GT One

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More from the archives, this time back to 1999 and the finale of the first season of the American Le Mans Series. No problem with car counts in the last century, 43 racers took the Green Flag at Laguna Seca. Making a one off international appearance was the Sintura-Judd S99 in the hands of Richard Dean and Kurt Luby. The designer, Phil Bourne, is still active at the races but the car disappeared into the ether when GT1 was killed off. A 9th place finish on the Monterey Peninsula gave a hint of the car’s potential.

John Brooks, December 2012

Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong ?

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The past is a foreign land never to be visited again, the memory frequently plays tricks, often at odds with reality. When I think back to Le Mans 1980 I conjure up an image of awful weather and Jean Rondeau taking a popular, but unlikely, victory. Scanning in a recently discovered batch of negatives, I find that for the most part it was sunny. Maybe during the rain I was in the bar with my old mate, Box, rather than trackside…………..plus ça change.

Here as the shadows lengthen along the Main Straight, the WM P 79/80 of Max Mamers and Jean-Daniel Raulet leads the pre-race favourite Porsche 908/80 of Jacky Ickx and Reinhold Jöst. The former would finish eleventh, the latter second.

The 908/80 was a bit of mongrel, a consequence of the Top Brass at Porsche decreeing that the three time Le Mans winning 936 be put into retirement, largely as reaction to the shellacking they received from Renault in 1978. A number of 936 spare parts were “liberated” from Weissach and appeared in Jöst’s workshop. There a new car was assembled but to tow the corporate line it was designated the 908/80, to simple folk like me it was a 936……………quack, quack and all that.

Virtually nothing remains of this scene just 32 years later, with everything changing in 1991 when the new pits were finished. The Gendarmes have also largely disappeared from the stadium area, a pity as they added an authentic Gallic flavour to the proceedings.

John Brooks, December 2012

Zakspeedy

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Today’s trawl into the past features a race I had forgotten that I had even attended. Back in July 1980 the organisers of the recently revived Donington Park came up with the cunning plan of getting the fabulous DRM series to cross the North Sea and entertain the masses. Like many cunning plans this did not take into account that the preceding round of the DRM was at Norisring, and even by that track’s standards it was something of a crash-fest.

Still Zakspeed brought over three examples of their Ford Capri Turbo and we were all mightily impressed. The winner that day was a man I still bump into at the races, Klaus Ludwig.  A three time winner of both the Le Mans and Nürburgring 24 races and a multiple Touring Car Champion, he was one of the top drivers in the latter part of the last century.

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, some things never change, I believe it was the wrong kind of beer.

John Brooks, December 2012

A Wet Moggie

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December is upon us, so the mood is definitely that of hibernation. The office has been cleared up a tad and both scanners are now up and running with the latest Silverfast 8.0 software. Just playing around with some old negatives but here is a Morgan back on 10th May 1982 at the Silverstone 6 Hours. The Plus 8 was driven by Bruce Stapleton, Bill Wykeham and Richard Down in a typically wet endurance race. They completed 177 laps and finished 15th overall, 4th in class.

I must have been bonkers to be standing out in the deluge.

John Brooks, November 2012

Highlights of the Footman James Classic Motor Show

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Our Special Correspondent went to Birmingham for the recent Classic Motor Show, here are some of the gems that he found.

1899 Decauville

This little Voiturelle is important in motoring history as it has independent front suspension, the first known example of i.f.s. on a petrol car. As can be seen, it has a transverse leaf spring operating on sliding pillars. Strangely there is no rear suspension and it is  powered by two De Dion singles on a common crankcase.

1951 Allard P1 saloon

It was no surprise to find P1 saloons on the Allard stand because this year is the 60th anniversary of Sydney Allard’s win with a P1 saloon in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally, the only time the event has been won by a driver in a car of his own construction. This model was Allard’s best seller, 559 being made between 1949-1952.

It was powered by the familiar 3.6-litre side-valve V8 as used by Ford in the Pilot and even inherited this car’s steering–column gear change. The successful rally car had a 4.4-litre Mercury V8.

Morris Six

From the same era comes this Morris Six, the largest of the three completely new Morris cars introduced at the first post-war Motor Show at Earl’s Court in 1948. The sensation was of course Issigonis’s Morris Minor but a first for the make was that all three newcomers (the other was the Oxford) had independent front suspension – away with the cart springs at last! – in their case by torsion bars. Whereas the two smaller models still relied on rather gutless old side-valve units , the Six was given a new 6-cylinder overhead camshaft 2.2 litre motor which it shared with its Nuffield stablemate, the Wolseley 6/80.

Ford Pilot

The Pilot was Ford’s post-war version of their pre-war V8 and it suffered from the same antiquated chassis design – hence the transverse leaf spring suspension on solid axles. One concession to modernity was the currently popular steering-column gear change but it still operated on only a 3-speed box. The Pilot was nevertheless a tough machine and they built 22,000 of them before the arrival of the completely new Consul and Zephyr range at Earl’s Court in 1950 with their trend-setting MacPherson independent front suspension. This also spelt the end for the famous flat-head side-valve V8 in the private car range from Dagenham (but not at Ford-France) although updated V8s were to be the staple diet in America for decades – Fords were the first to make over 100 million of them!


Daimler SP252

By the mid-Fifties Daimler was being confronted with an ever-changing market for which the Century and faster Century Conquest models had been produced; the works had cast these into the likes of the Monte Carlo, Alpine and R.A.C. rallies to help generate a more modern image for the traditional marque. This led to the introduction of a two-seater sports car, the SP250 , the heart of which was the superb Edward Turner-designed V8 engine. By 1960 Jaguar had swallowed up Daimler in its entirety and produced a mechanically improved SP250 so naturally the engineers started to play around with possible successors. One line of thought was this SP252 , just two examples of which were made. Lyons himself apparently had some input to the styling but he didn’t like the final outcome and this killed off the project, especially when it was realised that such a car would be more expensive to produce and this would take it into E-Type territory.


Morris Family Eight

This is a rare car! William Morris had introduced his Minor at Olympia in 1928 as his answer to the Austin Seven. It had a Wolseley-designed overhead camshaft engine (Morris had bought the ailing Wolseley company in 1927) but by 1931 had replaced this unit with a cheaper to produce and maintain side–valve motor.

For 1932 two longer wheelbase models were added, the Eight Sports Coupé and this Family Eight, both of which retained the old overhead camshaft engine. Production was short-lived, probably until supplies of the older unit ran out.


Triumph Gloria

Donald Healey joined Triumph in September 1933 as their Technical Director and with his competition background managed to persuade the Board to enter seven of the new Gloria models for the 1934 Monte Carlo Rally in the January. They included three specially built Gloria four-seat Tourers with lightened chassis, all aluminium bodies, a 17-gallon tank and twin spare wheels. KV6906 was driven by John Beck Jr and Reg Tanner. Starting in Tallin in Estonia they arrived in Monte Carlo in 10th place on the Light Car class, finishing 27th overall (Healey came 3rd). All seven Triumphs finished.

The car’s Coventry-Climax engine. It had a capacity of 1087 c.c. and had overhead inlet and side exhaust valves.


Lea Francis 12h.p.

The 12 h.p. Lea Francis (actually 12.9 h.p.) was introduced in 1937. This car was shown at the Earl’s Court Show in 1938 and was one of three made with Corsica bodies. One of the company’s agents, Charles Follett, used a similar car with a stripped body to win “The Second August Long Handicap Race” at the August Brooklands Meeting in 1938 .

Aston Martin 15/98

You don’t often see 4-door Aston Martins although they did offer four doors on their first T-type series, an example being on their stand at the 1928 Olympia Show. This is a Bertelli-bodied car built on the long chassis to accommodate the extra doors; 50 such chassis were constructed. The 15/98 cars were powered by the 2-litre overhead camshaft engine.


1939 Triumph Dolomite 14/65 Roadster

By the mid-Thirties it was Triumph policy to move away from making small cars – they lacked the production facilities to compete with Austin, Ford and Morris – and to move up market to compete with the likes of Riley, Alvis and SS, at the same time playing down their more sporting image. After using Coventry Climax engines, Healey designed a new family of OHV Triumph 4- and 6-cylinder motors  which were used in the Vitesse and Dolomite ranges.

This Dolomite, with its controversial “waterfall” grille copied from the 1936 Hudson, was typical  of the company’s production just before the war. For those who did not like the brashness of this Dolomite grille, Triumph offered the 2-litre Continental model with the traditional grille from the Vitesse.


Rover 75
The Rover 75 and 60 were the company’s first new models after the war. Similar in looks to the later pre-war cars, these P3 series cars were very different under the skin. They had completely new overhead inlet and side exhaust valve engines, 6 cylinders for the 75, 4 for the 60 and forthcoming Land-Rover, and, for the first time on a Rover, independent front suspension using the André-Girling system already used on the pre-war Lanchester Roadrider.


Bentley R-Type Continental

Introduced at the Motor Show in 1951, this original version of the Bentley Continental has to be among the most beautiful cars ever made. Most of the R-Types were given this exquisite body by coachbuilder H.J.Mulliner.

 

David Blumlein, November 2012

A Very Classic Car Show

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To Birmingham’s NEC with The Special Correspondent for the 2012 Footman James Classic Car Show. The Show has expanded this year to fill even more halls and the extra space is very welcome.

Of course it being the NEC there are always a few issues………….the lighting in the exhibition halls remains sub-standard and arguably in breach of Health & Safety legislation, and the level of grumpiness shown by those unfortunate to travel to Birmingham by car was at an all time high. Tales of 45 minutes to get parked at the facility were common, not excusable at such a venue. On the other side of the ledger, those of us arriving by train were greeted by an enthusiastic bunch of staff, who cheerfully steered us all the way to the other side of the site. One could not fault that welcome, so credit where credit is due, more to the point the staff were still there and still cheerful we came to leave.

Once inside the Show there was a bewildering array of automobile heritage, the quality of the content certainly matches any other event of its kind, anywhere. There were so many jewels to see, such as the Aston Martin Atom, a prototype built in 1939. This was the only example of the marque that David Brown drove before acquiring the company in 1947, all of the glories that followed can be traced back to this advanced car and the impression it made on DB.

While in the fullness of time out Special Correspondent will produce one of his Rare and Interesting pieces I propose to have a quick look at what was on offer that caught my eye. A car that represented a significant step in the German Auto industry was to be found on the Audi stand. The work of Paul Jaray back in the ’20s inspired Ferdinand Porsche when designing the Wanderer Type 8.

Porsche would develop the aerodynamically efficient shape when producing one of his masterpieces, the Volkswagen. Jaray’s Ugly Duckling turned into a swan.

The Coventry Transport Museum’s collection provided another pioneering vehicle, the Ferguson R4 Prototype. Harry Ferguson designed a four wheel drive system back in the early ’50s, it featured independent suspension and Dunlop disk brakes and Maxaret anti locking device, all very advanced for the time.

The backbone of the Classic Car Show is the support provided by the car clubs. Stand after stand featured great cars backed up by real enthusiasm and deep knowledge of those manning the exhibition. Questions, no matter how basic, were generally answered with patience and good humour. So while virtually all the stands had something to interest there were some that I preferred to others. A tad Orwellian I suppose, all exhibits are equal but some are more equal than others…….Bugatti for instance had several fine cars, all promoting the scene at Prescott…………….from the early days to the present.

The Maserati stand also had a nice bunch of cars, I have always been a fan of the Trident, even more so since visiting the factory a few years back.

Strange, but Ferrari does not appeal to me in the same way, though who could resist this Dino?

This gorgeous Continental was the pride of the Bentley/Rolls Royce stand.

One strange trend that was more common than might have been expected was adorn a “barn find” with some straw…………..what this achieved was anyone’s guess.

And of course the trend was taken to the next level with a string of onions draped on a Citroën Traction Avant……………..no stereotypes here then, no none at all……………..what next we hesitate to enquire?

There were a few competition cars at the Show, mainly sportscars such as the Jaguar XJ220 that won its class at Le Mans in 1993 but was subsequently disqualified, a casualty in the long running conflict between TWR boss, Tom Walkinshaw, and Alain Bertaut of the ACO.

No such problems afflicted the Aston Martin DBR9 in 2007, with a convincing GT1 class win.

Less successful was this TVR, first retirement in the 1962 race.

Shows such as this always throw up a few oddities, who could resist a chance to sit in a truck used by the Great Train Robbers?

Try explaining Del Boy to an American, eh Rodders?

And this optional extra for all aspiring Bond villains would prove very tempting on the M25 morning commute.

Candidate for the worst colour scheme on display………this Lea Francis Lynx, representing the end of the line for the marque.

The 2012 Footman James Classic Car Show was another resounding success and if you have even a sniff of petrol in your veins you should seriously consider making the trip in 2013, I will be there certainly.

Here is a gallery of images, please excuse the weird colour in some shots, them pesky lights again.

John Brooks, November 2012

 

 

 

The Paris Salon

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Our Special Correspondent has been across the English Channel to Paris for the Motor Show.

The Paris Motor Show, Le Salon de l’Automobile, first took place on the esplanade of the Tuileries in 1898. It then took up residence at the newly-constructed Grand Palais in 1901 and stayed there until 1961. The need for a larger display area meant a move in 1962 to the exhibition halls at the Porte de Versailles where, since 1976, it is held biennially to this day. In 1988 the name was changed to the “ Mondial de l’Automobile”.

Here are some images of the 2012 Mondial:

This is the new Jaguar F-type with its hood in place. It did not create the same sensation as did the XK120 at Earl’s Court in 1948!


A view of the McLaren stand:


The new P1 was jealously guarded – even special guests invited on to the stand were not allowed to get too near!

Toyota was proudly displaying their TS030 Hybrid after its first victory at Sao Paulo – the winner’s trophy can be seen on the right at the back in its cabinet.

In total contrast this welcome Mini  Clubvan was tucked away at the back of the large Mini stand not noticed by most visitors:

We have not seen a Clio Estate before and this new variation will not be coming apparently to the UK – pity!

But we’ve seen hot Clios before and this is the Regie’s latest offering:

Rolls-Royce had nothing new to show this time but this stunning blue Ghost still attracted plenty of admiring glances:

The Bentley Continental GT Speed has a W12 engine that gives 625 b.h.p. which is good enough for 205 m.p.h.

This is the first appearance of Bentley’s GT3 racer which is already over a tonne lighter than its road-going counterpart; for example, the weight of a door for the normal Continental is 54kg, on the GT3 it weighs only 7kg!


Peugeot showed a hotter version of the RCZ – the RCZR:

This is the Renault 1.6-litre engine for the base model in the new Mercédès A-Class:

TAILPIECE


De Dion Bouton – one of the big and influential names at the dawn of motoring. This is a 1915 Army truck, notice the Solex Circular radiator.

David Blumlein, November 2012

 

Long Days, Long Roads

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Our Special Correspondent has been out and about during the past months, here are some of the rare and interesting cars he encountered.

1930  Singer Junior Porlock

The Singer Junior was introduced at the Motor Show in 1926 and it was unusual as a light car for its time as it had an overhead camshaft engine, anticipating the Morris Minor by some three years. The four-cylinder engine was of 848 c.c. and the car was so popular that it stayed in production until 1932.

Various body styles became available and in December 1928 two Singer agents, Bill Deeley and Ernest Wood, made 100 ascents and descents in a day with a Junior Sports on the steep hill at the Somerset village of Porlock. Singer benefited from the publicity that was generated – it was quite an achievement for a small car in the late Twenties – and offered a special Porlock model to celebrate.

1935 Riley Kestrel 15/6

Riley built up an enviable reputation for racing success in the 1930s, the cars using both 4 and 6 cylinder versions of their twin high-mounted camshaft engine which first appeared in the Riley Nine Monaco saloon in 1926. However, the company ran into increasing financial difficulties through their policy, like their Coventry neighbours Triumph, of making too many different models. Despite overtures to BMW the firm was swallowed up into the Nuffield Organisation.

Only twelve of these Kestrels were made with the 6-cylinder engine.


1962 Apal Porsche 1600 Coupé

Apal, Application Polyester Armée Liège, made cars of various sorts between 1961 and 1998, mainly using fibreglass bodies on VW mechanicals – lots of beach buggies and Jeep-like vehicles (1968-1973).

However, this small Belgian company also produced some smart GT coupés, introduced at the 1961 Brussels Motor Show, which similarly relied on other sources of power: this example uses a 1600 c.c. 4-cylinder Porsche motor.

An Apal took part in the Spa 1000 km race in both 1966 and 1967.


1934  B.S.A. 3-wheeler

The Birmingham Small Arms Company, founded in 1861, grew into a major industrial combine making firearms, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses, iron castings, machine tools etc. They made motor cars from 1907-1939. In 1910 B.S.A. purchased Daimler and after the Great War production was resumed with a light car powered by a 1080 c.c. V-twin air-cooled engine.

This engine was designed by Hotchkiss et Cie of Far Gosford Street Coventry, the company having opened this branch when they feared for their St Denis factory with the German advance on Paris in 1914. It was tested in an old 1914 Morris Cowley and did well in the Land’s End Trial. When the Hotchkiss factory was bought by Morris to form Morris Engines in 1923, B.S.A. acquired the rights to the engine design and their version is here in this 3-wheeler. These little cars used front wheel drive and double transverse leaf independent front suspension similar to that introduced on the Alvis Sports in 1928.


1922 Wolseley Seven

Wolseley made Hispano-Suiza V8 aero-engines in the Great War and their overhead camshaft design influenced Wolseley’s engine design in the following decade as can be seen in the post-war 10 and 15 h.p. cars.

In total contrast was their bottom of the range high quality Seven. This had a 986 c.c. flat twin side valve engine but the car was expensive at £295 and stood no chance against the Austin Seven four-cylinder. Only about 1,000 were made in two years.


Jaguar XF-R Bonneville

In November 2008 a Jaguar XF-R arrived at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah where Paul Gentilozzi and his RocketSports team gave the car nine runs reaching 225.675 m.p.h. on the last; this beat Jaguar’s previous speed record of 217.1 m.p.h. set by the XJ 220 in 1992 and makes the car the fastest Jaguar ever. The car carried 110 kg ballast in the boot to keep it pressed to the ground and only minor adjustments were made to the all-new AJ-V8 Gen 111 supercharged engine, no internal components being changed. Similarly the 6-speed automatic gearbox was completely standard including the ratios.

David Blumlein, November 2012

 

The View from Baku

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Janos Wimpffen sends us an updated despatch from the shores of the Caspian Sea, as ever his analysis cuts straight to the chase. Having been fortunate enough to have fantastic imagery from Pedro, we are now doubly fortunate to have available from the organisers, some of David Noels’ excellent work I understand. NB the press manager, Rene de Boer, now informs me that the great images below are also the work of Raymond de Haan, so I am pleased to give credit where it is due.

Zero to 100 in a Few Days

The City Challenge GT race held in Baku, Azerbaijan on the last weekend of October may have been off the radar for many racing fans. It shouldn’t be. It was a great successful on many levels. In addition to some fine track activity, the organization and atmosphere was top notch. It should herald a new era of street circuit racing and has opened many eyes to how motorsport can expand its horizons to new markets and conversely, how some excellent corners of the globe can be exposed to the motorsport community.

Throughout the past few decades both Formula One and Sports Car Racing have been exported to ever more exotic locales. Each move has expanded the global horizons of the sport. The City Challenge race in Baku proved to be a success on a large scale, bringing top level GT racing to a local audience of tens of thousands and broad TV coverage of a new age of street circuit racing.

 

The short of it was that the pairing of Fred Makowiecki and Stef Dusseldorp scored a convincing win in the Hexis Racing McLaren MP4-12C. The 3.8-liter turbocharged supercar has proven to be formidable in these sprint settings. They had to overcome a persistent challenge from three BMWs entered by anotheroutfit regularly seen on the GT circus, the Vit4One Racing Team. The Z4 of Frank Kechele and Mathias Lauda was rarely more than a few seconds behind the eventual winners.

The past few seasons have proven to be both the best and worst of times for GT racing. The American Le Mans Series has revelled in the production based class as it has provided some of the finest contests in that championship. Apart from North America, the GT3 specification has become the global norm and many of the nationally based series using the corresponding balance of performance based rules have seen ample fields with a mix of professional and amateur drivers. However, the concept has struggled at the highest level with the FIA GT1 World and European GT3 Championships both foundering. The former, which despite the name used GT3 based machinery, was cancelled after a mediocre 2012 season.

Undaunted, the German based City Challenge company launched a new GT3 formula concept this October. They had previously been associated with FIA GT races held in downtown Bucharest, Romania, in 2007-2008, and now ran a pilot race for a potential series of an urban based championship a year or two down the road. The chosen venue this time was Baku. A quick geography lesson: it is the capital city of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus area, bordering the inland Caspian Sea.

Baku is a quite prosperous locale, currently undergoing an oil boom with a pipeline that feeds Europe. It had seen such oil riches in the days of the Rockefellers in the 19th century as well as success much earlier as a transport hub for the silk trade. As a result there is wide mix of building styles, with some spectacular new architecture. Although there is some volatility in the region (Iran borders on the south), the Turkic Azeris enjoy a very stable setting.

The short (2.4-kilometre / 1.3-mile) circuit has been laid out near the waterfront and around a complex of government and hotel buildings. It has the usual string of 90-degree bends, interspersed by a few chicanes to manage entrance speeds. The front boulevard is wide and long enough to allow the odd pass or two.

The City Challenge is more than just a motor race with a plethora of music and arts events as well such as a Cirque du Soleil like acrobatics show. Despite the wealth, the country has no motorsport heritage at all, so an event if this stature is a rapid introduction to sports car racing at the highest level. This dearth of a past has led to some odd questions from the local press such as, “how do I sign up to drive?” No, it’s not that amateur.

All of the infrastructure, expertise, and most of the teams were imported from Germany, giving the event much of the feel of the ADAC GT Masters series, currently Europe’s most successful GT3 based series. Teething glitches aside, the event proved a great success as both the local and German organizers stepped forward to put together a truly world class extravaganza.

The format of the Baku City Challenge race included five sessions that matter. These consisted of one 30-minute qualifying period for Driver One and another for Driver Two. They set the grid for a pair of half-hour sprint races, again, one for each of the assigned drivers. Saturday’s solo events were followed by the main event on Sunday, a one hour race with a mandatory pit stop and driver change.

There was also imported star power as former Grand Prix driver Jos Verstappen joined former World and IndyCar champ Jacques Villeneuve in one of the three BMW Z4s in the field. That nearly came undone when the veteran Canadian slapped the wall during one of the free practice sessions. A local welder was summoned. Dragging his equipment into pit lane with an old Lada the BMW was repaired overnight.

Indeed, this was just one example of an amazing can-do local spirit. In the weeks before the race the German organizers were concerned about the Azerbaijanis ability to construct the course. The benignly autocratic government “urged” dozens of contractors to suspend other projects and it became a 24/7 effort to install barriers and fencing. The results were top notch. One can think of many other countries where the results would have been delayed, slapdash and met with much opposition. In the end, one could sense a keen and genuine pride from the citizenry.

Returning to the race, the sharp end of the field included Franck Kechele and Matthias Lauda (Niki’s son) in one of the other Vit4One BMWs and a pair of McLarens from FIA GT champions, Hexis Racing. Another headline driver was Bernd Schneider in one of the Heico Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG gullwings. Two Corvettes, three Ferraris, and a seemingly endless string of Cup and R-type Porsches completed the 24-car entry. The word “entry” is important to remember as the unforgiving concrete walls of street courses have a tendency to eat cars.

For that reason it is not even worth mentioning the three Lamborghini Gallardos none of which even made it to the first sprint race.

Kechele, Sean Edwards (Mühlner Motorsport Porsche), and Fred Makowiecki traded the top spot in a spirited opening qualifying with the latter’s McLaren prevailing. Makowiecki’s co-driver, rising star Stef Dusseldorp, also claimed the pole for the second sprint ahead of the BMWs of Lauda and Nicholas Mayr-Melnhof.

All indications were that the races would be fought between the BMWs, the McLarens, and the Edwards Porsche as these three marques were alone in swapping the fastest times.The first sprint was hard to describe as anything but processional. Makowiecki led from green to checker with Edwards only able to close up briefly when the McLaren bobbled at one of the chicanes. There were no position changes among the top eight but at least everyone stayed on the island.

The same could not be said for the second sprint. There was some modest chaos at the start when the mid pack runners arrived at the first chicane. Some took to either side of the rumble strips while at least one Porsche launched over the miniature markers. All continued without any real contact. More important for the race there was also some jostling at the front with Lauda edging past Dusseldorp while Alvaro Parente in the other McLaren demoted the rest for a hold on second place.Just as it appeared that there would be a good four car tussle there was a collision further back between a Ferrari and a Mercedes. Both cars kept going but Giacomo Barri’s damaged 458 was spilling fluid and the following Corvette of Mitch Mitländer spun on the coolant and clouted the wall, bringing out a red flag. After a 20 minute delay the field was released for a second time. Again we looked set for a good fight but eight minutes later the remaining Corvette was involved in a far more serious incident. Jürg Aeberhard struck the wall hard at the lap ending Turn 16. The car caught fire and although the driver scrambled out safely on the passenger side the wall had been moved a good meter and debris was scattered in every direction. The race was stopped again—this time for good. As the nearest Chevrolet parts supply house is the better part of a continent away, the starting field for Sunday’s finale dwindled once more.

It seems that neither of the big American cars was able to get their tire temperatures quite hot enough. The results certainly spoke to that possibility.The grid of the one-hour feature was to have been based on the aggregate of the two sprints. However, the stoppage led to some head scratching as to rules interpretation. It was decided that due to a clause in the regulations the grid for the 60-minute run would be based on the results of the morning’s second qualifying and the first sprint. Thus the carnage filled second sprint was beside the point.

At least the large crowd was well entertained, not only by the circus and music, but also by a historic F1 race and a drifting demo.

The less damaged Corvette was repaired for Sunday and there was a driver change in the No. 66 Porsche. Team owner Timo Rumpfkeil stepped aside in favor of a rising Dutch star, Beitske Visser, who at age 18 is the youngest woman to have won GT races in her home country.

Here was the top of starting grid after it all was settled:

#17, Hexis Racing, McLaren MP4-12C, starting driver, Frederic Makowiecki, 2nd driver, Stef Dusseldorp

#33, Vit4One, BMW Z4, Frank Kechele, Mathias Lauda

#18, Hexis Racing, McLaren, Rob Bell, Alvo Parente

#35, Vit4One, BMW, Yelmer Buurman, Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof

#6, Heico Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Sergey Afanasyev, Bernd Schneider

#57, Vit4One Italy, Ferrari F458, Stefano Comandini, Matteo Bobbi

#9, Mühlner Motorsport, Porsche 997 GT3R, Karim Al-Azhari, Sean Edwards

#7, Heico Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz, Mike Parisy, Maximillian Buhk

#58, Vit4One Italy, Ferrari, Louis Machiels, Greg Franchi

#34, Vit4One, BMW, Jacques Villeneuve, Jos Verstappen.

The rules for the 60-minute race called for a mandatory stop coming within a 10-minute window. The stop had to consume at least 75 seconds during which there was a required driver change and a swap of the spec Hankook tires. Most of the teams had learned their lessons and the circuit well enough so that the start was perhaps the smoothest of the three races. Nevertheless, the Tews Porsche grazed the wall and spent much of the race in the pits having one corner repaired. The two Mercedes exchanged a love kiss which was enough to allow Mike Parisy to pass Sergey Afanasyev, but more importantly it played a role in a demon start by Karim Al-Azhari, launching his Porsche past the gullwings.

Makowiecki built up a three second lead and this diminished a bit as delicate began of lapping slower cars around the unforgiving corners. The McLaren’s position was solidified a bit when the chasing BMWs became distracted by their own internal fight. Frank Kechele was holding off the advances of Yelmer Buurman but a slide behind the Government House nearly cost the German driver second place. Most of the leaders waited until quite late in the pit stop window to make their required calls, mostly because they were all using their faster drivers at the start and wished to maximize their contribution. Kechele was the first of the leading trio to stop, handing over to Lauda. Makowiecki handed over to Dusseldorp which briefly left Buurman in the lead before the second BMW stopped for a swap to Mayr-Melnhof.

Not all of the stops went this smoothly. The crew of the Easy Race Ferrari neglected to tighten one lug nut and Giacomo Barri took the wobbling car behind the wall on the out lap and not risk catastrophe out on the circuit. One of the other Ferraris was penalized for a pit stop violation and when former GT champion Matteo Bobbi came into the pits to serve the penalty he promptly stepped from the cockpit and with an Italian gesture or two sulked off down the streets of Baku. It negated an excellent start by co-driver Stefano Comandini.

Another car that had run well at the start, the No. 9 Porsche, also had to visit the penalty box, as their scheduled stop had been too short. That squandered the fact that Edwards had set the fast lap of the race. Lauda closed on Dusseldorp during the third quarter of the race but it was clearly going to be the McLaren’s day. Bernd Schneider worked hard to recover spots for his Mercedes and after several laps worked past the No. 9 Porsche. Earlier in the race the lone Corvette had spun, stopped, and continued, but with 8 minutes to run the No. 20 Porsche was stranded on course when its engine electronics went dead. A very short and efficient full-course caution was needed while it was towed off and the balance of the race went on unimpeded with Dusseldorp winning by five seconds. The young Dutch driver expressed the sentiments of most of the participants, “we came with no expectations and are going home very impressed.”

Indeed, the real winners of the inaugural City Challenge race were the street circuit concept, GT racing in general, international motorsport diplomacy, and the people of Baku.

Janos Wimpffen, October 2012