The Preis der Stadt Stuttgart took place on the weekend of April 13-15, 2018. In addition to formula, touring and racing cars, it was above all the little ones who thrilled the audience. They competed at the Hockenheimring as part of the Battle of the Dwarves in the Histo Cup R5 Cup, NSU Trophy, Abarth Coppa Mille, 1300 Histo Cup R5 Cup and Histo Cup 1300 categories.
For the first time with the R5 Cup
42 years after the premiere of the R5 Cup in Hockenheim, the time had come again. For the first time, the Histo Cup R5 Cup took part in two opening races as part of the Battle of the Dwarves at the Hockenheimring. Even though there were not 30 cars, the return of the Renault 5 was welcomed everywhere.
Thrilling duels
The first midget race weekend of 2018 was full of duels. After an extremely exciting qualifying session, which was dominated by the British Car Trophy minis at the top of the field, the first race of the 2018 season got underway on Saturday lunchtime.
Pole-sitter Herbert Wein Jr. in his Mini Cooper S from the sixties had to fend off Mini driver Rainer Klockenhoff, who had started from third place, right from the start. This gave Herbert Wein Sr., also in a Mini, the chance to take the lead. However, the lead changed hands several times over the next few laps. It was not until lap 10 that Klockenhoff had the opportunity to pull away from the field and drive home the victory.
Duels in the NSU Trophy
The NSU Trophy was no less exciting. Roland Müller, Maximilian Koch and Andreas Vielgut battled it out throughout the race. Shortly before the end of the race, however, Müller and Koch made small mistakes and Andreas Vielgut was able to claim victory in the NSU Trophy in his 1969 NSU TT.
Premiere race 1300 Histo Cup R5 Cup and Histo Cup 1300
Michel Braxhoofden secured the 1300 Histo Cup R5 trophy in his Renault R5 Alpine, while reigning Histo Cup champion Frank Fiedler was delighted to win the Histo Cup 1300 in his Renault Alpine.
Bad luck at the Abarth Coppa Mille
The fastest man in the Abarth Coppa Mille was Christof Hürter. He piloted his Fiat 127 to victory, but benefited from a defect in Hubert Nagl's car. The South German was unable to start the first race due to damage to the drive shaft of his Fiat Abarth 1000 TC during practice.
Beaming winners in Sunday's race
The race on Sunday was also exciting, but not characterized by as many duels as was the case on Saturday. The start was based on the finish of the previous day's race. Rainer Klockenhoff started the race from the leading position, but had to concede to Herbert Wein Jr. immediately after the start. The latter was able to pull away from the field early on, as second-placed Klockenhoff had to defend himself against Herbert Wein Sr. who was coming on strong. When Wein Sr. retired due to a technical defect on lap 8, Klockenhoff took over his position, but had no chance of catching up with Wein Jr. in the remaining time.
The winner of the Abarth Coppa Mille in the second race was Hubert Nagl. After repairing the training damage, he started the race from last place on the grid. He drove an impressive race and was even able to finish tenth overall. Victory in the Histo Cup 1300 went to Christoph Wilde in a 1974 Simca Rally II, who had dropped out of the first race due to clutch and suspension problems. As on the previous day, Andreas Vielgut won the NSU Trophy. In the Histo Cup R5 trophy, Bob Spaargaren crossed the finish line first in the second race. Contrary to the first edition in 1976, none of the protagonists rolled over. Nevertheless, motorsport at its finest was on offer.
All reports on the Battle of the Dwarves can be found in the theme channel.
