At the second round of the Touring Car Classics, the historic racers from the DTM and STW met up with the current cars from the modern DTM at the Eurospeedway Lausitz on the weekend of August 14-16, 2020.
The drivers of the two series raced their second race weekend on the circuit between Berlin and Dresden virtually undisturbed by each other.
After the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix, the teams had to move on "bang on". Just seven days after the event in the Eifel, Touring Car Classics gathered at the Lausitzring as part of the German Touring Car Masters (DTM). The fact that these two dates were so close together was anything but convenient, but is due to the revision of the DTM calendar as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Nevertheless, an illustrious field of starters came together again at the Lausitzring to revive the good old days of touring car racing in two extremely strong races.
Not spared
And the racers from the old German Touring Car Championship were not spared. In fact, the original cars from the golden era of the series were pushed to the limit in many cases - just like in the past - i.e. the engines, chassis and tires were pushed to the limit.
Before the weekend, 32 vehicles were on the start list. However, only about half of the cars started the practice session. 15 guest starters from the Polish BMW 318is Cup were refused entry to the races by scrutineering due to a lack of valid certificates for the roll cages.
In contrast, Markus Wüstefeld's start in his Mercedes-Benz 190 E from the 1993 season was pleasing. The Mercedes driver from Duderstadt last competed in the Touring Car Classic together with Klaus Ludwig in 2017.
In addition, Nico and Herbert Wittmann, father and brother of two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann, competed again in the original BMW M3 E30, which was once driven by Dieter Quester.
Golden era without spectators
In the free practice sessions as well as in qualifying on the small circuit in Brandenburg - in contrast to the Nürburgring (Rhineland-Palatinate), unfortunately no spectators were allowed - the focus of the teams and drivers was on finding the right set-up for the narrow circuit. The hot temperatures not only demanded a lot from the technology, but also from the people. However, the racing drivers, some of whom were no longer very young, were better able to cope with the sweltering Lausitz than the technology.
In the Golden Era race, Gerhard Füller and Otto Rensing initially fought a duel worth seeing. As at the Nürburgring, Gerhard Füller prevailed in the end in his STW Opel Vectra from the 1998 season and won the race with a lead of around 45 seconds. Marc Sessing had a particularly good race on Saturday. Starting from eighth position, he crossed the finish line in second place. Otto Rensing finished third in the ex Zakspeed BMW M3 entered by 2.0 Automotive.
Kris Nissen was also pleased with fourth place, although the TicTac BMW M3 E30 suffered a broken axle in qualifying. Team Feierabend worked flat out to repair it. They were assisted by Team Derichs, who were able to weld the axle. Fourth place was the reward for the great efforts of all the mechanics. Harry Bryzmann, who has been plagued by many technical defects in the past, was also applauded by everyone when he crossed the finish line.
Moritz Horn and Marc Hessel, on the other hand, had less luck in the Golden Era race. The fuel pump fuse on the Alpina BMW M3 E30 blew shortly before the end of the race. After the race, the mechanics from 2.0 Automotive discovered that his team-mate Marc Hessel had suffered major differential damage. Both drivers were faced with the question of whether they should call it a weekend or whether they should make an effort to still be able to start in the main race.
Both drivers, team boss Sebastian Küppers and his mechanics decided to go for it. The TWC series sponsor and technical partner Drexler Automotive stood by its customer on Saturday night and opened the warehouse after Sebastian Küppers and TWC driver Bernd Knoch from Munich reeled off another 1600 km together at night to get the urgently needed spare part. In the end, the mission on Sunday failed due to a small technical detail that nobody could have foreseen. As bitter as the outcome was, it demonstrated once again how the Touring Car Classics family sticks together.
Retirement of Grohs, victory for Rensing in the ProAm
Otto Rensing won the ProAm race on Sunday ahead of Markus Wüstefeld and Kris Nissen.
The Mercedes driver started the race on Dunlop tires and was able to exploit this advantage towards the end of the race. These had even more grip in the final laps than those of his rivals.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria finished a respectable seventh in the GS Team Signal Iduna BMW M3 E30, after he too had been dogged by bad luck in the past.
Harald Grohs, on the other hand, dropped out of the Golden Era race and was unable to start on Sunday after a technical defect.
In Assen with spectators?
From September 4 to 9, the Touring Car Classics will take place in Assen in the Netherlands for its third round. Provided the coronavirus infection figures do not rise in this region, 10,000 spectators will be able to visit the track and enjoy two exciting races when the motto is "The good old times are coming back".
