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Racereport 2003 / 05 Colmar Berg


Peter I of Luxembourg

 

 

 

“ I do not know if I should reveal it all,” Peter Kroeber (Kettenheim) mused, but then granted closer looks behind the scenes after all. “We have improved the suspension and now use other shock absorbers as well as other springs.” The result speaks for itself. With his Lotus Elan (1965), Kroeber dominated the Training and both the races as well in the fifth round of the FIA-GTC’65. Nevertheless, he spoke with full respect for his Elan-rival – Bo Warmenius (S): “Bo has great experience with this car and I naturally can’t catch up that fast”.

 

The Swede is the title defender of the FIA-GTC’65 and also came as the classification point leader to the Circuit Goodyear in Colmar Berg, the testing circuit for the tyre producer in Luxemberg. But during this weekend, nothing could be done about Peter Kroeber. “Well, I was stuck behind Hans-Jürgen Malsbenden’s Corvette,” the discontented Warmenius said. “Overtaking is almost impossible on this course – not with an Elan against a Corvette.” Warmenius still leads the classification table with 82 points and is 11 points ahead of Hans-Jürgen Malsbenden.

 

 

 

Duel of the weekend between Voßhenrich and Antonacci

 

 

 

Hans-Jürgen Malsbenden (Kaltenengers) was thoroughly unlucky in the first race. He started off from the third position with an open Corvette Sting Ray and slid onto the grass even in the first round. From here he started a hot pursuit towards the front that earned him a fourth overall position. But due to a heavy thunderstorm, the race had to be ended prematurely after three quarters of the distance had been covered. Malsbenden won in his class beating the local hero Rene Weidig (L/Aspelt) in a Coupe version of the Corvette Sting Ray.

 

In the second race, there was the same result in the class over 2.500 cc. The “Corvette captains” though won the overall third and fourth places. Jaap Sinke (NL) demonstrated a strong performance in his Austin Healey 3000. The Dutch scored the best points in the categorie for cars built up to 1961 in both races. Udo Voßhenrich (Bad Salzuflen) with his Lotus Elite S 2 (1961) fought a fantastic duel with Walter Antonacci (I) in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI Spider (1957. In the first race, Antonacci was able to keep the upper hand but in the second, Voßhenrich was able to top him. The Lotus-driver now leads in the interim scoring after five out of eight FIA-GTC’65 Races before Ad Vermeulen (NL) in his rare Renault Alpine A 108 (1961).

 

 

 

Warmenius and Turebrand in their element

 

 

 

Bo Warmenius (S) and Gunnar Turebrand (S) demonstrated their prowess on a wet course in the One Hour Race of the FIA-TC’65 in Colmar Berg, the fifth out of 8 races of the FIA European Challenge for Historic Touring Cars up to 1965. Warmenius started from the second position, but took over the leadership within the first few metres and did not let up until the finish. Dieter-Karl Anton (A) won the fight for the pole position with a super fast last round in the Qualifying but during the race, he could not counter any more with his Alfa Romeo GTA and had to make do with a second place.

 

Mikael and Carl Gustavsson (both S) inherited the third place from Chris Sanders and Kerry Michael (both in Ford Lotus Cortina) because due to a spin, the Brits lost a lot of time. In the larger class over 2.500 cc, Nigel Vaulkhard and John Smirthwaite (both GB), secured the class win and strengthened their second place in the Championship. Reinhold Gröpper became second before Erwin Derichs (D)/Manfred Kubik (A) and Fritz Vogel/Beat Müller (both CH) as well, who saved their “wounded” Ford Mustang over the distance.

 


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