On the weekend of June 10-12, 2016, the Lenzerheide vacation region was all about motorsports. On Friday evening, the vehicle parade through Lenzerheide attracted a large crowd in glorious weather and warm temperatures.
On Saturday and Sunday, the 2.45 km circuit between Lenzerheide and the Rothorn valley station was used for demonstration drives by around 200 sporty vehicles. The variety of models and vintages was impressive. They ranged from the well-behaved Fiat 124 Spezial from 1969 to the Ferrari 330 GTO, from pre-war La France to modern super sports cars.
Group 8 offered the most interesting field for many spectators. Fredy Lienhard spared no effort and transported half of his car museum to Lenzerheide, offering spectators top-class racing cars with the Ferrari 512 BBLM, the Lola T70 Spider, the Sauber C5 and the March-BMW 782 F2, among others, with a corresponding sound backdrop.
Eugen Strähl drove the same Sauber C5 that he drove at Le Mans in 1978 together with Marc Surer and Harry Blumer. "Beautiful old memories are brought back," said Strähl enthusiastically.
The new, young Swiss talent in GP3 Kevin Jörg (born on September 11, 1995) was able to get a taste of historic motorsport air from a time long before he was born in the March-BMW 782 F2 from 1978. Former champion Fredy Lienhard drove Jörg's predecessor, the March-BMW 762 F2 from 1977.
Good atmosphere despite the rain
Despite the changeable weather - Saturday almost completely fell through - there was always a good atmosphere in the paddock at the Rothorn valley station, as OC President Michael Widmer confirms: "Neither car drivers nor motorcyclists let the rain spoil their mood and enjoyed their ride".
Georg Kaufmann was very impressed by the difficult conditions and would have gladly taken on a second day of rain. But Sunday turned out to be friendlier and almost exclusively dry, with only a small shower dampening the track just before the super sports cars. In between, the sun even made a brief appearance from time to time.
Nevertheless, there was a small drop of bitterness for Michael Widmer. The planned air shows, with the nostalgic Piaggio P149D and Pilatus PC-7 aircraft, had to be canceled due to the weather conditions. "On Sunday, the conditions in Lenzerheide would have been suitable, but the planes were unable to take off due to the weather between Altenrhein and Lenzerheide."
Fifth event fully booked
But even without the air show, the Lenzerheide Motor Classics offered plenty of variety this year. With around 200 registered racing and sports cars as well as motorcycles and sidecars, the maximum number of participants was reached before the end of the registration period. Michael Widmer sees the reason for this not only in the dedicated OC and the numerous partners and sponsors, but especially in the participants: "Our thanks naturally go to our loyal drivers, who spread their enthusiasm for the Lenzerheide Motor Classics throughout the large motorsport family."
Despite the sometimes really wet and correspondingly slippery road surface, there were only a few slips on both days, and even these all ended in minor injuries, albeit some with slight cold deformations.
