Record under 10 minutes!
The record set 60 years ago on August 6, 1966, at the Nürburgring was a sensation. And it wasn't set during the Formula 1 German Grand Prix that afternoon, but rather in the supporting race for touring cars. Hubert Hahne from Moers, then 31 years old, was the first to break the 10-minute barrier on the Nordschleife: the clock stopped at 9:58.6 minutes for the German Touring Car Champion in his BMW 2000 ti.
This made him almost as fast as Bernd Rosemeyer had been 30 years earlier, when, on July 26, 1936, he became the first race car driver to break the 10-minute mark at the Ring in an Auto Union Type C. But while Rosemeyer was driving with more than 520 PS back then, Hahne had a mere 190. And he was driving a production-spec model that differed only slightly from the version he sold to his customers as a BMW dealer.
It was a golden year for Hahne, who didn't start racing until 1960 and retired as early as 1970. In addition to setting the record, he became European Touring Car Champion that same year and, together with Jacky Ickx, won the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. His subsequent move to Formula 2 led to a runner-up finish in the 1969 European Championship.
