1977 | Rd.08 - Grosser Preis von Deutschland | Division 1 + 2

"This support race to the German GP was held on saturday. Prestige was at stake, with most of the F1 grid watching the race. Division 1 Apart from the usual suspects, Schnitzer presented a challenger for the Porsche 935: a turbocharged Toyota Celica, its engine surprisingly identical to a BMW 2-litre. 560 HP, 860 kg - but the car was untested and ran into all sorts of problems. Pole was clocked by Schurti, while teammate Dören slaugtered yet another turbo - number 25 in 18 months... Wollek qualified second, Stommelen third after trying a longtail-935.The start was later than expected, rainshowers: slicks, then wets, finally slicks. Wollek seemed to jump the start but braked, Schurti was irritated and missed the start curve completely - he had to rejoin at the tail of the field. Stommelen was in the lead now, followed by Wollek who had a close battle with Schenken. He dicided this in his favor, and passed Stommelen after a while when the bespectacled Gelo-driver lost a bit of power. At the finish, the order was Wollek, Stommelen and Schenken. Dören blew turbo number 16, by the way. Division 2 Four weeks after the disappointing debut of the baby Porsche, they had improved the car considerably in the mean time. A smaller turbocharger and some other secret improvements - and Ickx was in better shape as well. Since Hockenheim was a track destined for the turbos, the order after qualifying was Ickx, Hennige and Krebs. Even a longtail on the Zakspeed Escort could not improve matters. Fastest of the non-turbo cars was Surer, despite the forthcoming penalty from his Norisring driving: his license would be suspended - for two months, and loss of all his championship points. A harsh verdict, even his competitors found. Later in the year, he would get his points back - apart from the Norisring. One minute behind Division 1, the 2-litres take the start, minus Krebs who lost his engine in the warm-up. Ickx took the lead, Hennige followed but spun after a touch of Junior. Heyer was the only one who was more or less capable of following Ickx, but he retired after 10 laps - blown engine. Ickx won with ease, but behind him the Junior-trio fought it out with Grohs and Hahne. Grohs fell back with power loss, Hahne lost his clutch. Hezemans, who had been able to keep his position between Heyer but in front of the Juniors retired after his Belt-driven BDA was just a DA now. Finally, the Juniors finished in the order Winkelhock-Cheever-Surer - but way behind Ickx. And not without incidents: Cheever wasn’t happy the way Winkelhock had driven, and when Surer came close the Swiss driver found himself in the catch fencing after a bump from the American... PS: The #18 on the Division 2 grid is missing; I was at Hockenheim at the time, and I have an unclear recollection of seeing Klaus Ludwig in the second Hezemans/Grab car. Perhaps he clocked 18th time?" Frank De Jong, March 4th 1959 - March 10th 2018