European Touring Car Challenge

In the beginning - 1963 index


With John Aley providing the British connection, the new challenge was organized. The first race would be at the Nürburgring, after Mont Ventoux two races in Britain would be held (classes were divided between the two races). The brandnew Zolder circuit hosted the fifth event, then the challenge moved on to Zandvoort, another hillclimb at the Timmelsjoch, and the final would be held behind the Iron Curtain, in Hungary.

Though the championship itself was a success, the points scoring system wasn't. The first championship left us with 5 drivers sharing the top position, with Peter Nöcker, a countryman of Stenger, declared the champion. The weak point was the fact that up to 9 classes all had their separate winners, with points divided as 12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The points scoring system would remain a major headache up to 1988; the championship should be open to cars from all sizes - but at what price?

The 1963 championship had a lot of competitive cars, unfortunately not many of them in the same class. On the other hand, speed differences were not that large, so a Mini was sometimes able to outgun many bigger cars. All in all, an encouraging begin. Car manufacturers took notice. 1964 would have better cars - the homologation ratrace had begun.

The races:

The cars

Final classification

1963-1967 index

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