Heats
1968 Zolder 
1967 Nurburgring  Go 1969 Nurburgring 
1968 Spa 
Back to index page

Grosser Preis der Tourenwagen

Nürburgring Nordschleife, BRD

Date: 7/7/1968
Track length: 22.835 m
Attendance: unknown
Entries accepted: > 130
Starters: 93
Finishers: unknown

Pole position: Pon in 9.40,7
Fastest lap: Kelleners in 9.36,6

Distance: 6 hours
Average speed: 135,5 kmh
Weather:
Ruleset: Group 5/68
Car info: 1968 Cars

Pictures

A fine entry this race. A new works Abarth was brought for Goedemans and Hezemans - but it did not handle well, even after the springs of Goedemans’ own car were used. Finally, they would start in the SRT car, which had been a cool 20 seconds faster.

Swart had his troubles too: the Jolly Club truck, in which Swart’s works car was brought to Germany, was too high for the viaduct - and unfortunately, Ed’s car was on the first stock, at the front... the roof was peeled off like a sardine tin, so Sally Swart’s dry comment was: “Oh well, just drive it like that, the wetter is fine anyway...”. After repairs, the handling was not very good, and the engine was down on power. So the engine was replaced, and since the track was already closed Ed and mechanic Karel drove out on the countryside of the Eiffel, 8500 rpm in fourth - until they met a flock of sheep, blocking the road. Luckily, the car stopped in time.

BMW entered two cars, Alan Mann brought two Escort TC’s, and a flock of Porsches and Alfa Romeos rounded of the entry.

Fastest in practice was Pon, in the black and yellow Chiquita-banana sponsored Porsche 911 nicknamed “The Banana Boat”.

He led the first lap, with Kelleners in his orange Porsche on his tail. Surprisingly, both works BMW’s were close as well, and after Kelleners had taken the lead, Hahne passed Pon too. The handling of the banana boat had deteriorated obviously, but no-one knew why. They kept going, and since the leading Porsche retired they were still heading for third, behind the two BMW’s - but Fröhlich could not keep up with the pace of the Swedish Porsche of Gunnarson/Rothstein.

The leading BMW dropped back to enable a photo-finish, with Porsche third and fourth. The fragile Alfa Romeo GTA/SA finished 5th in the hands of Casoni/Vaccarella, the Broadspeed Escort GT won the 1300 cc class, Henne/Basche won the 1600 cc class, after the Escort TC’s both retired.

Goedemans and Hezemans won the 1000 cc class, but not without drama. Goedemans tried to keep ahead of the Broadspeed 1300 GT, but he went off and damaged the car. It was repaired, and Hezemans took over, nearly a lap down on “Pam”. But the Abarth “Pam” did not start after a pit stop and was wheeled away, leaving the class victory to the Dutch duo. The 850 class finally was won by Swart and Zanetti.


Division 1, 2 and 3
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out
1 1/1 10  
BMW 2002		 Hubert Hahne, D
Dieter Quester, A
(David Hobbs, GB)
 1990 L4 Div. 3/2500 36 3 9.45,9    
2 2/2 9  
BMW 2002		 Kurt Ahrens, D
Dieter Quester, A
 1990 L4 Div. 3/2500 36 5 9.49,0    
3 3/3 19  
Porsche 911 L		 Sven-Olof "Esso" Gunnarsson, S
Björn Rothstein, S
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 36 8 9.51,8    
4 4/4 12  
Porsche 911 L		 Dieter Fröhlich, D
Ben Pon, NL
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 36 1 9.40,7    
5 5/5 26 Alfa Romeo Deutschland
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA-SA		 Mario Casoni, I
Nino Vaccarella, I
 1570 s/c L4 Div. 3/2500 35 13      
6 6/6 15  
Porsche 911 L		 Erwin Kremer, D
Willi Kauhsen, D
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 35 9 9.56,3    
7 7/7    
Porsche 911		 Terry Hunter, GB
Roy Pierpoint, GB
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 34        
8 8/8    
Porsche 911		 Helmut Klocke, D
Braun
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 34        
9 1/1 60 Team Broadspeed/Bristol Street Group
Ford Escort 1300 GT		 Chris Craft, GB
Roger Clark, GB
 1298 L4 Div. 2/1300 34        
10 2/2 59 Team Broadspeed
Ford Escort 1300 GT		 John Fitzpatrick, GB
Trevor Taylor, GB
 1298 L4 Div. 2/1300 34   10.17,9    
11 3/3 75 Jolly Club Milano
Lancia Fulvia 1.3 HF		 Carlo Facetti, I
Enrico Pinto, I
 1296 V4 Div. 2/1300 34        
12 4/1 50  
BMW 1600/2		 Bernd Henne, D
Detlef Basche, D
 1600 L4 Div. 2/1600 34        
13 5/4 54  
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior		 Toni Brenn, D
Dieter Gleich, D
 1290 L4 Div. 2/1300 33        
14 6/5 61 Cooper Car Co.
BMC Mini Cooper S		 John Rhodes, GB
Gordon Spice, GB
 1293 L4 Div. 2/1300 33   10.17,1    
15 7/2    
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA		 Friedhelm Theissen, D
Günther Selbach, D
 1570 L4 Div. 2/1600 33        
16 1/1 106 SRT Holland
Abarth 1000 TC		 Ab Goedemans, NL
Toine Hezemans, NL
 982 L4 Div. 1/1000 33   10.22,8    
17 9/9    
Porsche 911		 Karl Niggermeyer, D
Brügmann, D
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 33        
18 8/6    
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior		 Josef von Kerckerinck, D
Michael Kranefuss, D
 1290 L4 Div. 2/1300 33        
19 9/7    
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior		 Jacques Demoulin, B
Jean-Marie Jacquemin, B
 1290 L4 Div. 2/1300 33        
20 2/2 96 British Vita Racing
Morris Mini Cooper S 970		 Alec Poole, IRL
(Roger Enever, GB)
John Handley, GB
 999 L4 Div. 1/1000 32        
21 3/1 113  
Abarth 850 TC		 Ed Swart, NL
Maurizio Zanetti, I
 847 L4 Div. 1/850 31        
22 4/3 104 Caltex Racing Germany?
NSU 1000 TTS		 Peter Wisskirchen, D
Gerd Knözinger, D
 996 L4 Div. 1/1000 31        
23 5/4 108  
Morris Mini Cooper S 970		 Robin Searle, GB
Terry Nichols, GB
 999 L4 Div. 1/1000 30        
24 6/5 102 Caltex Racing Germany?
NSU 1000 TTS		 Ekkehard Schimpf, D
Müller
 996 L4 Div. 1/1000 30        
CL 1    
Ford Mustang		 Klaus Fritzinger, D
Meer, D
   V8 Div, 3/+2500 28        
CL 3    
BMW 1600		 K. Reimer, D
U. Moller, D
 1600 L4 Div. 2/1600          
CL 2? 116  
Saab 96 Sport		 Lars Thaung, S
Sigvard Johansson, S
 841 L3 Div. 1/850          
CL 3?    
Steyr-Puch 650 TR		 Wilfried Menden, D
Schmid, D
 692 B2 Div. 1/850 28        
CL 4? 127  
BMW 700		 Heinz-Josef Derichs, D
Udo Neumöck, D
 697 B2 Div. 1/850          
CL 5? 125  
BMW 700		 Heinz-Jürgen Grewe, D
Gerd Westermann, D
 697 B2 Div. 1/850          
    23?  
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA		 Hans-Dieter Dechent, D
"Axel Sommer", D
 1570 L4 Div. 2/1600   14      
       
Abarth 1000 TC		 Marsilio Pasotti ("Pam"), I
Sandro Uberti, I
 982 L4 Div. 1/1000          
    129  
Steyr-Puch 650 TR		 Rolf Kienen, D
Ernst Jüntgen, D
 692 B2 Div. 1/850          
    2 Fixo-Flex Sports Team
Mercedes 300 SE		 Alfred Katz ("Fred Cats"), D
Kurt Geiss, D
 2996 L6 Div. 3/+2500          
       
BMW 1600		 Unknown
 1600 L4 Div. 2/1600          
       
BMW 1600		 Unknown
 1600 L4 Div. 2/1600          
      Caltex Racing Germany
NSU 1000 TTS		 Unknown
 996 L4 Div. 1/1000          
      John Aley
BMC Mini		 ? John Aley, GB
 848 L4 Div. 1/850         Clutch
       
Steyr-Puch 650 TR		 Unknown
 692 B2 Div. 1/850          
       
Steyr-Puch 650 TR		 Unknown
 692 B2 Div. 1/850          
    126 Vereinigung Süddeutscher Automobilsportler
Steyr-Puch 650 TR		 Franz Eichhammer, D
Hannes Haering, D
 692 B2 Div. 1/850          
    128 Squadra Piloti Bardahl
Honda S 600		 Jean Claude Ehinger, CH
James-Bernard Fortmann, CH
 606 L4 Div. 1/850          
DNF   37 Alan Mann Racing?
Ford Cortina Mk 2 Lotus		 Frans Lubin, NL
Unknown
 1594 L4 Div. 2/1600          
DNF     Frami Racing Holland
Morris Mini 850		 George Cayley, GB
Roger Heavens, GB
 848 L4 Div. 1/850          
DNF     Team Broadspeed
Ford Anglia		 Brian Robinson, GB
Yvette Fontaine, B
 997 L4 Div. 1/1000         Oil tank
DNF   20  
Porsche 911 L		 Helmut Kelleners, D
Jürgen Neuhaus, D
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500 36 2 9.45,2   Engine
DNF   31  
BMW 2002		 Gunther Huber, A
Nicolas Koob, L
 1990 L4 Div. 3/2500   11 9.59,6   Accident
DNF     Jolly Club Milano
Lancia Fulvia 1.3 HF		 Claudio Maglioli, I
Sandro Munari, I
 1296 V4 Div. 2/1300          
DNF   44 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA		 Teodoro Zeccoli, I
Giorgio Pianta, I
 1570 L4 Div. 2/1600   16 ca. 10.06    
DNF   51? Alfa Romeo Deutschland
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA-SA		 Lucien Bianchi, B
Herbert Schultze, D
 1570 s/c L4 Div. 3/2500 ca. 15 6 9.51,0   Fuel leak
DNF   36 Alan Mann Racing
Ford Escort TC		 Frank Gardner, AUS
Dieter Glemser, D
 1594 L4 Div. 2/1600   10 9.58,8   Front suspension
DNF      
BMW 2002		 Ernst Furtmayr, D
Dieter Basche, D
 1990 L4 Div. 3/2500   7 9.51,3    
DNF      
Porsche 911		 Rico Steinemann, CH
Bill Bradley, GB
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500         Electrics
DNF      
Porsche 911		 Arthur Blank, CH
Fritz Baumann, CH
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500          
DNF      
Porsche 911		 Ferfried von Hohenzollern, D
Malte Huth, D
 1991 B6 Div. 3/2500         Piston
DNF     Alfa Romeo Deutschland
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA-SA		 Giovanni "Nanni" Galli, I
Ignazio Giunti, I
? Herbert Schultze, D
 1570 s/c L4 Div. 3/2500   4 9.48,4    
DNF     Cooper Car Co.
BMC Mini Cooper S		 Steve Neal, GB
Paddy Hopkirk, IRL
 1293 L4 Div. 2/1300         Clutch
DNF      
BMC Mini Cooper S		 Gerry Marshall, GB
Terry Finegan, GB
 1293 L4 Div. 2/1300         Accident
DNF      
Abarth		 Urs Dietrich, CH
Eric Chapuis, F
   L4 Div. 1          
DNF     Alan Mann Racing
Ford Escort TC		 Peter Arundell, GB
Brian Muir, AUS
 1594 L4 Div. 2/1600     ca. 10.13   Head gasket
DNF      
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA		 Giampiero Biscaldi, I
Toni Fischhaber, D
 1570 L4 Div. 2/1600          
DNF     British Vita Racing
Morris Mini Cooper S 970		 John Handley, GB
Christian Schmarje, D
 999 L4 Div. 1/1000         Ignition, DQ after repairs
DNS?      
BMW 2000		 ? Peter Hoffmann, D
Helmut Marko, A
 1990 L4 Div. 3/2500          
DNS?      
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA		 Giancarlo Baghetti, I
? Giuliano Facetti, I
 1570 L4 Div. 2/1600