A major revamp in the championship: Groups 2, 4 and 5N were combined now (5N being exactly the same as in the DRM - 1975 cars with 1976 weight and Tires); but new were the Group 1 and 3 classes, the latter only over 2000 cc. The group 1 field had three championship contenders right through the end - it might have been four if Fiat had not actually built cars which were far lighter than the homologation weight. Houben's Celica was found illegal as well, and the speed of Köpcke in his mk1 Escort was quite suspect to the Dutch during a visit to Zandvoort - they did not protest but simply ignored his win, the "real" winner being Dutch and legal, of course.
The champion came from the group 1 ranks allright with Austrian Weisheidinger, who chartered a field of Commodores to keep an eye to the class minimum (5 cars). And tactics played a role in the last race. But since the others made too many mistakes or retired only once, one can't say the title was not deserved.
The racing proved quite good, with some excellent fights and fine cars - and the fields were big too, apart from the races in Berlin and Salzburg; not surprising with regards to the travel distance and the stress on the engines on the long straights.
The races: |
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