Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft

Under Pressure - 1978 index


Year two of the new age brought some worrying things. First, it wasn't easy to get the minimum of 10 cars per class, and secondly it became clear that a turbo engine was a necessity in division 2 as well. The main contenders this year were Hezemans, Gelo-Porsche, and Ertl, Schnitzer-BMW turbo. Both Kremer and Wollek were a bit off-pace this year, Max Moritz had a string of bad luck and the other Loos cars shouldn't have been a threat for Hezemans. Ertl's opposition had their weaknesses as well; the Zakspeed Escort was outdated and the new turbo Capri was both late and unreliable - but it was blindingly fast. Winkelhock's new HAT team bit off more than they could chew, and Höttinger had made enormous progress but the title was a step too far yet.

So it came to a showdown to the finish, but Hezemans' retirement at the Norisring shattered his chances; his row with teamboss Loos in Zolder and Heze's openly flirt with Martini-Porsche did not help matters either. With a second place at the last race (and the first win for Heyer and the Capri) Ertl won the championship.

The races:

The cars

Final classification

DRM 1977-1982 index

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