Round 6: Norisring 200 Miles, Norisring street circuit, Nuremberg, Germany, June 28th, 1987

From the longest race of the year, to the shortest, and from the French countryside, to the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, we travel to the Norisring for the annual “Super Sprint” race.  There are two 180 kilometer (120 mile) races, to take place on “the magic roundabout”.  73,000 fans pack the decaying Nazi Party rally grounds, to see the fight between Porsche and Jaguar.  Mercedes, once again, is the wildcard for these races, as they have been at varying points of the season so far.  Less the 2.5is formed up behind the Porsche 959 safety car.  Before we race, let’s have a look at the grid.

1. #17 Stuck/Bell Porsche 962C     Porsche AG
2. #7 Ludwig/Wollek Porsche 962C     Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
3. #61 Thackwell/Reuter Sauber C9 Mercedes  Formel Rennsportclub
4. #4 Cheever/Boesel Jaguar XJR8  Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #1 Brun/Pareja/Schafer Porsche 962C Brun Motorsport*
6. #10 Weidler/Nissen Porsche 962C  Porsche Kremer Racing
7. #5 Lammers/Watson Jaguar XJR8  Silk Cut Jaguar
8. #3 Larrauri/Mass/Pareja Porsche 962C  Brun Motorsport*
9. #15 Baldi/Palmer Porsche 962C  Liqui Moly Equipe
10. #2 Mass/Larrauri/Sigala Porsche 962C Brun Motorsport*
11. #8 Winter/Dickens/van der Merwe Porsche 962C Joest Racing*
12. #14 Konrad/Giacomelli/de Cesaris Porsche 962C Mussato Action Car*
13. #31 Dauer/Dumfries Porsche 962C Victor-Dauer Racing
14. #9 Ludwig/Jelinski Porsche 962C Blaupunkt Joest Racing
15. #72 Lassig/Yver Porsche 962C Primagaz Competition
16. #117 Hoy/Schanche Argo JM19B Zakspeed  Schanche Racing
17. #111 Velez/Spice Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth Spice Engineering
18. #112 Bellm/Adams Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth Spice Engineering
19. #34 Lechner/Franzmeier Porsche 962C Walter Lechner Racing
20. #114 Thyrring/Sheldon Tiga GC287 Ford Cosworth Tiga Ford DK
21. #104 Seher/Mundas URD C81/2 BMW URD Juniorenteam
22. #106 GLellini/Randaccio Tiga GC85 Ford Cosworth Kelmar Racing
23. #119 Becker/Cordlandwehr Lola T600 BMW  Karl-Heinz Becker
24. #102 Mallock/Leslie/Wilds Ecosse C286 Ford Cosworth Swiftair Ecurie Ecosse*
25. #101 Percy/Wilds Ecosse C286 Ford Cosworth Swiftair Ecurie Ecosse*
26. #103 Wilson/Bartlett Bardon DB1/2 Ford Cosworth John Bartlett Racing
27. #121 Los/Wood Tiga GC287 Ford Cosworth P. Motorsport#
28. #200 Manthey/Heinzelmann Argo JM19 Porsche Dahm Cars Racing%

*Denotes the car was disqualified for starting illegally, both Swiftair Ecosse cars.

% denotes the car didn’t qualify for the races.

Bob Wollek and Hans Stuck share the front row.  It’s Blaupunkt/Joest vs. the factory, with sponsorship for this race from Dunlop tires and Shell Oil.  Mercedes and Jaguar, are then followed by Kremer Porsche and Brun Porsche.  Will Hoy is on C2 pole as the West German flag waves, and we are racing at Norisring!  This is heat one, and Bob Wollek takes the race lead straight away.  On the run to turn one, Mike Thackwell goes around Hans Stuck.  Cheever, Larrauri, and Walter Brun follow, along with Mauro Baldi.  Fermin Velez is fifth in C2, down the order in the division.  This is not like him.  He’s normally towards the front end of the grid.

Mike Thackwell is giving Bob Wollek a tough run for his money, taking the lead of the motor race on the start/finish straightaway.  The big turbo V8 in the Mercedes is the engine to have.  Stuck takes aim at Wollek, look.  This is home territory for both, as Wollek is an Alsatian Frenchman, from Strasbourg, and Stuck is a native Bavarian.  Eddie Cheever and Oscar Larrauri, the two of them, are scrapping away for the fourth spot.  Stuck is still hounding Wollek, and the battle is simmering too, between Mauro Baldi and Jochen Mass.  Jan Lammers follows in the Jaguar, with a keen eye on all of this action.

Larrauri biffs Stuck off the road in the Grundig hairpin, and both cars slide in, locked together.  A livid Stuck, loses time trying to find reverse after his punter, continues on in the race.  A moment of argy bargy between the two Porsche pilots.  Wollek, Cheever, and Baldi are all moving up because of Stuck and Larrauri’s dust up.  Jochen Mass runs fifth.  Baldi then puts the Richard Lloyd Porsche into third place.  The Jaguar’s have to fight amongst themselves for fourth place.  It’s Eddie Cheever vs. Jan Lammers.  Mike Thackwell is passed by Bob Wollek, and now, the Englishman is falling into the clutches of Baldi as well.

Mauro Baldi dives for second, and Cheever is also right there, as is Hans Stuck who recovered from the earlier Larrauri shemozzle.  Ray Bellm and Spice are going to win in C2.  Mike Thackwell is soon to stop.  He is dealing with heat exhaustion which is no fun for a racing driver.  The Mercedes team doctors are sure to look after him and make sure he gets proper fluids, as the Mauro Baldi and Bob Wollek story continues to be written.  Stuck is third, but the complexion of the race will change when Wollek’s gas tank runs on empty.  Mauro Baldi wins!  Hans Stuck and Frank Jelinski complete the podium, and in C2, Ray Bellm is headed for the win.

Now, we move to the second race, with the second listed drivers in the cars.  Klaus Ludwig leads Johnny Palmer, Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, and Kris Nissen.  Swiftair Ecosse takes the C2 lead with the #102 car, David Leslie at the controls.  Ludwig, Mass, Palmer, and Bell are the top four.  Bell has to finish in second in this race to get the overall win at Norisring.  The V12 Jaguar’s howl past the tribune grandstands, and after Eddie Cheever had fuel issues, Raul Boesel takes over the #4.  For the sister #5, it’s game over.  A broken driveshaft sidelines Jan Lammers and John Watson.  Bell is on a mission, taking third place away from Mass.

Ludwig leads followed by Palmer, Bell, Boesel, Mass, and in C2, the battle is for second between Fermin Velez and Nick Adams in the Spice’s.  Palmer is putting daylight between himself and Bell.  Raul Boesel is catching the factory Porsche.  But none of this scrapping matters to Klaus Ludwig.  He’s ahead by a country mile.  Ditto for David Leslie, who is well clear of the tussle for second in C2 among the Spices.  In the overall standings, Raul Boesel puts himself ahead of Derek Bell.  Never saw that coming.  He gets by Palmer, and now, he’s going to chase down Ludwig.  Leading by a country mile?  Uh… I don’t think so.  Message to Klaus Ludwig… push, push, push, Boesel is coming, and fast.  One Jaguar, two Porsche’s, three phenomenal drivers.  Jochen Mass has had to relinquish the chase as he languishes in fifth.  More passing, as Derek Bell goes back by Johnny Palmer.  Bell runs into mechanical/electrical issues just before the end of the race.  A broken flywheel has left him sans electronics in the 962.  It’s game over for the five-time Le Mans winner.

Palmer will finish third, which is all he needs after Baldi won the first race.  Klaus Ludwig wins race two at Norisring followed by Boesel in the Jaguar.  Spice and Velez take their fifth 1987 victory, with second in both races.  Let’s look at the combined top ten from the Norisring Super Sprint.

1. #15 Baldi//Palmer Porsche 962C GTi      Liqui Moly Equipe
2. #3 Larrauri/Mass Porsche 962C              Brun Motorsport
3. #8 Winter/Dickens Porsche 962C             Joest Racing
4. #4 Cheever/Boesel Jaguar XJR8                                Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #72 Lassig/Yver Porsche 962C              Primagaz Competition
6. #111 Ve;lez/Spice Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth  Spice Engineering*
7. #102 Mallock/Leslie Ecosse C286 Ford Cosworth  Swiftair Ecurie Ecosse
8. #112 Bellm/Adams Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth   Spice Engineering
9. #106 Gellini/Randaccio Tiga GC285 Ford Cosworth  Kelmar Racing
10. #1 Brun/Pareja Porsche 962C  Brun Motorsport

The next race is the Brands Hatch 1,000 Kilometers in Kent, England, in a shade less than a month.  We are well into the second half of the 1987 WSC campaign.