F1 Historic Racing
The Great Historic F1 Race at Lausitzring
By Jaroslav Vehrle
Photos © Jaroslav Vehrle
September 27, 2005 -- At first I would like to thank ADAC Eurospeedway circuit at Lausitzring, for their great cooperation with provided accreditation, swift results at media centre and a pleasant experience all around. Concerning provided accreditation I especially appreciated the help of Mr. Hans-Jürgen Fischer and Mr. Marc-Thorsten Lenze. I hope to continue this cooperation in the future. 

The first weekend of July was held a great event for all lovers of motor racing, especially Formula One, at Lausitzring in Germany. The circuit is 3.442m – see details at picture no. 1. Besides this historic racing event there were also Champcar races held there in 2001 and 2002 there. Most people can remember the very sad accident that befell Alex Zanardi’s in 2001. It was a miracle that he survived the incident, and even was able to finish his ceremonial last missing 11 laps in a modified Champcar in 2002. It was also a sign of great appreciation of this famous driver who had been racing in F1, with Jordan, Team Lotus and Williams.  

Anyway, back to recent events. It was the second historic race event organised by ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg Motor Sport. The organizers divided racing cars into a few various levels. The best of all these, as well as the most anticipated by spectators was the F1 category. During the whole weekend it was possible to watch following different races.  

The best show was FIA Championship for Thoroughbred Grand Prix cars known as TGP, which are older F1 cars in original livery and with its original engine. This year it was the 4th race after Hockenheim, Monza and Zandvoort. A regular gem was Classic Team Lotus, which is operated by Clive Chapman, the son of the late Colin Chapman, who keeps the tradition - see picture no. 2 Classic Team Lotus before start. Clive Chapman also attended TGP in the Czech Republic at the Most circuit in 2001 and was willing to provide an interview opportunity – see picture no. 3 Welcoming Clive Chapman at TGP in the Czech Republic by Jaroslav Vehrle from Fan-Club F1 CZ. He also confirmed copyright for a paper model Lotus 72D which was prepared by fans from the Fan-Club F1 CZ mainly by Miroslav Gabriel, Petr Špinler and Jaroslav Vehrle. Classic Team Lotus has been restoring various Lotus racing cars and especially prepares cars for historic races in TGP. They took Lotus Type 91-10, which was the last full Colin Chapman design, for its driver Dan Collins. The professional services are thanks to two ex-Team Lotus employees Nick Yallop and Chris Dinnage – see pictures no. 4 and 5.  

It is not common to see any Ferrari at TGP but Lausitzring was the exception. I personaly have heard about a Ferrari T5 arriving for many years, but nothing has ever come of it. Thanks to Barron Racing and its driver John Bosch, all fans were able to see the Ferrari T3/035 which was originally driven by Gilles Villeneuve, who was killed in 1982 at the end of qualification for the Belgium Grand Prix. The whole team was wearing original suits and even a few of them were also people from team in the 70s – see picture no. 6. John Bosch also had a spare Lotus Type 91, prepared by Classic Team Lotus. He was willing to provide an interview – see picture no 7. To the question of what is different in driving characteristics between Lotus Type 91 and Ferrari T3 he answered: “Ferrari is harder to drive and keep in perfect racing line. Lotus 91 is easier to drive thanks to ground effect which helps to create more grip“. Most motor racing fans know very well that this ground effect was discovered by Colin Chapman and his boffins at Team Lotus, and incorporated into his black beauty, the Lotus 78 MK III. This idea brought him a few victories in 1977 but a year later, a World Championship title for Team Lotus as well as driver Mario Andretti with the beautiful Lotus 79 MK IV. Lotus slaughtered all others including Ferrari that year and created a new record in history with the most victories in one season.  

The other Lotus on the grid at TGP was 87B/3 driven by Nico Bindels. It is said that this car is possibly one of the three which was rebuilt from the famous twin-chassis 88B’s overnight at Silverstone in 1981, after these cars were banned from the practice session. The other interesting thing was that his chief mechanic was similar to real Colin Chapman – see picture no 8. Available for fans to see were the following cars: Brabham BT 49D, Williams FW 08/3, Arrows A6, Arrows A4-2, Ensign N180, Arrows A3-4, Tyrrell 001, Williams FW 06-4, Copersucar FA5 and Osella FA1 C/D among the other cars. 

Friday was influenced by bad weather and heavy rain which caused Dan Collins´accident, which damaged his Lotus 91-10. For all spectators it has always been pain in their hearts to see any damage to a beautiful historic F1 car. Unfortunately he was not the only one during weekend as driver Hubertus Bahlsen also had an accident with his Arrows A4 during warm up on Sunday. Both were able to repair their cars and enter the race. 

The first race on Saturday was won by Bahlsen in Arrows A4 in front of Steve Harley in Arrows A6 and John Bosch in Ferrari T3 – see picture no. 9. The second race on Sunday was won by Christian Glasel in Brabham BT49D in front of Hubertus Bahlsen in Arrows A4 and Janine Payne in Arrows A4-2. Besides common practice sessions, qualifying and warm up the spectators were able to see 14 other races in different categories.  

The second racing category with F1 cars was EuroBoss, which consists of ex-F1 cars. They are usually not as old as TGP, and there is no ruling to keep original livery and engine. Anyway a few of them had the same one, which were better for real orthodox F1 fans. Spectators were able to see an original Benetton B193, Coloni and Simtek, which was originally driven by Roland Ratzenberger who was killed during practice session at the tragic weekend in Imola in 1994 together with Ayrton Senna´s accident. Among the other F1 cars it was possible to see a Benetton B197, Dallara, Arrows and Minardi, but without original livery. There was also only one IRL car, driven by Joachim Rischka as well as many F3000 cars by Lola and Reynard there. In both races during the weekend, there were dominant teams with ex-Benetton cars.

The first was won by K. Zwart in Beneton B197 with a Judd V10 of Ascari team in front of the K. Becker in a Minardi-Cosworth V8 of Becker Motorsport and R. Kilty in Reynard-Cosworth V8 of Hanline Associates. The second race on Sunday was won by P. D. Aubrey in Benetton-Ford B193 AB V8 of Team Griffith´s – see picture no 10 in front of H. De Boer in Coloni-Cosworth V8 of De Boer Container Trading - see picture no 11 and P. Milavec in Lola-Cosworth of GP Racing. 

The other race was Recaro Formel 3 Cup consisting of Dallaras F304 and F301 with either Opel or Mugen engines. Although these cars were not as fast as F1 in TGP or EuroBoss, the fight was also very hard. Some fights ended with damaged cars as well – see the pictures from Parc Ferme no 12 and 13. A race called Sport Cars Challenge had various special cars like PRC, Dallara, Tiga Vector, Reynard, Osella, Lola, Jade, Tampolli, Juno and formula Renault. There was also a Czech driver, Michael Dolák, with PRC that has real Ford F1 engine from older Arrows. Although he did not win, the final result was not so bad. In the first race, he finished 4th and in the second one, 3rd. The other interesting driver was Roman Klemm with car Vector MG 03 who has written a few books about F1 and F3000, which were also released in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately his gearbox problems made him miss the race.  

The other racing category was Lista Formula Master which showed the fight of various formulas like Junior, König and Arcobelleno. Last race category was Haigo, which was divided into road tour cars and classic formulas. Among road tour cars were possible to see a lot of east European cars from the past like Lada Samara, Škoda 130 RS, Lada 2105, Trabant and Wartburg but also well known cars like Ford Sierra, BMW E36, Ford Escort, Audi Coupe, Honda, Ford Fiesta or even famous Mini Cooper, Melkus RS and Lotus Super Seven – see pictures no 14 and 15.

Concerning classic formulas in Haigo were possible to see older formulas Easter with various engines like Lada, Renault, Ford and even Trabant. This grid was added by Avia AE, MTX and even the only one Melkus formula – see picture no 16. A famous Eastern creator-designer who had talent like Chapman from the East made racing cars called Melkus. 

The whole weekend was full of various races and a lot of spectators came into the pits to see the cars up close. Most of them took pictures of chosen cars and enjoyed seeing the mechanics in action – see picture no 17. History stopped for a while, which is rare fragment in motor racing. The modern era of F1 is too closed in, and that is why it is not possible to be within close proximity to either the cars or the drivers. This is such a rare moment, that it attracts many spectators to this historic race from all over the world. Most visitors, including myself, are looking forward to being there again and enjoy the chance to see these beautiful cars so close. Let’s come to Lausitzring next year. The organizers will prepare another great historic racing weekend for you.