Auto Racing Commentary

Between Wolfgang Von Trips' 1961 title bid and Michael Schumacher's first title in 1994, German drivers went through a long drought in Formula 1. That, coming from a nation that utterly dominated GP racing in the second half of the 30's, must have been a blow. German drivers during this interval usually did well in long-distance racing, hill climbs, touring cars and even in Formula 2. In fact, German drivers had been runner up in the European Formula 2 championship two years running, 1973 and 1974 (Jochen Mass and Hans Joachim Stuck), during a highly competitive era. During a short spell, between the Spanish Grand Prix of 1975 and the U.S. Grand Prix East of 1977, the three main German drivers of the time rehearsed a bit of a reaction, that did not really come to fruition. All three, Jochen Mass, Rolf Stommelen and Hans Stuck, lead a Grand Prix in that period. Plus Jochen won the first half Grand Prix of the history of the sport. Most unusually, Jochen Mass's sing...

I have to confess that the BMW 3.0 CSL is a car that totally strikes my fancy. To me, it is the super BMW of all time, in fact, the car that really brought BMW to the fore in automobile racing. It won a few European Touring Car Championships, starting in 1973, with Toine Hezemans, and most of the races between 1973 and 1980. In Group 2 configuration, it also raced in the the World Championship of Makes, beating quite a few lighter prototypes, and it also raced in Group 5 in 1976, winning three races. The car was also used in IMSA in 1975, winning Sebring, with Brian Redman in the crew, and a few other races with Hans Stuck. The car was also used in the DRM and various touring car series. The car beat competition from Ford, Mercedes, Jaguar, Chevrolet, Opel, and whoever else dared to race against it in the ETC. A number of great drivers raced it, among them Jacky Ickx, Dieter Quester, Vittorio Brambilla, Henri Pescarolo, Ronnie Peterson, Hans Stuck, John Fitzpatrick, Tom Walkins...