this, 14 seconds adrift, though his rev limiter hampered proceedings: on a dry track, Stommelen would have won, Ludwig told afterwards.

Division 2
Ertl had exchanged Schnitzer for the Zakspeed team, with Heyer in the Mampe car and Nussbaumer in a Turbo Escort as number 3 while Winkelhock filled the vacant seat at Schnitzer; his old mount was driven now by team owner Hohmann. Grohs had a seat at the Austrian Oppitzhauser team, but for only two races while Ketterer continued in the Pirelli-shod Turbo Escort. GS had four cars here, all atmospheric, team leader Höttinger in a six-speed (replaced by a five-speed in practice) right-hand drive car destined to receive a works turbo engine later in the season. Bürger had won the second seat at GS in he BASF car, with Krankenberg and Schimpf paying service customers. Franz Albert bought two cars, a 2002 turbo for himself and a 320 turbo (one of Ertl’s cars from last year) for Jochen Dauer. Last but not least Isert brought a Turbo Alfetta, which had al sorts of problems like breaking half shafts or ripping the complete rear suspension from under the car - he was a non-starter.

In practice, Ertl enjoyed a trouble free run to pole, ahead of Winkelhock with Heyer only fourth after gearbox and engine problems. The new 885 kg limit for turbo cars did not really change anything; to win, you still had to have a turbo.

Race-division 2
Despite the rain, it became clear that the Capris were in a class of their own. Ertl and Heyer finished 1-2, Heyer initially the fastest but he fell back with ignition troubles. Winkelhock was soon left behind and spun, so Höttinger could pass and get the last place on the podium despite an attack by Winkelhock at the end - but the Schnitzer car left the track and was lucky to save fourth in the end.

Rennsporttrophäe
In division 1, only four 934 Porsches raced, with Dören winning; but a bunch of BMW M1s would enter the frame later in the season. In division 2, a single Escort beat all the BMW’s; Boller had cleverly selected a 2-liter group 4 Escort, which was over 50 HP more powerful than any BMW.

Division 1
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 54 Porsche Kremer Racing
Porsche 935 K3 3.2		 Klaus Ludwig, D
 3163 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 43.58,27 1 1.31,77 1.47,73  
2 2 66 Liqui Moly Equipe
Porsche 935-77A		 Rolf Stommelen, D
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 44.03,65 4 1.32,99    
3 3 67 Liqui Moly Equipe
Porsche 935-77A		 Volkert Merl, D
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 44.38,85 8 1.36,91    
4 4 58 Team Willeme
Porsche 935 K2		 Claude Bourgoignie, B
 2857 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 45.07,99 6 1.34,69    
5 5 55 Porsche Kremer Racing
Porsche 935-77A		 Axel Plankenhorn, D
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 43.11,58 7 1.35,37    
6 6 52 Gelo Sportswear Team
Porsche 935-77A		 Manfred Schurti, FL
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 45.31,54 5 1.33,25    
7 7 51 Gelo Sportswear Team
Porsche 935-77A		 Bob Wollek, F
 3100 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 45.40,48 2 1.32,79    
8 8 57 Sekurit Racing Team
Porsche 935-77A		 Dieter Schornstein, D
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 24 laps, 45.50,28 9 1.37,90    
9 9 53 Gelo Sportswear Team
Porsche 935-77A		 John Fitzpatrick, GB
 2994 tc B6 Division 1 ?24 laps, 46.23,33 3 1.32,81    
10 1 79 Motorsportverband Bergisch-Land
Porsche 934		 Edgar Dören, D
 2993 tc B6 Division 1/Group 2-4 23 12      
11 10 68 Paul Mahlke
Porsche 935		 Ralf-Dieter Schreiber, D
 2857 tc B6 Division 1 23 10 1.38,00    
12 2 72 Autohaus Max Moritz
Porsche 934		 Jürgen Lässig, D
 2993 tc B6 Division 1/Group 2-4 22 13      
13 3 73 Autohaus Max Moritz
Porsche 934		 "Harry Hirsch", D
 2993 tc B6 Division 1/Group 2-4 22 14      
DNF   76 Autohaus Max Moritz
Porsche 934		 Hans-Christian Jürgensen, D
 2993 tc B6 Division 1/Group 2-4 11 11     Engine
DNF   70  
BMW 530i		 Dieter Miltz, D
 2985 L6 Division 1/Group 2-4 11 15 no time    

Division 2
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 1 Sachs Sporting
Ford Capri III Turbo		 Harald Ertl, A
 1427 tc L4 Division 2 24 laps, 45.15,35 1 1.34,85 1.51,66  
2 2 3 Mampe Ford Zakspeed
Ford Capri III Turbo		 Hans Heyer, D
 1427 tc L4 Division 2 24 laps, 45.20,95 4 1.38,87    
3 3 6 Jägermeister Racing Team / GS
BMW 320		 Markus Höttinger, A
 1990 L4 Division 2 24 laps, 46.14,40 5 1.38,92    
4 4 4 Rodenstock Würth Team / Schnitzer
BMW 320 Turbo 1.4		 Manfred Winkelhock, D
 1428 tc L4 Division 2 24 laps, 46.41,03 2 1.35,51    
5 5 16 Autohaus K. Oppitzhauser
BMW 320		 Harald Grohs, D
 1990 L4 Division 2 24 laps, 46.41,24 6 1.39,11    
6 6 23 Glysantin GS Rennsport Team
BMW 320		 Hans-Georg Bürger, D
 1990 L4 Division 2 24 laps, 47.05,54 3 1.38,76    
7 7 11 Team Warsteiner TBS
BMW 320		 Albrecht Krebs, D
 1990 L4 Division 2 23 12 1.41,79    
8 8 9 Team Albert Rodenstock
BMW 2002 Turbo		 Franz Albert, A
 1428 tc L4 Division 2 23 13 1.42,54    
9 9 12 Immo Klein Racing Team
Ford Escort II RS Turbo		 Mario Ketterer, D
 1427 tc L4 Division 2 23 11 1.41,07    
10 10 22  
BMW 320		 Preben Kristoffersen, DK
 1990 L4 Division 2 22 16 1.46,13    
11 11 7 Jägermeister Racing Team / GS
BMW 320		 Ekkehard Schimpf, D
 1990 L4 Division 2 22 17 1.48,42    
12 1 25  
Ford Escort II RS 2.0		 Wolfgang Boller, D
 1992 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 22 18 1.49,64    
13 2 34  
VW Scirocco		 Klaus Breitenbach, D
 1596 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 22 24      
14 12 10 Team Albert Rodenstock
BMW 320 Turbo 1.4		 Jochen Dauer, D
 1428 tc L4 Division 2 21 9 1.40,08    
15 3 37 MSC Stadt Allendorf
BMW 2002		 Heinz Füller, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 21 26      
16 4 31  
BMW 2002		 Jürgen Galle, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 21 22      
17 5 44  
Alpine A 110 1600S		 Rob Redeker, NL
 1565 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 21 25      
18 6 35 Renngemeinschaft Bergisch Gladbach
BMW 320		 Richard Bremmekamp, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 20 21      
19 7 40  
BMW 2002		 Kurt Schwarzin, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 20 29      
20 8 28 Rhein-Ruhr Racing Team
BMW 320		 Dieter Hegels, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 19 30      
DNF   43 MSTC Erbach
BMW 2002		 Hans Weissgerber, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 15 23      
DNF   17 Scuderia Baselia
BMW 320		 Edy Brandenberger, CH
 1990 L4 Division 2 9 15 1.44,91    
DNF   30 Cavallo Matras
BMW 320		 Winfried Vogt, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 7 19 1.49,78    
DNF   8 Fruit of the Loom / GS Sport
BMW 320		 Michael Krankenberg, D
 1990 L4 Division 2 6 14 1.44,18   Accident
DNF   27 IFM Efector
BMW 320		 Rolf Rummel, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 6 28      
DNF   5 Hohmann Automations Technik
BMW 320 Turbo 1.4		 Reinhold Hohmann, D
 1428 tc L4 Division 2 4 8 1.40,08   Accident
DNF   36 RK-Tuning Köln-Opel Haus Hennef
Opel Kadett GT/E		 Mathias Bungard, D
 ca. 2000 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4 4 27      
DNF   2 D&W Zakspeed
Ford Escort II RS Turbo		 Walter Nussbaumer, CH
 1427 tc L4 Division 2 3 10 1.40,31   Accident
DNF   15 Autohaus K. Oppitzhauser
BMW 2002 Turbo		 Karl Oppitzhauser, A
 1428 tc L4 Division 2 1 20 1.49,85   Accident
DNS   21 Caprez / Brun-Automaten
BMW 320		 Walter Brun, CH
 1990 L4 Division 2   7 1.39,73    
DNS   14 Alfa-Isert
Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Turbo		 Heinz Isert, D
 1421 tc L4 Division 2     no time   Halfshafts etc.
DNS   26 Team Warsteiner TBS
BMW 320		 Uwe Reich, D
 1990 L4 Division 2/Group 2-4