On site at the Ennstal Classic 2011 - celebrities and slow gear
07/17/2011
The dog was off the air yesterday(see blog entry from July 14, 2011 for explanations), it was "imperial weather" in Grödming. This also pleased "Emperor Robert Heinrich I" alias Robert Palfrader (Austria's most popular comedy star), who was chauffeured by "Seyffenstein" through the numerous spectators.
Many celebrities were present on the last day of the Ennstal Classic 2011. Sir Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell, Maria Teresa de Filippis, Marc Surer and Jochen Mass represented the guild of Grand Prix drivers. Nigel Mansell was full of praise for the Ennstal Classic and also expressed his admiration for his greatest idol Stirling Moss and for the Grand Prix drivers of previous generations who operated at the limit without helmets or seatbelts.
Sir Stirling Moss, who maneuvered a Ferrari 750 Monza around the circuit, simply said that seat belts would bind the driver to the car and that it used to be better to fall out of the vehicle in the event of an accident.
Maria de Filippis, the first woman to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix (Belgian GP in a Maserati in 1958), had herself driven around the circuit in an open-top Maserati sports car.
Nanni Galli drove the 1972 Tecno Formula 1 with V12 engine, a beautiful but unsuccessful monoposto, around the short circuit in Grödming.
Marc Surerpiloted a BMW 328 Mille Miglia through the numerous spectators.
A visibly cheerful Dieter Quester enjoyed a dip in the crowd and then drove a Borgward 1500 RS through Grödming.
Jochen Mass struggled with the Mercedes Simplex, which was difficult to drive, and worked up quite a sweat in the process.
Nigel Mansell let the Porsche 908 roar around the circuit.
For once, Rauno Aaltonen had the opportunity to drive a Triumph TR 2 rather than a Mini Cooper and was clearly delighted.
Ulrich Bez also took the opportunity to swap his seat in the older Aston Martin sports car for the modern Vantage V12 Zagato for the demonstration laps. And Roland Asch drove a DTM car from the past.
After the celebrities, it was the turn of the Ennstal Classis participants to take on the last 1.2 km. However, some of the classic car drivers would have preferred to drive another 300 or 400 km instead of sitting around in the queue waiting for the start.
There was almost a photo finish at the end. The victory of this year's Ennstal went to father and daughter Alois/Birgit Heidenbauer (the picture shows them together with Nigel Mansell and organizer Michael Glöckner) in their beautiful yellow Dino 246 GT from 1971.
