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Grosser Preis der Tourenwagen 1973

Nürburgring Nordschleife, BRD

Date: 8/7/1973
Track length: 22.835 m
Attendance: 80.000
Entries accepted: 107
Starters: 76
Finishers: 34

Pole position: Lauda in 8.17,8
Fastest lap: Lauda in 8.21,3 = 164,0 kmh

Distance: 6 hours
Average speed: 158,5 kmh
Weather: cloudy but warm
Ruleset: Group 2/70
Car info: 1973 Cars

Pictures

The home race for all teams - with a crowded entry list and a little news. BMW had managed to homologate a new version of the CSL, sporting a new crankshaft, enabling a full 3.5 litre and an aerodynamic package which was little short of a sensation. At once, the Capris were nearly reduced to also-rans.
Practice saw Lauda/Joisten and Amon/Stuck fastest, followed by the Capris of Glemser/Mass, Stewart/Fittipaldi and Larrousse/Fitzpatrick. Then Hezemans/Quester, Brambilla/Pescarolo (Schnitzer) and Muir/Peltier (Alpina/Gartlan). The works BMWs used 3.3 litre engines but the tuners relied already on full 3.5 engines, without much problems.

BMW took the lead, apart from a short spell when Mass took over. Drama for Ford after 12 laps, when Glemser crashed out because of steering failure, getting injured in the process. Five laps later Fittipaldi came in to retire, blue clouds emerging from the engine compartment, complaining that he could not find second gear anymore. Mass was moved to the Fitzpatrick/Larrousse team (in second place), but Mini #108 touched the Capri when lapped, puncturing its tire. Jochen undid his seat belts to inspect the damage, but did too much at once (curse, inspect, signalling another car to pass, and drive of course) and left the road, spun and rolled the car in slow motion, finishing a dreadful day for Ford in style. Mini #108 crashed out six minutes before the end, relieving Jochen from the task to damage the car himself.

After the loss of the works car, there should have been Fritzinger to fight the BMWs. His ex-works car had received works driver Heyer and a fresh engine, and they were as high as second when Mass dropped out. But front suspension damage moved the car back tot tenth in the end. Highest placed Ford became the Grab car of Karl-Ludwig Weiss and a young man called Klaus Ludwig.

Stuck/Amon won, the second BMW works car was second in the end. Lauda, happily telling jokes on the radio equipment in his Alpina car, was third in the end after lengthy suspension- and wheel bearing problems dropped it back from a long lead. Muir/Peltier retired, like the single Schnitzer car.

A surprise class win for Alfa Romeo, old faithful GTAm came in fourth. All 16-valve GS and Koepchen 2002’s retired just like the only Escort RS in the field, leaving only the Schnitzer 2002 as opposition, but this was hampered by gear linkage problems.
Another surprise was the Swiss 1600 cc Toyota Celica, sixth in the end.


Division 1 and 2
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine
Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)
Engine
Type
Group Distance,
time
Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 12 BMW Motorsport
BMW 3.0 CSL
Hans-Joachim Stuck, D
Chris Amon, NZ
3303 L6 Div. 2 42 laps, 6:03.06,5 2 8.20,4    
2 2 10 BMW Motorsport
BMW 3.0 CSL
Toine Hezemans, NL
Dieter Quester, A
Harald Menzel, D
3303 L6 Div. 2 41 laps, 6:06.27,6 6 8.28,7    
3 3 15 Jägermeister Alpina Racing
BMW 3.0 CSL
Hans-Peter Joisten, D
Niki Lauda, A
3498 L6 Div. 2 38 laps, 6:01.34,0 1 8.17,8   Pit stop - wheel bearing
4 1 26 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm
Spartaco Dini ("Paco"), I
Carlo Facetti, I
(Luigi Colzani, I)
1999 L4 Div. 1 38 laps, 6:02.14,9 15 9.05,1    
5 4 6 Grab Ford Siegen
Ford Capri RS 2600
Karl-Ludwig Weiss, D
Klaus Ludwig, D
2940 V6 Div. 2 38 laps, 6:04.23,5 18 9.14,6    
6 2/1 61 Toyota AG Schweiz
Toyota Celica GT
Ove Andersson, S
Freddy Kottulinsky, S
1588 L4 Div. 1 38 laps, 6:07.47,4 20 9.30,5    
7 3 30 Team Schnitzer Motul
BMW 2002
Albrecht Krebs, D
Harald Ertl, A
1990 L4 Div. 1 37 laps, 6:03.37,7 12 9.03,2   16v car
8 4 27 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm
Massimo Larini, I
Teodoro Zeccoli, I
1999 L4 Div. 1 37 laps, 6:07.08,3 21 9.30,9    
9 5/2 71  
BMW 1602
Dieter Hegels, D
Karl-Heinz Tibor, D
(Piet-Jürgen Verbrüggen)
1573 L4 Div. 1 36 laps, 6:03.46,1        
10 5 9 Team Europa-Möbel
Ford Capri RS 2600
Klaus Fritzinger, D
Hans Heyer, D
(Werner Schommers, D)
2940 V6 Div. 2 36 laps, 6:09.49,7 9 8.40,8   Track control arm
11 6/3 63 Rheydter Club für Motorsport
BMW 1602
Walter Prüser, D
Friedhelm Theissen, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
12 7/1 93 Touren- und Sportwagen H.H. Stahlberg
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior
Dieter Meyer, D
Michael Bischoff, D
(Hans H. Stahlberg, D)
1290 L4 Div. 1 35        
13 8 48 Koepchen BMW Tuning
BMW 2002
Heinrich Hirth, D
Günther Mohrs, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
14 9 59 Faltz-Alpina Essen
BMW 2002 TI
Rolf Rummel, D
Karl-Heinz Hintz, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
15 10/4 64 MSC Münster
BMW 1602
Siegfried Kagelmann, D
Hans Riering, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
16 11 40 Renngemeinschaft MSC Langenfeld
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
Klaus Zahn, D
Frank Mayr, D
1962 L4 Div. 1          
17 12 39  
BMW 2002 TI
Edmund Gastes, D
Klaus Arendt, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
18 13/5 69  
Opel Manta 16 S
Franz Heine, D
Armin Reichart, D
1584 L4 Div. 1          
19 14/1 96 Reppekus Tuning Essen
Fiat 128
Friedhelm Croes, D
Rainer Orbach, D
1148 L4 Div. 1 33        
20 15/2 94 DNRT Marlboro Team
Simca Rallye 1
Jim Vermeulen, NL
Arthur van Dedem, NL
1294 L4 Div. 1 32        
21 16/6 67 Autohaus Kaufmann OHG
VW 1302 S
Dieter Götting, D
Werner Rohr, D
1584 B4 Div. 1          
22 17/7 72  
VW 1302 S
Karl Fraund, D
Uwe Reich, D
1584 B4 Div. 1          
23 18/3 90  
NSU 1200 TT
Heinz Schindler, D
Günter Weinrank, D
1296 L4 Div. 1          
24 19/2 98 Reppekus Tuning Essen
Fiat 128 coupé 1100
Udo Plückelmann, D
Volker Grätz, D
1148 L4 Div. 1          
25 20/8 68 Sportfahrer Gemeinschaft Köln
BMW 1602
Heiner Müller, D
Friedhelm Przyklenk, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
26 21/4 95 MSC Sinzig
Simca Rallye 2
Armin Siefener, D
Hans "Ali" Frensch, D
1294 L4 Div. 1          
27 22 57 Scuderia Säubrenner
Opel Ascona 19 S
Paul Priebe, D
Michael Minninger, D
ca. 2000 L4 Div. 1          
28 23/9 74  
BMW 1602
Girolamo Capra, I
Angelino Lepri, I
1573 L4 Div. 1          
29 24/10 66  
BMW 1602
Heribert Thelen, D
Franz Lotzen, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
30 25/11 78 Renngemeinschaft MSC Langenfeld
Alfa Romeo Giulia Super
Ingo Peters, D
Hans-Günter Engels, D
1570 L4 Div. 1          
31 26/12 75 Team Europa-Möbel
BMW 1602
Helmut Lenze, D
Helmut Döring, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
32 27/3 100  
Fiat 128
Heinz Winz, D
Siegfried Schnittcher, D
1148 L4 Div. 1          
33 28/1 112  
NSU 1000 TTS
Günter Bobach, D
Robert Hansen, D
996 L4 Div. 1 28        
34 29 55 Reppekus Tuning Essen
BMW 2002 TI
Horst Bonefeld, D
Rainer Zweibäumer, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   16 Team Schnitzer Motul
BMW 3.0 CSL
Vittorio Brambilla, I
Henri Pescarolo, F
(Arturo Merzario, I)
3498 L6 Div. 2   7 8.31,4   Blown tire, accident
DNF   2 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600 LW
John Fitzpatrick, GB
Gérard Larrousse, F
Jochen Mass, D
2983 V6 Div. 2   5 8.27,9   Accident
DNF   1 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600 LW
Jackie Stewart, GB
Emerson Fittipaldi, BR
2983 V6 Div. 2 17 4 8.27,5   Engine overreved
DNF   3 Ford Köln
Ford Capri RS 2600 LW
Dieter Glemser, D
Jochen Mass, D
2983 V6 Div. 2 12 3 8.23,0   Accident
DNF   42 GS Tuning
BMW 2002
Dieter Basche, D
Manfred Mohr, D
1990 L4 Div. 1 ca. 7 10 8.55,4   16v car; suspension
DNF   4 Pepsi-Cola
Ford Capri RS 2600
Jaime Mesia, E
Alberto Ruiz Giménez, E
2900? V6 Div. 2   16 9.09,4   Blown engine
DNF   108 Quadriga Treverorum
Morris Mini Cooper
Horst Zimmer, D
Harald Zimmer, D
998 L4 Div. 1         Accident
DNF   28 Autodelta S.p.A.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm
Rolf Stommelen, D
Carlo Facetti, I
1999 L4 Div. 1 38        
DNF   31 Schwabengarage Zakspeed RTL
Ford Escort RS 1600
Werner Schommers, D
Helmut Koinigg, A
(Hans Heyer, D)
1975 L4 Div. 1 21 11 8.56,1   Suspension
DNF   58 Koepchen BMW Tuning
BMW 2002
Helmut Kelleners, D
Günther Steckkönig, D
1990 L4 Div. 1   13 9.05,0   16v car; gearbox
DNF   14 Malcolm Gartlan/ Jägermeister-Alpina
BMW 3.0 CSL
Brian Muir, AUS
Alain Peltier, B
3498 L6 Div. 2   8 8.39,3   Bearings
DNF   45  
BMW 2002 TI
Hans-Lothar Koch, D
Hans-Joachim Goerke, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   17 Herbert Müller Racing
BMW 3.0 CSL
Walter Brun, CH
Cox Kocher, CH
  L6 Div. 2   14 9.05,0    
DNF   33 GS Tuning
BMW 2002
Manfred Reeb, D
Elmar Helmut Clever, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   50  
BMW 2002
Karl Richter, D
Kurt Fuchs, D
1990 L4 Div. 1   22 9.38,3    
DNF   51  
BMW 2002 TI
Wolfgang Dimmendaal, D
Emil Dimmendaal, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   62 Faltz-Alpina Essen
BMW 1600
Günther Scherf, D
Wilhelm Urlbauer, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   65  
BMW 1600/2
Hans Dittgen, D
Walter Becker, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   73 Matthes racing GmbH
BMW 1600
Knut Jäger, D
Jörg Denzel, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   77 Motorclub Nordrhein
BMW 1600
Ernst Jüntgen, D
Rolf Kienen, D
1573 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   97 Reppekus Tuning Essen
Fiat 128 coupé 1100
Michael Franz, D
Hans Stukenbrock, D
1148 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   92 Alfa Romeo Deutschland
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior
Hans Hessel, D
Hartwig Bertrams, D
1290 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   19 Martini BMW
BMW 3.0 CSL
Heinz Becker, D
Werner Scheld, D
  L6 Div. 2   19 9.25,7    
DNF   8 Grab Ford Siegen
Ford Capri RS 2600
Rudi Schmidt, D
Roland Starke, D
2900? V6 Div. 2         Accident
DNF   20  
BMW 3.0 CSL
Walter Czadek, D
Werner Scheld, D
  L6 Div. 2          
DNF   37 Steinmetz Automobiltechnik
Opel Ascona 19 S
Werner Christmann, D
Ekkehard Schimpf, D
ca. 2000 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   49  
Opel Ascona 19 S
Otto Kälberer, D
Klaus Assmuth, D
ca. 2000 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   53 SEEO Motor-Racing
Volvo 142
Sveneric Olsson, S
Alf-Tore Jideteg, S
ca. 2000 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   ?  
BMW 2002
Thord Hollström, S
Gunnar Hesselgren, S
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   82  
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior
Edgar Gillessen, B
Eric Mandron, B
1290 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   83  
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior
Wolfgang Kirch, D
Peter Marx, D
1290 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   86 Trivellato Racing Team
Fiat 128 coupé 1300
Manfred Mineif, D
Umberto Grano, I
1290 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   88 Rhein-Ruhr Racing Team
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior
Rudolf Welter, D
Peter Niederdränk, D
1290 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   89 Renngemeinschaft Sieglar
NSU 1200 TT
Jochen Schramm, D
Wilfried Schmitz, D
1296 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   99  
Daf 55 Marathon
Dieter Ebermayer, D
Herbert Schuster, D
1148 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   120  
Fiat 128
Maurice Lenaif ("Alix"), B
René Tricot, B
1148 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   101 Kilian Tuning
NSU 1000 TTS
Wolfgang Hansen, D
Helmut Eisenreich, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   102 SFG Köln
Sunbeam Imp
Hans Sauer, D
Franz Pesch, D
Klaus Edel, D
998 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   104 Schmidt-Tuning
NSU 1000 TTS
Gerhard Ebbers, D
Werner Horn, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   105 Fa. Peter Zeuner Baubetreuung
NSU 1000 TTS
Hagen Arlt, D
Horst Hoier, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   ?  
NSU 1000 TTS
Willi Bergmeister, D
Peter Ernst, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   110 Renngemeinschaft MSC Langenfeld
NSU 1000 TTS
Friedhelm Mantz, D
Wolfgang Müller, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNF   111  
NSU 1000 TTS
Peter Döring, D
Peter Faubel, D
996 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   44 MSC Paffrath
BMW 2002 TI
Richard Bremmekamp, D
Wolfgang Fischer, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   29 Team Schnitzer Motul
BMW 2002
Jörg Obermoser, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   38  
BMW 2002
Lothar Wagner, D
Eckard Babendenderde, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   52  
BMW 2002
Richard Peitz, D
Thomas Betzler, D
1990 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   76 Scuderia Vesuvio
BMW 1600
Cosimo Turizio, I
Ciro Nappi, I
1573 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   106  
Fiat Abarth 1000 TCR
Horst Ranke, D
Eckhard Casteel, D
982 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   107  
Sunbeam Imp
Detlef Hendricks, D
Peter Wiechert, D
998 L4 Div. 1          
DNS   32 Schwabengarage Zakspeed RTL
Ford Escort RS 1600
Hartmut Kautz, D
Thomas Betzler, D
1840 L4 Div. 1   17 9.13,6