Hockenheim, 1 October, 2000
The Red Sea !
The paddock of the Hockenheim circuit was a sea of Ferrari during the last
weekend of September, when thousands of owners and enthusiasts gathered
for the Ferrari Racing Days meeting. The event featured rounds of both the 360
Challenge Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series together with F!
demonstration runs and free laps for members of Ferrari Club Deutschland,
and international Ferrari club members. There were also two bonuses for
participants, one was the presentation of the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina at the
gala dinner at the circuit on Saturday evening, and the second was the
presence of national hero Michael Schumacher for a time on Sunday
afternoon.
The Ferrari parking area in the paddock filled rapidly each day, and it was
quite staggering to see so many 360 Modenas together, as up to now they
have appeared only in relatively small numbers, but then this was Germany,
the largest Ferrari market in Europe. It was also interesting to note that quite a
large proportion of the German 360 owners had managed to get 360 as the
numbers on their license plates. One of the most ”unusual” cars in the parking
area, that attracted a lot of attention, was a 456 GT finished completely in a
matt olive drab paint scheme that even extended to the wheels, perhaps next
time it appears it will be in full camouflage! Older models were in relatively
short supply in the general parking areas, but one of note was the 250 GT
SWB, chassis number 2269GT, of Reinhard Sammueller, whilst the unique
330 GT Fantuzzi spider, chassis number 8733, made a brief appearance on
the Sunday morning.
Cecotto in Challenge
In the 360 Challenge series there were races for West and Central region
competitors, with Johnny Cecotto, the Venezualan motorcycle star and
successful touring car racer, participating in the Central region guest car to
take a hard fought victory from Austrian Carl Baron in the final race of the
weekend.
The Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series had two races for each of
the three groups over the weekend, and featured some exciting racing that
passed off without any major mishaps. The greatest problems stemmed from
mechanical maladies, which sidelined a number of front runners during the
course of the event.
GroupA – Maserati all the way
The Group A races for single seaters were devoid of any Ferrari presence after
Corrado Cupellini’s Dino suffered transmission problems after setting the
fastest practise time. This left the Maserati 250 F of Peter Heuberger to clean
up with wins in both races, although he was chased hard both times by
newcomer to the series, Roger Lucas in his Maserati 6 CM. With John May,
Maserati A6 GCM, taking third place on Saturday, and Wolfgang Wegner
Bscher, Maserati 4 CL, taking the final place on the podium on Sunday it was
a clean sweep for Maserati.
Ferrari / Maserati – 50/50
The Group B race practise times, for drum brake sports and GT cars,were
headed by Burkhard von Schenk in his Maserati 300 S, with the Ferrari 250
GT TdF of Plinio Haas in second being the meat in a Maserati sandwich, as
the A6 GCS driven by Robertino Wild took third fastest time. At the start of
Saturday’s race first gear broke on von Schenk’s car as he accelerated off the
line, causing rapid retardation until he selected second and staggered away.
This caused massive avoidance action behind him, as the Wild A6 GCS, and
those following on the left side of the track, had to clear the near stationary car
as best they could. Fortunately everybody managed to do so without making
contact. The pandemonium allowed Plinio Haas to profit and lead the race,
chased by Carlos Monteverde in his 250 Testa Rossa. The yellow Testa
Rossa ate into the lead of the 250 GT TdF and by the third lap it was in a lead
that it held to the end. Unfortunately there was a paddock incident after the
race which soured the victory, and resulted in Carlos Monteverde withdrawing
his cars from the meeting at the end of the day, after a meeting with the race
stewards. After finishing the first lap in eighth place von Schenk fought back to
third to provide some consolation for the Maserati contingent. With no Testa
Rossa and no von Schenk 300 S, because of the gearbox problem, the race
on Suday was wide open for the rest of the field. From the green light it was
Christian Traber in his Ferrari 250 MM who took the lead, which he held until a
part broke in a carburettor causing the throttle to jam open, resulting in a spin
that allowed Jeremy Agace in his Maserati 250 SI into the lead, which he held
to the end ahead of the A6 GCS of Robertino Wild. The Ferrari 625 TR of
Nicolas Zapata held a strong third place until the last lap when he lost two
gears, allowing the Ferrari 250 GT TdF of carlo Vogele to take the final place
on the podium.
The incident
As the cars were being marshalled through the crowded paddock area to the
parc ferme after the first Group B race, Carlos Monteverde was motioned on by
a flag marshal, and as he moved forward somebody from one of the 360
Challenge teams pushed a tyre trolley into his path. Although he turned to
avoid it, the front wing just caught it pushing it back, apparently catching the
arm of one of the hostesses who was walking by. He was unaware of this and
continued, leaving the car in the pac ferme then going to the marshalling area
for the next race in which he was competing in his 365 GTB/4C. Upon
returning to the parc ferme after this race he was reportedly set upon by
stewards and taken to race control, where the sequence of events were
relayed to him, and blame for the ”injuries” (allegedly a broken arm) to the
stewardess laid on him. Despite protestations and a request for the flag
marshal to be summoned, which were ignored, he was told that his cars would
be impounded until a 4000DM fine was paid. Apparently this was to be given
to the stewardess as she wouldn’t be able to work for some weeks. He was
somewhat piqued at the attitude , and told them that he would pay the ”fine”,
but that he would withdraw his cars from the meeting and leave immediately,
which he did. Thus spectators on Sunday were unfortunately deprived the sight
of three great Ferraris on the track.
Footnote: The hostess with the ”broken arm” was seen working as normal on
Sunday with only an elastic bandage on it !
The battle of the giants
Practise for the Group C race, for disc brake sports racing and GT cars, saw a
spirited battle between the Ferrari 512 S of Jean Guikas and the 512 M version
of Patrick Stieger, with pole finally falling to the latter. This battle should have
been joined by the Ferrari 712 CanAm driven by David Franklin, but gearbox
problems thwarted his efforts before he could post a competitive time, thus he
started from the opposite end of the grid. In the first race it was a fight between
the two 512s to the chequered flag, joined by the proverbial piece of string until
the Stieger car took better advantage lapping backmarkers, to put some
breathing space between him and his pursuer. The 712 CanAm made rapid
progress through the field up to third place by the end, but was also thwarted
in its progress whilst lapping slower cars. On Sunday it was once again the
512 duo that fought the main battle as the 712 CanAm unfortunately did not
appear. The Stieger 512 M led off the line but only as far as the first chicane
where it spun in spectacular fashion. This allowed the 512 S into a lead that it
maintained to the end, with the 512 M recovering to finish second after a
strong comeback drive from Patrick Stieger, ahead of David Piper in his Ferrari
365 P. The race also featured a great duel in the GT category, that finally went
to the Ferrari 365 GTB/4C of Francois Degand, ahead of the 250 GTO of
Frederico Kroymans and the 250 GT SWB of compatriot Bart Rosman.
The F1 car demonstration brought out a broad range of mainly recent Ferrari
F1 cars, although there was the 1952 500 F2 of Jo Vonlanthen, whilst the next
oldest was the 1975 312 T of Leopold Hrobsky, with the remainder being
nineties examples. No worry, the sound of those screaming V10 and V12
engines, even when being driven below the limit by gentleman drivers is pure
delight.
Local hero
On Sunday afternoon the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge cars lined
up along the pit wall ”Le Mans” style, for the trophy presentations by Michael
Schumacher. Upon his arrival, the packed grandstands overlooking the
presentation area on the main straight erupted in a cacophony of cheers and
air horns. After an interview with the commentator he presented the trophies,
signed numerous autographs, that included one on David Piper’s 365 P (which
will no doubt increase its value), and then posed for a ”family photograph” with
all the drivers, before a finale run up and down the pit straight in a 360 Spider.
Despite overcast skies, that oft times seemed very threatening, the only rain
came on Saturday evening so the racing programme remained unaffected,
apart from a damp track on Sunday morning. Thus a large number of
spectators enjoyed a diverse selection of Ferraris of all types over the
weekend, with some fine racing, and Michael Schumacher as the bonus
attraction.
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