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1989 Nurburgring Eifel 
1988 Mainz-Finthen  Go 1990 Mainz-Finthen 
1989 Avus 
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25. AvD/HMSC-Flugplatzrennen Mainz-Finthen

Mainz-Finthen, BRD

Date: 13/5/1989 to: 14/5/1989
Track length: 2.250 m
Attendance: 20.000
Entries accepted:
Starters: 20 (qualification race); 32 (race 1); 28 (race 2)
Finishers: 17 (qualification race); 25 (race 1); 19 (race 2)

Pole position: Heger in 1.06,21
Fastest lap: Soper in 1.00,72 (race 1); Quester in 1.00,12 (race 2)

Distance: Qualification race 22 laps, race 1 45 laps, race 2 44 laps (redflagged after lap 8 because of rain)
Average speed:
Weather: Sunny, warm but rainshowers too
Ruleset: DTM with weight penalties and air restrictorss
Car info:  

 

The rules had changed once again for Ford; their weight was lowered to 1100 kgs only, just 80 kgs more than BMW. But bigger news for Mercedes the new 2.5 Evo (bigger wheels, 2.5 engine and new aerodynamics) made its debut at this airfield track. Each works team received a single car, and Ludwig, Asch and Snobeck were the lucky ones; but it turned out a little different. Asch had been fastest in practice, the only one who dived below the 1-minute barrier; but in top-qualifying, Heger snatched pole ahead of Asch, who was a little careful. Both Ludwig and Brancatelli did not complete the single lap and had to start from row eight. In race 1, Snobeck forgot to push a switch and had to hunt the rest of the field, finishing ninth in the end; and while Asch won the race nearly unchallenged, Ludwig added insult to injury when his engine exploded and he nearly lost it on his own oil.
In race two, Asch made a mess of it when Niedzwiedz took the lead and as predicted stormed away on the straights while building a pile behind him in the corners. Since the BMWs closed on Asch, he made a do-or-die attack which ended in two cars with damaged front suspensions and a BMW with a damaged front (Cecotto). Then the rain set in and the race was halted. Everyone changed to wets, but during the race the track dried up and Asch fell back since his tire change took far too long, while Thiim had switched early to slicks and now was in the lead.
BMW had a bad weekend; Quester was disqualified in practice for outside assistance and could only take part in race 2 - where he finished a fine third. Soper’s car did fire up in time before race 2; he started from the pit lane, but in the end he finished fourth, just like race 1. Heger had been on pole, but his tires were not up to the stress of the race; he finished sixth and in race two he collided with Giroix, another BMW driver who was unlucky here.


Qualification Race
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   16 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Fabien Giroix, F
2332 L4   22 laps, 22.47,89        
2   28 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Jörg van Ommen, D
2323 L4   22 laps, 22.58,57        
3   12 Snobeck Racing Service
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Alain Cudini, F
2323 L4   22 laps, 23.07,58        
4   44 Ford Ringshausen Motorsport
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Volker Weidler, D
1993 tc L4   22 laps, 23.12,35        
5   27 Ford-Grab Motorsport GmbH
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Rüdiger Schmitt, D
1993 tc L4   22 laps, 23.15,45        
6   29 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Karl Wendlinger III, A
2323 L4   22 laps, 23.19,13        
7   20 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Siegfried Müller Jr, D
2323 L4   22 laps, 23.22,95        
8   10 Opel Team Irmscher
Opel Kadett GSi 16V
Peter Oberndorfer, D
1998 L4   22 laps, 23.24,53        
9   40 Kissling Motorsport
Opel Kadett GSi 16V
Volker Strycek, D
1998 L4   22 laps, 23.26,43        
10   21 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Harald Becker, D
2323 L4   22 laps, 23.29,70        
11   60 BB Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Armin Bernhard, D
2323 L4   22 laps, 23.31,15        
12   33 Auto Maass
BMW M3 Evo
Kurt König, D
2332 L4   22 laps, 23.33,03        
13   56 Tauber Motorsport
BMW M3 Evo
Örnulf Wirdheim, S
2332 L4   22 laps, 23.41,51        
14   22 BMW Faltz Essen
BMW M3 Evo
Harald Grohs, D
2332 L4   22 laps, 23.46,68        
15   45 Ford Ringshausen Motorsport
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Günter Murmann, D
1993 tc L4   22 laps, 24.06,82        
16   35 BMK-Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Ralf-Werner Müller, D
2323 L4   21        
17   41 GS Team
BMW M3 Evo
Leopold von Bayern, D
2332 L4   20       Started as reserve in heat 2
DNF   39 BMW M Team Zakspeed
BMW M3 Evo
Dieter Quester, A
2332 L4           Electrics, disqualified in practice, started as reserve in heat 2
DNS   8 Würth Wolf Racing Team
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Jeff Allam, GB
1993 tc L4            
DNF   48  
BMW M3 Evo
Oldrich Vanícek, CS
2332 L4            

Race 1
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   4 MS-Jet Racing
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo
Roland Asch, D
2488 L4   45 laps, 46.17,06 2 1.06,84    
2   14 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Johnny Cecotto, YV
2332 L4   45 laps, 46.20,46 9 1.08,18    
3   15 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Roberto Ravaglia, I
2332 L4   45 laps, 46.24,13 3 1.07,06    
4   36 BMW M Team Zakspeed
BMW M3 Evo
Steve Soper, GB
2332 L4   45 laps, 46.25,43 4 1.07,08 1.00,72  
5   2 AMG Motorenbau GmbH
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Kurt Thiim, DK
2323 L4   45 laps, 46.30,29 7 1.08,04    
6   18 BMW M Team Linder
BMW M3 Evo
Altfrid Heger, D
2332 L4   45 laps, 46.32,68 1 1.06,21    
7   30 Ford Motorsport Eggenberger
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Klaus Niedzwiedz, D
1993 tc L4   45 laps, 46.33,84 5 1.07,64    
8   16 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Fabien Giroix, F
2332 L4   45 laps, 46.51,17 17      
9   11 Snobeck Racing Service
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo
Dany Snobeck, F
2488 L4   45 laps, 46.52,12 12 1.08,99    
10   50 Bemani Motorenbau
Toyota Supra 3.0i MA70
Philippe Müller, CH
2954 L6   45 laps, 47.05,65 13 1.09,33    
11   31 Ford Motorsport Eggenberger
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Gianfranco Brancatelli, I
1993 tc L4   45 laps, 47.06,31 16 no time   Rear axle in top-qualifying
12   5 MS-Jet Racing
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Manuel Reuter, D
2323 L4   45 laps, 47.07,38 10 1.08,63    
13   12 Snobeck Racing Service
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Alain Cudini, F
2323 L4   45 laps, 47.07,69 19      
14   25 Ford-Grab Motorsport GmbH
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Frank Biela, D
1993 tc L4   45 laps, 47.15,34 8 1.08,12    
15   28 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Jörg van Ommen, D
2323 L4   45 laps, 47.18,33 18      
16   22 BMW Faltz Essen
BMW M3 Evo
Harald Grohs, D
2332 L4   44 30      
17   29 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Karl Wendlinger III, A
2323 L4   44 22      
18   33 Auto Maass
BMW M3 Evo
Kurt König, D
2332 L4   44 28      
19   60 BB Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Armin Bernhard, D
2323 L4   44 27      
20   27 Ford-Grab Motorsport GmbH
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Rüdiger Schmitt, D
1993 tc L4   44 21      
21   34 BMW Isert
BMW M3 Evo
Olaf Manthey, D
2332 L4   44 11 1.08,74    
22   35 BMK-Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Ralf-Werner Müller, D
2323 L4   43 32      
23   21 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Harald Becker, D
2323 L4   42 26      
24   9 Opel Team Irmscher
Opel Kadett GSi 16V
Markus Oestreich, D
1998 L4   40 6 1.07,98    
25   55 Tauber Motorsport
BMW M3 Evo
Stefan Neuberger, D
2332 L4   39 14 1.12,18    
DNF   10 Opel Team Irmscher
Opel Kadett GSi 16V
Peter Oberndorfer, D
1998 L4   37 24     Engine
DNF   45 Ford Ringshausen Motorsport
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Günter Murmann, D
1993 tc L4   36 31     Accident
DNF   56 Tauber Motorsport
BMW M3 Evo
Örnulf Wirdheim, S
2332 L4   33 29     Accident damage
DNF   44 Ford Ringshausen Motorsport
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Volker Weidler, D
1993 tc L4   23 20     Turbo charger
DNF   20 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Siegfried Müller Jr, D
2323 L4   20 23     Driveshaft
DNF   40 Kissling Motorsport
Opel Kadett GSi 16V
Volker Strycek, D
1998 L4   7 25     Engine
DNF   1 AMG Motorenbau GmbH
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo
Klaus Ludwig, D
2488 L4   5 15 no time   Engine in top-qualifying; Engine in race

Race 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   2 AMG Motorenbau GmbH
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Kurt Thiim, DK
2323 L4   44 laps, 48.00,50        
2   15 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Roberto Ravaglia, I
2332 L4   44 laps, 48.13,69        
3   39 BMW M Team Zakspeed
BMW M3 Evo
Dieter Quester, A
2332 L4   44 laps, 48.28,77     1.00,12 Started as reserve
4   36 BMW M Team Zakspeed
BMW M3 Evo
Steve Soper, GB
2332 L4   44 laps, 48.29,42        
5   30 Ford Motorsport Eggenberger
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Klaus Niedzwiedz, D
1993 tc L4   44 laps, 48.39,20        
6   5 MS-Jet Racing
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Manuel Reuter, D
2323 L4   44 laps, 48.45,78        
7   25 Ford-Grab Motorsport GmbH
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Frank Biela, D
1993 tc L4   44 laps, 48.55,44        
8   14 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Johnny Cecotto, YV
2332 L4   43        
9   4 MS-Jet Racing
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo
Roland Asch, D
2488 L4   43        
10   34 BMW Isert
BMW M3 Evo
Olaf Manthey, D
2332 L4   43        
11   20 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Siegfried Müller Jr, D
2323 L4   43        
12   12 Snobeck Racing Service
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Alain Cudini, F
2323 L4   43        
13   31 Ford Motorsport Eggenberger
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Gianfranco Brancatelli, I
1993 tc L4   43        
14   29 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Karl Wendlinger III, A
2323 L4   43        
15   56 Tauber Motorsport
BMW M3 Evo
Örnulf Wirdheim, S
2332 L4   43        
16   41 GS Team
BMW M3 Evo
Leopold von Bayern, D
2332 L4   42       Started as reserve
17   21 Schwaben Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Harald Becker, D
2323 L4   42        
18   35 BMK-Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Ralf-Werner Müller, D
2323 L4   42        
19   22 BMW Faltz Essen
BMW M3 Evo
Harald Grohs, D
2332 L4   39        
DNF   60 BB Motorsport
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Armin Bernhard, D
2323 L4   32       Accident
DNF   11 Snobeck Racing Service
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo
Dany Snobeck, F
2488 L4   27       Propshaft
DNF   55 Tauber Motorsport
BMW M3 Evo
Stefan Neuberger, D
2332 L4   23       Misfire
DNF   28 Star-Marko RSM
Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16
Jörg van Ommen, D
2323 L4   17       Engine
DNF   27 Ford-Grab Motorsport GmbH
Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
Rüdiger Schmitt, D
1993 tc L4   13       Turbocharger
DNF   50 Bemani Motorenbau
Toyota Supra 3.0i MA70
Philippe Müller, CH
2954 L6   8       Gearbox
DNF   16 BMW M Team Schnitzer
BMW M3 Evo
Fabien Giroix, F
2332 L4   2       Accident
DNF   18 BMW M Team Linder
BMW M3 Evo
Altfrid Heger, D
2332 L4   2       Accident
DNF   33 Auto Maass
BMW M3 Evo
Kurt König, D
2332 L4   1       Misfire

Remarks: Grid positions 1-16 decided with Top-qualifying, one flying lap per driver. Positions 17-32 formed by the result of the qualification race.