Dear readers,
In August, the BMW M1 Procar series again made the headlines from a German perspective. After the hype surrounding Hans Georg Bürger following his Procar Gala at the end of July in Hockenheim, the Procar race two weeks later as part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Österreichring also had some exciting moments and a few sporting tensions in store. And again 14 days later, it was Hans Joachim Stuck who clinched the first victory for a German driver in a Procar M1 at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. But first to Austria, where two BMW juniors and a seasoned BMW works driver did not communicate so nicely with each other, because it was quite simply about their future prospects. The main protagonists of this prestigious confrontation in the BMW M1 were young star Bürger, his old Renault 5-Cup buddy Markus Höttinger and ex-BMW junior Manfred Winkelhock. The latter, who had been a BMW works driver since 1977 and raced in the Formula 2 European Championship and the DRM racing championship from 1978, had also decided to compete in the Procar series as a private commitment. Höttinger, for his part, also competed as a private driver with an M1 from the Freiburg GS-Winnebago team. And Bürger was given another chance in a free works M1 by BMW Sports Director Neerpasch after his smash-hit race at Hockenheim in Austria. Incidentally, Bürger's luck was Jo Gartner's bad luck, as he had actually been promised a car for his home race at the Ö-Ring. But Jo (who had already fought many a battle with Bürger in Formula Super Vee) dictated his opinion diplomatically into the notebooks of the journalists from the Austria papers: "I don't begrudge Schorsch this from the bottom of my heart, he deserves it and it won't harm our friendship. I'm sad, but maybe there will be another chance for me on another occasion." What a sportsman!!!
While Höttinger and Bürger found themselves united on row four of the grid, Winkelhock was two rows further back. The Swabian was furious anyway, "because so much fuss is being made about the two greenhorns, especially Bürger". And Bürger complained in the same breath "that Winkelhock is so unfriendly and doesn't even say hello when you walk past". Something was brewing, I thought to myself as Bürger complained to me about Manfred. And I soon found out what was causing the tension. After Hockenheim, a national daily newspaper had headlined an interview with Bürger with the headline "Driving Formula 1 would be a dream". Almost at the same time, Winkelhock had to read an interview with his BMW boss Jochen Neerpasch on the subject of Bürger with the headline "You absolutely have to support a talent like that". All his warning lights went on, because BMW was working on a turbo engine for the Formula 1 entry from 1982, which Höttinger was testing in his 320 Jägermeister BMW as a secret commando in the DRM. The fact that Neerpasch assistant Dieter Stappert then also thought out loud and told journalists "that one could well imagine these two super talents Höttinger and Bürger in Formula 1" must have brought Winkelhock's mood to a boil.
While Höttinger pulled away from Jacques Laffite at the front in the Procar race and only narrowly missed out on victory, Winkelhock and Bürger battled it out over the full distance, including some serious shoving for fifth place. In the end, Winkelhock had the upper hand by 2/10ths of a second, and when he got out of the car, he immediately rumbled off with a bright red head: "Now I'm going to show that little guy from the Eifel who's the boss here." That really hit home, especially because he said it so loudly that his colleague Bürger next door had to hear it (and probably should have), whose reaction was to take a few steps to his opponent's M1, shake his hand and congratulate him on "a tough but fair race". Manfred gave him a pat on the shoulder and said "It's alright". That cleared the air for the time being, but it remained clear that the Winkelhock/Bürger/Höttinger issue would remain acute for some time to come in view of BMW's Formula 1 plans. Especially as it was also leaked at the Ö-Ring that BMW would also like to place Bürger in the Formula 2 European Championship after Höttinger with the aim of making him fit for higher tasks. It is only too understandable that the much older Manfred Winkelhock was somewhat nervous about this scenario in view of his future at BMW...
Sincerely
Rainer Braun
Formula 1 World Championship: Alan Jones and Williams score a hat-trick
Williams driver Alan Jones continued the winning streak he started in Hockenheim at the World Championship races in Austria and Holland. The Australian won by a clear margin at both the Österreichring and Zandvoort, completing a flawless hat-trick. For Williams, Zandvoort is even the fourth victory in a row. As Ferrari spearhead Jody Scheckter regularly scores points, he retains the top spot in the standings. The two Germans in the field remained weak - Jochen Mass scored one championship point in the Arrows at Zandvoort, Hans-Joachim Stuck (ATS) is still without points after twelve races of the season.
Formula 1 World Championship: espionage and TV spat
There are some side notes worth mentioning at the Austrian GP. For example, a Lotus technician was caught crawling behind the pits with a folding rule, paper and pencil under a Williams car that had been destroyed in practice to carry out "measurement work" at an opportune moment (when drivers, team bosses and cars were gathered on the grid for the countdown to the race). The bent Jones car was jacked up and covered. The ORF also got itself into a lot of trouble with its decision to impose a broadcast boycott on the home GP. Because the TV bosses were unable to reach an agreement with the organizer and Bernie Ecclestone on contractual matters, the broadcaster showed a motorcycle race at the same time instead. TV customers howl and the ORF's phone lines collapse due to the flood of complaints.
M1 Procar: Wild races in Austria and Holland
After shooting star Hans-Georg Bürger, his former Renault 5-Cup buddy Markus Höttinger puts on the next mega show in front of his own audience at the Österreichring.
The youngster battles with Jacques Laffite for the M1 victory and is only narrowly defeated in the end. Didier Pironi completes the podium. Bürger, for his part, took the opportunity of a second start in one of the M1 works cars, fought a thrilling duel with Manfred Winkelhock for fifth place and was narrowly defeated in the end. Things are even wilder than at the Ö-Ring in Zandvoort, where the M1 Procar crowd is about to take part in the next race as part of the Formula 1 supporting program. There are plenty of scuffles, slips and a heavy downpour, which results in an interruption and restart. After adding up both parts of the race, Hans Joachim Stuck wins for the first time in the Cassani team's Uher M1 ahead of Jacques Laffite in the works car and Manfred Winkelhock in the private M1. For Höttinger, de Angelis and Bleekemolen as well as other M1 heroes, the Zandvoort outing ends in the catch fences. The trio of Lauda (63 points), Regazzoni (61) and Stuck (53) arrive at the finale in Monza with their title chances intact, the rest are out of contention. A brand new BMW M1 awaits the overall winner as a reward.
Formula 2 European Championship: Marc Surer with a better end to the title fight
The last two European Championship races put extreme strain on the nerves of the title trio Brian Henton (GB, Ralt-Hart), Marc Surer (CH, March-BMW) and Eddie Cheever (USA, Osella-BMW). Surer and Cheever left Misano tied on points with Brian Henton (Ralt-Hart) one point behind. At the grand finale in Donington, the Briton and the Swiss destroyed their cars in practice - both in the same corner. Surer then did the coolest job in the race, rushed Henton into a spin and secured the coveted F2 European Championship title with a two-point lead. Cheever crashed to fourth place in the championship with no points. Surer's closing words: "Now I want to be in Formula 1."
Formula 3 DM: Bürger's great Zolder show
Young star Hans-Georg Bürger from Welschbillig is rushing from success to success. Two weeks after the BMW M1 gala in Hockenheim, the Formula 3 championship leader shone again with a mega performance in Zolder. The fact that Bürger lost the dramatic battle against the elite F3 drivers Michael Bleekemolen and Kenny Acheson by a few seconds in the end and finished second does not detract in the slightest from the positive picture surrounding the young man from the Eifel. Tied on points with title favorite Mike Korten, Bürger leaves the Belgian race track with two races still to be completed. Prior to that, the shooting star had also finished on the podium in the DRM as the best naturally aspirated driver in the GS-BMW 320 alongside Hans Heyer (Ford Capri Turbo) and Manfred Winkelhock (BMW 320 Turbo). "We'll be keeping a very close eye on the youngster," BMW Sports Director Jochen Neerpasch told journalists. And his assistant Dieter Stappert adds: "The lad reminds me a lot of Jo Siffert, both visually and as a fighter."
In a nutshell
New divisional victories in the racing championship for Klaus Ludwig (Porsche 935 Turbo) and Hans Heyer (Ford Capri Turbo) in Zolder ++ Home win for Finns Markku Alen (Fiat 131 Abarth) and Ari Vatanen (Ford Escort RS) at the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland. Björn Waldegaard (S, Ford Escort) finishes third and remains WRC leader ++ Röhrl/Geistdörfer (Fiat 131) also win the Bayerwald Rally, which counts towards the DM, while Hainbach/Fabisch (Ford Escort RS) continue to score points inconspicuously and thus remain at the top of the standings ++ Rolf Stommelen wins the Interseries race on the Ulm-Leipheim airfield circuit in a Porsche 908. In the same race, Hans Georg Bürger (Ralt-Toyota) wins ahead of Swiss driver Bruno Eichmann (Argo-BMW).
