Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft

Perfect Blue - 1980 index


What to say of the 1980 DRM? Group 5 was on world championship level in a deep crisis, and the DRM suffered as well. Especially Division 1 was thin, Loos reducing his fleet to a single Pirelli-shod car for Wollek, Kremer was unlucky to pick Plankenhorn as number 1, Liqui Moly had all sorts of trouble with driver Stommelen and the Ford attack had a setback when the rear wing was rejected.
In the end, Ludwig even came close to winning the championship with his now ground-effect Capri, but the 23 missing points from the start of the season couldn't be compensated.

The number of top pairings in division 2 was small too: Niedzwiedz was fast but a little inexperienced, Soldeck was out of his depth in a Capri and Ertl was, like last year, very unlucky: 8 poles, 4 wins and 6 retirements. Stuck's BMW was fast but fragile - though he came close, with second place in the championship. No other Fords or BMWs were fast enough to worry the others, athmospheric BMWs now really obsolete, though the GS drivers were perhaps not on par with Höttinger or Bürger of 1979. So it was Heyer and his GS Lancia, on Pirellis, who won the championship by consistancy rather than speed, Heyer only winning two races and surviving a massive crash at the Norisring.

Since 1981 would again see 2 divisions, the future of DRM looked dim.

The Rennsport Trophäe was entertaining again, with the championship looking to come from Division 2 as well; first it was König (BMW) who built a lead, but then the 16-valve Escorts of Hamelmann and Selzer got to speed and it was Hamelmann who won in the end. Best Division 1 driver, despite only entering the frame in round 8 (!) was Danner and his BMW M1. Entries in this division were less than exciting sometimes, especially when the BMW M1 brigade was somewhere else - since there was no Porsche to give them a run for their money
.

New was an invitation race at Donington; the field was thin but Britain got to know the Group 5 monsters.

The races:

The cars

Final classification

DRM 1977-1982 index

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