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Charlie Wooding shows us the highlights of this event which took place August 11-13 2017. Race results below:
Michael Lyons gets victory in wet first FIA Masters Historic Formula One race, as Martin Stretton is disqualified from first place
Despite limping across the line in second place, Michael Lyons (Williams FW07B) was declared the winner of the first FIA Masters Historic Formula One race at a very wet Nürburgring. Lyons was handed first place after Martin Stretton’s winning Tyrrell 012 failed the ride-height check in post-race scrutineering.
Greg Thornton (Lotus 77) claimed third place in class but fought hard against Jamie Constable, whose Brabham BT37 was third from lap 5 on, and easily won the Stewart class for pre-72 cars. The two also had Fred Lajoux’s Arrows A1 and Steve Hartley’s Arrows A4 to contend with, which made their race even more interesting.
In race 2 – Martin Stretton (Tyrrell 012) made amends by taking victory in the second FIA Masters Historic Formula One race at the Nürburgring. Stretton fought off an early challenge from Loïc Deman’s Tyrrell 010 and confidently stretched his lead again after a mid-race safety-car period.
Championship leader and Saturday’s winner Michael Lyons (Williams FW07B) was forced to withdraw from Sunday’s race. A cracked gearbox casing sustained halfway into yesterday’s race meant that he was out for the weekend.
Gans/Wolfe beat Julian Thomas in entertaining Stena Line Masters Gentlemen Drivers race
Michael Gans and Andy Wolfe prevailed in a battle with Julian Thomas’ Jaguar E-type to win the Stena Line Masters Gentlemen Drivers race at the Nürburgring. Their pole-sitting AC Cobra led from the start but saw Thomas charge past on lap 12 and was then kept in the pits for longer to have its rear tyres changed after Michael Gans’ opening stint. On fresh rear rubber, Andy Wolfe had the legs of his rival to overtake Thomas on lap 22 and then pull out a gap of about seven seconds to take the win.
Keith Ahlers and Billy Bellinger won the C2 class in their Morgan SLR after a long fight with the Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus/Jeremy Welch Austin Healey 3000. When Nyblaeus was another to be hit with a drivethrough penalty, Ahlers was in the clear. The Nyblaes/Welch penalty consequently helped Mark Pangborn claim second in class in his Healey 3000.
Ferrão/Stretton claim second FIA Masters Historic Sports Car win of the season
After their wet win at Magny-Cours, Diogo Ferrão and Martin Stretton (Lola T292) doubled up at the Nürburgring to claim their second FIA Masters Historic Sports Car win of the season. Ferrão stuck with Michael Gans’ Lola T290 throughout the first stint, after which Stretton was made to work hard to pass Gans for the lead, the latter defending bravely for four laps before Stretton was past. The race was red-flagged with 7 minutes still to go when Harms Winter’s McLaren M1A spun and blocked the track.
Jason Wright took third despite a drivethrough penalty for an out-of-position start. In his private Lola T70 Mk3B battle with Mike Donovan, the Italian caught up and passed Donovan after 20 laps, even though he couldn’t quite shake the blue-and-yellow Lola off. Afterwards, Donovan said he was hamstrung by an engine misfire that gave him 500 revs less.
