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A wild sort - The hijinks of BMW juniors Cheever, Surer and Winkelhock

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Created in 2012

Text:

Rainer Braun

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Hallo Fahrerlager

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Daniel Reinhard

5

Hallo Fahrerlager

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At the Norisring, Heyer's Escort RS is put in the BMW pincers

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'What are my boys up to again'

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Winkelhock and Surer at the Ring

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BMW Junior trio Manfred Winkelhock, Marc Surer, Eddie Cheever with BMW support staff

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Marc Surer's BMW after the clinch with Heyer

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'Gentleman' Peterson parks his BMW directly in front of the first row of spectators on a cooler bag

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Surer and Heyer at the Nürburgring

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The 'Gentlemen' Stuck, Peterson, Hobbs send their regards

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - Winkelhock ahead of Heyer in the 1977 DRM race at the Nürburgring

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - in action at the Nürburgring, Winkelhock's car

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - Surer ahead of Winkelhock at the Nürburgring in 1977

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - that can't go well - Nürburgring 1977

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - Surer's rear end shows clear signs of an accident - Nürburgring

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Winkelhock und Surer am Ring

BMW Junior-Trio Manfred Winkelhock, Marc Surer, Eddie Cheever mit BMW-Betreuern

Marc Surers BMW nach dem Clinch mit Heyer

'Gentleman' Peterson parkt seinen BMW unmittelbar vor der ersten Zuschauerreihe auf einer Kühltasche

Surer und Heyer auf dem Nürburgring

Die 'Gentlemen' Stuck, Peterson, Hobbs lassen grüssen

Summary

In 1977, BMW Sports Director Jochen Neerpasch had the idea of bringing a junior team into racing. Cheever, Surer and Winkelhock were the chosen ones. Over the next few years, they really shook up the racing and touring car scene and created a lot of excitement, action and furor. This story is taken from the first volume of the popular book series "Hallo Fahrerlager" by Rainer Braun.

This article contains the following chapters

"Scandal at the Norisring"
Forced break in Diepholz
Scapegoat Surer

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The venerable German Racing Championship, as popular in the 1970s under the acronym DRM as the DTM later became, is shaken to its foundations. BMW Sports Director Jochen Neerpasch, always a friend of daring junior projects, backs three young guns and pushes the idea of a junior team through to the Board of Management for the 1977 season. The BMW racing strategist wanted to prove the opposite of the popular opinion that only experienced and therefore older drivers could drive the expensive DRM cars at the limit. "We also have to do something for young talent," says Neerpasch's philosophy, "otherwise the DRM will soon suffer from an ageing population and no new talent will come along." Messrs Heyer, Grohs, Ertl, Hezemans, Krebs and Hennige are not necessarily the youngest anymore.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

Winkelhock und Surer am Ring

BMW Junior-Trio Manfred Winkelhock, Marc Surer, Eddie Cheever mit BMW-Betreuern

Marc Surers BMW nach dem Clinch mit Heyer

'Gentleman' Peterson parkt seinen BMW unmittelbar vor der ersten Zuschauerreihe auf einer Kühltasche

Surer und Heyer auf dem Nürburgring

Die 'Gentlemen' Stuck, Peterson, Hobbs lassen grüssen

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