1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1981
The 27th 1000 km race on the Nürburgring , also 1000 km Nürburgring, Nürburgring Nordschleife , took place on May 24, 1981 and was the seventh round of the sports car world championship of that year.
The race
Before the race
In May 1981 , the ADAC hosted the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring for the 27th time . Since 1953 , the endurance race on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring has always been part of the sports car world championship, with the exception of the 1954 and 1955 seasons. The first race in 1953 ended with the total victory of the Italian Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina on a plant - Ferrari 375 MM . Over the years, the race has established itself as an integral part of the sports car season and, apart from the Le Mans 24-hour race, had the most entries and starters every year .
The sports car world championship in 1981 comprised 15 racing events, and for the first time the title of driver world champion was awarded with the one-make cup. The race at the Nürburgring was part of the brand and driver standings. As a works team, Porsche had not taken part in any world championship run until the race at the Nürburgring. Also on the Nordschleife there was no plan for a factory run; Nevertheless, one of the works Porsche 936 , chassis number 936-004, took part in the race. This vehicle was first used by Reinhold Joest in 1980 and was given the type designation 908/80. The chassis 044 was a replacement chassis, and since Porsche wanted to limit the 936 to three units, this car received this unfortunate type designation. This racing car actually had little in common with a Porsche 908 . Porsche wanted to see the use of this car as a test run for the 24 Hours of Le Mans without appearing as a racing team itself. At Le Mans, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell were supposed to drive a works car. Porsche provided Reinhold Joest at the Nürburgring with Jochen Mass as a partner, who was contractually bound to the works team on a long-term basis.
Joest also brought a “real” 908 to the Nordschleife, which was driven by last year's winner Jürgen Barth and Volkert Merl . A third 908 was reported by Siegfried Brunn , who had contested the previous European races of the World Sports Car Championship with the Irish racing driver and later Formula 1 team boss Eddie Jordan . The two weeks before the 6-hour race at Silverstone had finished the duo in third place in the overall standings. At the Nürburgring, the Swiss Herbert Müller was Brunn's partner. Müller, who had actually already ended his career and, as an experienced Nürburgring connoisseur, allowed himself to be persuaded to take part in a race again, explained before the start that the 1000 km race would definitely be his last race as a driver.
A Group 5 vehicle achieved the fastest training time . Manfred Winkelhock rounded on one of Zakspeed reported Ford Capri - Silhouette vehicle the Nordschleife in 7: 18.490, representing an average of 187.475 km / h corresponded. This means Winkelhock was 16 seconds faster than John Fitzpatrick in a Porsche 935 on his pole position lap the year before. How fast Winkelhock's time was can be made clear by a comparison with Formula 1, which has not competed in its world championship races on the Nordschleife since Niki Lauda's serious accident at the 1976 German Grand Prix . James Hunt's best practice time in the McLaren M23 at the last Nürburgring Grand Prix was 7: 06.500, just 11.9 seconds short of the Capri driver's time.
However, Winkelhock, who shared the cockpit of the Ford Capri with Klaus Niedzwiedz , was unable to take part in the race. During the warm-up just before the start, it was noticed that the engine was not developing full power. During an inspection, Zakspeed mechanics found parts of a bearing in the oil filter; a start was therefore impossible.
The course of the race
Right from the start, the Porsche 908/80, now on pole position, took the lead with Jochen Mass at the wheel. Behind them followed with increasing distance the GS-Tuning driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck - BMW M1 and the two Group 5 Lancia Beta Montecarlo by Riccardo Patrese and Hans Heyer . Siegfried Brunn was only able to start the race with his 908 five minutes late after the start, as the mechanics in the pits still had to work on the suspension.
There was an incident on the first lap, which had fatal consequences as the race progressed. Just before the Kesselchen section, Guy Edwards collided with his Lola T600 with Bobby Rahal's Porsche 935 . While Edwards was able to drive on, Rahal had to park the slightly damaged and fully fueled Porsche on the right-hand side of the track.
After Jochen Mass came to the pits on lap eight to refuel and change drivers, Stuck took the lead for one lap, then headed for the pit lane and handed the BMW over to his team-mate, the Brazilian Brabham Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet . After 14 laps of the race, Reinhold Joest was almost three minutes ahead of Piquet and Bob Wollek's Porsche 935 , who had been in the cockpit since the start when Herbert Müller's fatal accident occurred.
Herbert Müller's fatal accident
Why Herbert Müller got off the track in front of the Kesselchen and crashed into Bobby Rahal's parked Porsche could never be precisely clarified. Some pilots spoke of light rain at this point at the time of the accident. However, Müller was an experienced driver and after the driver change he had already driven past the parked Porsche a few times. Whether the accident was related to the suspension problems before the start remained pure speculation. The 908 from Brunn had a new double-walled tank, but on impact both the tank of the 908 and that of the 935 burst; a few hundred liters of gasoline ignited and turned the scene of the accident into a hell of a flame. Neither the marshals who rushed up nor the crews of four rescue vehicles were able to contain the flames. The wreck burned for 15 minutes. Herbert Müller had no chance of escaping this inferno; According to the rescue doctors, the Swiss died on impact.
The race management did not react for the time being. Only when fewer and fewer racing cars passed the start and finish line after the end of the 15th lap did it become clear to those responsible that a serious incident had occurred. Some of the pilots drove between the rescue vehicles and the burning wreck and continued the race. Others, including many amateur racers, stopped at the scene of the accident. This almost resulted in a follow-up accident. After an emergency stop, Karl-Adolf Kneip lost control of his KMW SP30 and turned left over the track barrier. But he was able to bring the car to a standstill just before the scene of the accident.
As more and more vehicles blocked the track, the race management interrupted the race after the 17th lap. At this point, it was more by chance that Nelson Piquet in the BMW M1 was in the lead, as Reinhold Joest's clearly leading Porsche was in the pits on lap 16 to refuel and change drivers. Third was Bob Wollek, whose Porsche, registered by Preston Henn , had still not changed drivers.
After the true extent of the accident became known and because the track at the scene of the accident was badly damaged by the heat, the race officials refrained from restarting. The race result after 17 laps thus became official. Since only 388 km of the total distance had been covered, only 1/2 points were awarded for the respective world championship rankings.
Norbert Przybilla and Peter Hoffmann
Curiosities can be found in the results lists for the two racing drivers Norbert Przybilla and Peter Hoffmann . Both pilots competed for different teams. On the one hand they drove the Toj SC302 with starting number 4 and on the other hand the BMW 2002 with the number 98; both vehicles retired on the third lap. In addition, both drivers were registered for the race with a McLaren M8F with starting number 5, but did not start.
Results
Final ranking
Item | class | No. | team | driver | chassis | Round | ||
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1 | Group 5 | 12th |
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BMW M1 clean | 17th | ||
2 | S + 2.0 | 1 |
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Porsche 908/80 | 17th | ||
3 | GTX + 2.0 | 27 |
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Porsche 935K3 | 17th | ||
4th | Group 5 | 17th |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | 17th | ||
5 | Group 5 | 19th |
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Porsche 935K3 | 17th | ||
6th | S + 2.0 | 2 |
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Porsche 908/3 | 16 | ||
7th | Group 5 | 20th |
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Porsche 935J | 16 | ||
8th | GTP | 15th |
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Lola T600 | 16 | ||
9 | Group 5 | 23 |
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Porsche 935K3 | 16 | ||
10 | Group 5 | 31 |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | 16 | ||
11 | Group 5 | 16 |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | 16 | ||
12th | Group 5 | 22nd |
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Porsche 935 / 77A | 16 | ||
13th | Group 5 | 14th |
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BMW M1 clean | 15th | ||
14th | GT | 38 |
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BMW M1 P | 15th | ||
15th | GT | 43 |
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Porsche 924 Carrera GTR | 15th | ||
16 | S 2.0 | 47 |
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Lola T297 | 15th | ||
17th | Group 5 | 35 |
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BMW 320i | 15th | ||
18th | GT | 44 |
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Porsche 924 Carrera GTR | 14th | ||
19th | GTU | 61 |
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Mazda RX-7 | 14th | ||
21 | S 2.0 | 46 |
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Lola T296 | 14th | ||
22nd | T | 108 |
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BMW 320i | 14th | ||
23 | Group 5 | 58 |
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Opel Ascona | 14th | ||
24 | T | 86 |
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Ford Escort RS2000 | 14th | ||
25th | T | 82 |
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Ford Escort | 14th | ||
26 | ser T 2.0 | 117 |
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Toyota Celica | 14th | ||
27 | T | 95 |
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Opel Ascona | 14th | ||
28 | T | 85 |
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Ford Escort RS2000 | 14th | ||
29 | T | 123 |
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Alfa Romeo GTV | 14th | ||
30th | T | 107 |
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BMW 2002 | 14th | ||
31 | T | 89 |
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Ford Escort RS | 14th | ||
32 | T | 114 |
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BMW 2002 | 14th | ||
33 | Group 5 | 24 |
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BMW M1 | 14th | ||
34 | GT | 40 |
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Porsche 930 | 14th | ||
35 | T | 90 |
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Ford Escort | 14th | ||
36 | T | 92 |
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Opel Cadet | 14th | ||
37 | T | 87 |
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Ford Escort | 14th | ||
38 | T | 93 |
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Opel Ascona | 13th | ||
39 | Group 5 | 42 |
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Porsche 935L1 | 13th | ||
40 | T | 105 |
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Opel Ascona | 13th | ||
41 | ser T + 2.0 | 73 |
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Opel Monza | 13th | ||
42 | GT | 39 |
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Porsche 930 | 13th | ||
43 | S 2.0 | 51 |
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Lola T290 | 13th | ||
44 | S + 2.0 | 9 |
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KMW SP30 | 12th | ||
45 | Group 5 | 60 |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | 11 | ||
46 | Group 5 | 34 |
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Porsche 934 | 11 | ||
Not classified | ||||||||
47 | GT | 41 |
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Porsche 930 | 10 | ||
48 | T | 97 |
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BMW 2002 | 8th | ||
Failed | ||||||||
49 | S + 2.0 | 3 |
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Porsche 908/3 | 13th | ||
50 | ser T 2.0 | 119 |
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Audi 80 | 12th | ||
51 | S 2.0 | 50 |
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Vogue SP2 | 12th | ||
52 | S 2.0 | 54 |
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Toj SC206 | 9 | ||
53 | S 2.0 | 55 |
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Landar LRB | 9 | ||
53 | S 2.0 | 56 |
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Opel Cadet | 9 | ||
54 | S + 2.0 | 6th |
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Toj SC306 | 8th | ||
55 | Group 5 | 21 |
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Porsche 935/77 | 8th | ||
56 | Group 5 | 36 |
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BMW 320i | 8th | ||
57 | Group 5 | 45 |
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Toj SC205 | 8th | ||
58 | GT | 37 |
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BMW M1 | 5 | ||
59 | T | 84 |
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Ford Escort RS | 5 | ||
60 | S + 2.0 | 4th |
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Toj SC302 | 3 | ||
61 | S 2.0 | 48 |
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Chevron B36 | 3 | ||
62 | T | 88 |
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Ford Escort | 3 | ||
63 | T | 98 |
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BMW 2002 | 3 | ||
64 | T | 81 |
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Ford Escort | 2 | ||
65 | T | 111 |
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BMW 320i | 2 | ||
66 | Group 5 | 25th |
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Porsche 935K3 | 1 | ||
Not started | ||||||||
67 | S + 2.0 | 7th |
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Chevron B31 | 1 | ||
68 | S + 2.0 | 8th |
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McLaren M8 | 2 | ||
69 | Group 5 | 11 |
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Ford Capri | 3 | ||
70 | Group 5 | 18th |
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Ferrari 308GTB | 4th | ||
71 | ser T + 2.0 | 71 |
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Ford Capri | 5 | ||
Not qualified | ||||||||
72 | T | 64 |
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Opel Monza | 6th | ||
73 | T | 65 |
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BMW 530i | 7th | ||
74 | T | 66 |
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Talbot Sunbeam | 8th | ||
75 | T | 83 |
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Ford Escort RS | 9 | ||
76 | T | 91 |
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Opel Ascona | 10 | ||
77 | T | 94 |
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Opel Cadet | 11 | ||
78 | T | 102 |
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BMW 2002 | 12th | ||
79 | T | 104 |
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Opel Cadet | 13th | ||
80 | T | 106 |
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BMW 2002 | 14th | ||
81 | T | 109 |
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Opel Kadett GT / E | 15th | ||
82 | T | 112 |
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BMW 2002 | 16 | ||
83 | T | 113 |
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VW Golf GTi | 17th | ||
84 | T | 115 |
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BMW 2002 | 18th | ||
85 | T | 116 |
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BMW 2002 | 19th | ||
86 | T | 118 |
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VW Golf | 20th | ||
87 | T | 120 |
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BMW 320i | 21 |
1 change of car before the race 2 not started 3 engine failure in warm-up 4 not started 5 not started 6 not qualified 7 not qualified 8 not qualified 9 not qualified 10 not qualified 11 not qualified 12 not qualified 13 not qualified 14 not qualified 15 not qualified 16 not qualified 17 not qualified 18 not qualified 19 not qualified 20 not qualified 21 not qualified
Only in the entry list
Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for various reasons.
Item | class | No. | team | driver | chassis |
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88 | S + 2.0 | 5 |
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McLaren M8F |
89 | Group 5 | 32 |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | |
90 | Group 5 | 33 |
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Lancia Beta Montecarlo | |
91 | GT | 49 |
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Porsche 934 |
92 | S 2.0 | 52 |
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Lola T212 |
93 | S 2.0 | 56 |
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Lola T290 |
94 | S 2.0 | 57 |
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Lola T390 |
95 | S 2.0 | 59 |
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Lola T298 |
96 | GTU | 62 |
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Mazda RX-7 |
97 | T | 63 |
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Opel Commodore |
98 | T | 67 |
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Renault R5 |
99 | LM GTX | 72 |
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Ford Escort |
100 | LM GTX | 74 |
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Audi 100 |
101 | LM GTX | 75 |
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Renault R5 |
102 | T | 96 |
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Alfa Romeo GTV |
103 | T | 99 |
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BMW 2002 |
104 | T | 100 |
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Ford Escort RS |
105 | T | 101 |
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BMW 2002 |
106 | T | 110 |
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BMW 2002 |
107 | T | 121 |
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Opel Cadet |
108 | T | 121 |
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VW Scirocco |
109 | T | 124 |
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VW Golf GTi |
Class winner
Racing data
- Registered: 109
- Started: 66
- Rated: 46
- Race classes: 10
- Spectator: Unknown
- Race day weather: Warm and dry at the beginning, light drizzle from the tenth lap
- Route length: 22.835 km
- Driving time of the winning team: 2:16: 50.860 hours
- Overall laps of the winning team: 17
- Total distance of the winning team: 388.195 km
- Winner's average: 170.202 km / h
- Pole position: Manfred Winkelhock - Ford Capri (# 11) - 7,18,490 - 187.475 km / h
- Fastest race lap: Jochen Mass - Porsche 908/80 (# 1) - 7.33.530 - 181.258 km / h
- Racing series: 7th round of the sports car world championship in 1981
literature
- Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
- Michael Behrndt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC 1000 km race. HEEL Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-89880-903-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ see first paragraph
- ↑ to the last race by Herbert Müller
- ↑ Training times for the German Grand Prix 1976 ( Memento from May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ see third paragraph
- ↑ on the death of Herbert Müller
- ^ The reports from Przybilla and Hoffmann
- ^ The reports from Przybilla and Hoffmann
Previous race 6 Hours of Silverstone 1981 |
Sports car world championship |
Succession race 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans |