Oldtimer Grand Prix

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The Oldtimer Grand Prix for historic motorcycles and automobiles was a motorsport event at the Salzburgring . It took place regularly between 1975 and 1987. In 1994, 1996 and 1997 there were other events, but with less participation than in the first time.

Emergence

Up until the first Austrian Oldtimer Grand Prix in 1975, streets or circuits could only be closed for such events for a short time without permanently hindering traffic. It was not until the opening of the Salzburgring in 1969 as a permanent race track at the gates of the city of Salzburg that races with historic vehicles became possible.

In the 1960s, motor veterans clubs were set up to promote interest in old automobiles and motorcycles. While there have been events on permanent racetracks in England for a long time, historic racing events have now also started in Germany on the Nürburgring (1973) and the Hockenheimring .

In Salzburg, in cooperation with the “MVCS Motorveteranen Club Salzburg” under the leadership of Helmut Krackowizer and the “ Salzburg Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club ”, SAMTC for short, the “1. Competition for the Castrol Austria Trophy in memoriam Rupert Karner “ takes place at the Salzburgring, initially only for motorcycles. It was not until 1976 that there were also runs for automobiles.

There had already been a veteran rally in the state of Salzburg beforehand: the “5th Int. Motor veterans rally for the blue Danube Cup of MARTHA ”took place from September 18th to 20th, 1970. The route led from Salzburg to Glasenbach , where the first time stage began, which led via Hallein and Wiestal to the paddock at the Salzburgring. The next time stage led from Fuschl am See to St. Gilgen over to Mondsee, the next started in Zell am Moos and went via Straßwalchen , Neumarkt and Köstendorf to Mattsee , where a “rural snack at Braugasthof Sigl ” in Obertrum followed. The last stage finally began in Obertrum and brought the participants via Elixhausen , Lengfelden, Bergheim and Plainbrücke to their destination in Salzburg- Itzling at the ARAL "MARTHA" petrol station in Raiffeisenstrasse. This rally took place again in 1975.

After 1994 there was again the "Oldtimer Grand Prix" at the Salzburgring in 1996 and 1997, but organized by ARBÖ Salzburg. The character of the event had been adapted to the development of the times: There were races of the "European Challenge for Historic Touring Cars", Grand Tourisme championship races and motorcycle races. However, with only 48 participants, the latter were less crowded than the events in the 1970s and 1980s.

background

General

In 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987, collectors and active and former racing drivers met at the Salzburgring, initially only for a Sunday in May - later for a weekend in late August or early September. There were competitions for automobiles and for motorcycles, each subdivided into year and displacement classes. They were regularity competitions: a time or speed that was measured after a starting lap had to be driven three more laps, if possible without deviations. So there was a run for five laps, 4.2 km per lap. There were two runs per class. The winner was the one who had the smallest time difference.

The first participants arrived in the paddock on Friday afternoon. Saturday was dedicated to the technical acceptance (safety and brand control) and training, Sunday was dedicated to the two regularity runs. Up to 10,000 spectators came to the ring on these weekends.

The first event on May 5, 1974 took place in pouring rain. In 1979, on the weekend of September 8th and 9th, two anniversaries were celebrated: “50 years of the Gaisbergrennen ” (the last one took place in 1968) and “40 years of Schorsch Meier's TT victory” and the 25th anniversary of the death of the only one Austrian motorcycle solo world champion Rupert Hollaus (September 11, 1954).

In the 1990s, the “Oldtimer Grand Prix” had to be discontinued due to stricter noise protection regulations in the state of Salzburg. In addition, the Austrian Supreme Sports Commission, OSK, tried to prevent the last event in 1994 shortly before the start with an old passage from sports legislation: According to this, only a maximum average speed of 50 km / h was permitted at veteran events. In 1981, however, top speeds of 200 km / h had already been reached and average speeds of 137 km / h had been achieved.

Helmut Krackowizer in an interview with Andy Schwietzer after the event in 1994: "... we drove the event and in the end we excluded all participants in order to comply with the regulations of the OSK ..." - this is how the Austrian Oldtimer Grand Prix ended.

Known participants

Automobiles

motorcycles

  • "Wiggerl" Kraus and his "lubricant" Bernhard Huser - former BMW team driver, five-time German champions
  • Jock West (GB), BMW factory driver 1937–1939
  • Franz Falk from Graz
  • Georg "Schorsch" Meier from Bavaria
  • Fritz Walcher, winner of the first post-war race in October 1946 in Salzburg-Nonntal
  • the Salzburg brothers Ferdinand and Edi Kranawetvogl, both former motorcycle racers
  • Siegfried Cmyral , who piloted the legendary Kompressor-Puch from 1929 to 1932
  • August "Gustl" Hobl , DKW factory driver in the 1950s, multiple German champion
  • František Šťastný , Vice World Champion from Czechoslovakia
  • Hans Haldemann Norton team driver from Switzerland
  • Walter Zeller from Hammerau, Bavaria , Germany, former BMW works driver and multiple German champion as well as one runner-up world champion
  • Erwin Lechner , Austria, seven-time motorcycle state champion
  • Attended in 1979: Reinhard Hollaus, the brother of the only Austrian motorcycle world champion Rupert Hollaus , who was killed in an accident in 1954 , drove the Hollaus NSU "Rennfox" 125 cc, with which Rupert became world champion
  • Nello Pagani

spectator

Prominent spectators also came, for example Prof. Eberan von Eberhorst , a respected Austrian engineer who was primarily involved in the development and construction of Grand Prix racing cars for the Auto Union , Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the former BMW Design engineers Schleicher and Klaus von Rücker, the two internationally known motorcycle experts Helmut Hütten and HW Bönsch.

Well-known Salzburgers were also active behind the scenes, for example government councilor Friedrich Stengl, head of timekeeping (his father, Franz Stengl, was already racing director at the Großglockner automobile and motorcycle races in 1935, 1938 and 1939, as well as at the Gaisberg races until 1932 Son Manfred Stengl successful motorcycle racer and luge athlete).

vehicles

Automobiles

  • In 1981 there was a “Silver Arrow” from Mercedes-Benz, with which Herrmann Lang became European Champion in 1939. This 3-liter supercharged car with almost 500 hp brought Niki Lauda back to the racetrack.
  • In 1981 the oldest car was the Mercedes-Benz with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder supercharged engine from 1924, which came from the Deutsches Museum in Munich and became famous as the winning vehicle of the 1924 Targa Florio .
  • In 1981 a Talbot Lago Grand Prix car from 1949, the “Delahaye Sport”, driven by Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, was one of the “gems”.
  • In 1981 Helmut Schellenberg drove a Bugatti 35 C, in which Prince Lobkowitz took part in the Gaisberg race in 1930 and caused a spectacular accident.

Other vehicles u. a. for automobiles:
an Austro Daimler ADM (1924), DKW F1 racing car (1930), Rolls-Royce 20/25 hp from 1934, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL from 1952, a Stanguellini Formula Junior 1959 (Stanguellini is in Modena, Italy, Niki Lauda once drove a racing car from this manufacturer).

motorcycles

  • Reinhard Hollaus drove the NSU Rennfox 125 cc, with which his brother Rupert became world champion.
  • Ivan Rhodes (GB) launched the only existing and roadworthy 500 cc factory Velocette in 1974, with the before 1939 Stanley Woods (GB), the ten-time TT winner, the half-liter Nortons with Jimmie Guthrie , Freddie Frith and Harold Daniell made winning difficult.
  • In 1974, Hans Wilhelm Busch (FRG) brought an eight-valve V-2-cylinder Wanderer from 1925 to Salzburg.
  • 1981 saw a factory NSU-350-cm³ from 1937 with the last double-cam engine from Walter Moore , the English designer of the NSU-Königswellen-Renner until 1938. It was restored and driven by Heinz Metzmeier from Baden.
  • In 1981 Günther Warnecke from Bremen came with the rare 500 Rudge -TT-Replica 350 cm³ that he had built and driven by his son .
  • 1987: Michael Krauser jun. brought the ex-world championship BMW sidecar machine from Deubel / Hörner from 1961.
  • 1987: The fast German Erwin Bongards drove the fully faired Moto Guzzi with a twin-camshaft single-cylinder engine from 1955.

There was also a Scott TT 500 from 1926, Puch 250 Sport from 1928, Megola 640 5-cylinder from 1923, DKW 350 SS from 1939 and many Rudge motorcycles. The range of brands began with Ariel and AJS and extended to Brough Superior , BSA , Calthorpe , DKW , D-Rad , Douglas , DSH, Gillet Herstal , Humber, Harley-Davidson , Moto Guzzi , Megola , Norton , New Imperial , NSU , Puch , Raleigh , Rudge , Schüttoff , Standard , Velocette , and Wimmer to Zenith (the list is incomplete).

Sponsors

Even then, such an event would not have been possible without the generous support of companies. The automobile part ran under the title “Mercedes-Benz Cup”, later renamed the “Mercedes-Benz Trophy Alfred Neubauer”, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Austria, and the motorcycle part under the title “Castrol Austria Trophy”, sponsored by Castrol Austria. Of course there were a number of other sponsors such as B. the Austrian BMW importer Wolfgang Denzel.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MVCS - website: Club portrait. (No longer available online.) At: www.mvcs.at , archived from the original on January 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mvcs.at
  2. ↑ a b Speedweek - website: 40 years of the Salzburgring. From: www.speedweek.de , July 14, 2009, accessed on January 7, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Mein District.at - Website: Niki Lauda and Helmut Krackowizer at one of the Oldtimer Grand Prix in the 1980s at the Salzburgring. From: www.meiniertel.at , accessed on September 5, 2013 .