96 replies to this topic

[Paul Taylor]

To add some visual media to Uechtel's excellent, excellent biographies of the 1952 German GP "local" entrants. Most photographs courtesy of Revs.

 

#121 - Fritz Rieß

 

 

#122 - Theo Helfrich

 

 

#123 - Willi Heeks

 

 

#124 - Helmut Niedermayr

 

 

#125 - Toni Ulmen

 

 

#126 - Adolf Brudes

 

 

#127 - Paul Pietsch

 

 

#128 - Hans Klenk

 

 

#129 and #130 - Josef Peters and 'Bernd Nacke' (Karl-Günther Bechem)

 

 

#130 - Bernd Nacke (Karl-Günther Bechem)

 

 

#131 - Ludwig Fischer (File Photo - Not taken at Germany 1952)

 

 

#133 - Willi Krakau (File Photo - Not taken at Germany 1952)

 

 

#134 - Harry Merkel

 

 

#135 - Ernst Klodwig

 

 

#136 - Rudolf Krause

 

[uechtel]

#23 Willi Heeks, Veritas Meteor - see under 1952

 

#24 Theo Helfrich, Veritas RS - BMW - see under 1952

 

#26 Oswald Karch, Veritas RS - BMW: Oswald Karch was obviously member of a comrade group of drivers from an area called 'Electorial Palatinate' in the South-West of Germany, to which also belonged Theo Helfrich. In company with him Karch would be a frequent guest on the circuits in West and East Germany with his Veritas RS sports car. As far as I could figure it out his first start was in 1949 at Hockenheim, which was not too far to travel from his home at Oggersheim. In contrast to what is repeated over and over again in the internet - including German Wikipedia - I also could not figure out any start (or even entry) in the Formula 2 class before 1953 and also never found any reference to an 'Eigenbau' he allegedly should have driven (any information on this would be always welcome!). During 1949 and 1950 his results were rather mediocre and would not exceed a couple of fifth places before he came second in 1951 at the East German Sachsenring. In 1952 he even won the sports car class at Leipzig, but there had been only four cars in the race. But also with a nice fourth place at the supporting sports car race of the 1952 German Grand Prix the performance curve pointed slightly upward, which he could confirm with a further second place at another appearance at the Sachsenring. Like many other of his sports car driver colleagues he had to switch into Formula 2 for 1953 in order to keep racing the Veritas and so he finally became a Grand Prix driver. In that season he also made a long tour to Monsanto / Portugal to start in his first international race outside Germany, followed by a similar journey to Morocco for the 12 hour sports car race in December. When Formula 2 also ended in 1953 Karch still made a couple of starts with the Veritas in East Germany, but had also bought a Cooper for Formula 3 which he raced until 1958.

[uechtel]

The next one fits the other thread...

 

#28 Theo Fitzau, AFM "Model 1950" - BMW: Theo Fitzau was running a soap fabrication at Köthen (near Dessau) in the Soviet Zone, who obviously knew Arthur Rosenhammer well, one of the central persons of East German motorsport. In 1949 Fitzau started his career in the 'midget' class (the German counterpart to the international 500 cc movement for 'homebuilt' racecars up to 750 cc, both, supercharged or not) in Rosenhammer´s self-built ARO Special. Parallel to this he also appeared with a quite production-like BMW 328 during 1950, interestingly in the Formula 2 class! When Rosenhammer got busy involved in the job as team director and leading driver of the East German national "Rennkollektiv" team in 1951 Fitzau took over his Alfa Romeo-powered Veritas as well, which he promptly renamed into "DRS"-Veritas, standing for his sobriquet 'Der rasende Seifensieder' (the speeding soap boiler), and in which his results were getting noteworthy. Perhaps because of his connections with Rosenhammer he was also invited by the Rennkollektiv to make the journey to the Eifelrennen together with the team leader, where the so-called "DAMW" cars (after the East German 'Board for Examination of Goods and Materials') had their first appearance in West Germany. Later in the season he could win the sports car race at Halle, but then, being a unloved 'capitalist' he probably fell in disfavour of the East German institutions and finally became one of the first publicly known cases of East German drivers not returning home from a journey to the West. The East German press printed some gleeful reports about his illusions to become a Mercedes works driver and how he had to face capitalism reality, homeless and close to starvation. In fact it seems that at least his driving career was quite over, with a single and final farewell start at the German Grand Prix in 1953 in Niedermayr´s AFM.

[Paul Taylor]

1953 German GP

 

#21 - Hans Stuck

 

#22 - Wolfgang Seidel

 

#23 - Willi Heeks

 

#24 - Theo Helfrich

 

#26 - Oswald Karch

 

#28 - Theo Fitzau

 

#30 - Ernst Loof

 

#31 - Erwin Bauer

 

#32 - Hans Herrmann

 

#34 - Kurt Adolff

 

#35 - Edgar Barth

 

#36 - Rudi Krause

 

#37 - Ernst Klodwig

 

#39 - Helm Glöckler

[ - No photo - ]

 

 

#41 - Karl-Günther Bechem

 

[Cavalier53]

Uechtel,

 

what a phantastic overview of this niche in motorsport history! Such ingenuity and perseverance in the complex political society in Germany East and West. This brings me to Niedermayr (post 19).

The Sokol thread refers to a deal bringing a Sokol to the West, involving a wheeler-dealer with connections East and West called Niedermayr, and a suitcase full of banknotes.

The German Wiki page (yours???) mentions he died somewhere on the Virgin Islands - a preferred holiday destination for a suitcase full of banknotes!

 

So, is this the same Niedermayr?

 

Note to self: why didn't I still watch "Helden am Steuer" featuring the Sokols and "Ohne kampf kein sieg" I bought a few months ago for my birthday, for just a few Euro's from Amazon.de

 

Jan.

[uechtel]

Uechtel,

 

what a phantastic overview of this niche in motorsport history! Such ingenuity and perseverance in the complex political society in Germany East and West. This brings me to Niedermayr (post 19).

The Sokol thread refers to a deal bringing a Sokol to the West, involving a wheeler-dealer with connections East and West called Niedermayr, and a suitcase full of banknotes.

The German Wiki page (yours???) mentions he died somewhere on the Virgin Islands - a preferred holiday destination for a suitcase full of banknotes!

 

So, is this the same Niedermayr?

 

Note to self: why didn't I still watch "Helden am Steuer" featuring the Sokols and "Ohne kampf kein sieg" I bought a few months ago for my birthday, for just a few Euro's from Amazon.de

 

Jan.

 

Hey, congratulations for the best German film ever (if only you neglect the story, the actors and the environment...)

 

Yes indeed I assume it´s the same Niedermayr. It´s the only driver known of this name, at least the only one whose personal data would fit. The suitcase with money and the Caribbean may also be a good association, but I am not sure whether the money for the Sokol would have been enough. In the thread it is told that the original offer had been around 80,000 DM, which of course was more value in those days than today. Nevertheless it´s still far from being a million or so and I think life in a Caribbean 'tax oasis' would be still quite expensive. Also maybe we would have in mind, that Niedermayr would have had expenses (at least some of the money would have to be given to the state) or even a partner to share with. But on the other hand we don´t know in how many other similar tradings he had been involved.

 

And no, it´s not "my"article in wikipedia. I just removed some of the inaccuarcies and added a passage about the Berlin stable.

[uechtel]

#30 Ernst Loof, Veritas-Nürburgring RS2: Yes, "Mr. Veritas" himself in one of his sports models(!) in a Formula 2 race - or better at the start of it, as AFAIK in the race he came as far as about two metres! And even if this perhaps makes him the driver with the shortest World Championship "career" of all, in fact we should nevertheless regard Loof as a 'pure-sang' racer. In the early thirties he had been one of the top motorcycle racers and four times German champion for Imperia. When the company closed down he came via Auto Union to BMW, where he became responsible for preparation and maintenance of the factory cars, for example at the legendary win at Brescia in 1940. When the BMW company then was 'inoperative' after the war Loof started indenependently, converting second-hand BMWs into racing machines. In 1947 he partnered with other former BMW employees, namely Lorenz Dietrich, to set up what would immediately become Germany´s most successful production company of sports and race-cars, the 'Veritas'. The first cars were still rather continuation developments of the last BMW designs from during the war, but soon the company started development their own engine, which should be installed in a whole range of Veritas models, from Sedans, Coupes, Cabriolets to competition Roadsters and also in their Formula 2 'Meteor' monopostos. This more or less brake the company its financial neck in 1950, but Loof managed to salvage some parts and machinery to continue on a much smaller level from a workshop based at the Nürburgring. His garage known as 'Veritas-Nürburging' would soon become something like a holy place for the community of German drivers with Loof being the guru. Obviously completely obsessive on racing cars and engines he would tune-up everything his followers brought to him. One of his most faithful supporters was Paul Pietsch, who had started over his post war career with Veritas cars and achieved some respectable success. When Pietsch gave up racing at the end of 1952 it was announced that for the next season a new team, the "Ecurie Nürburgring", was set up with tyre engineer Jupp Goffarth from the German Englebert company as team director and Kurt Adolff and Willi Heeks as drivers. For them Loof would produce a new development stage of the 'Meteor' Formula 2 car, de-facto a semi-works team. But at the start of the season Adolff grasped the opportunity to drive in one of the all-conquering Tipo 500 Ferraris, so in Formula 2 it was only Heeks, who appeared with his Meteor at the Eifelrennen. But at that time Loof´s 'Veritas-Nürburgring' company, never being able to get the 'civil' car production really running, was already deep in financial trouble again. Only a couple of days before the German Grand Prix it was to read in the press, that it had come under liquidation and that its assets would be taken over by BMW until the end of August. So what could have been Loof´s intention to appear in what was basically a sports model alongside Heeks with the 'proper' Formula 2 car on the grid of this final race? Was it to show a great final? A last desperate effort to attract a new investor? Just some sort of advertising to sell the car? Or just an occasion to gain some starting money? Perhaps we will never find out...

Edited by uechtel, 11 August 2017 - 14:04.

[uechtel]

#31 Erwin Bauer, Veritas Spezial ("Großmutter") - BMW: Bauer was an experienced driver from Stuttgart, who for example had driven a Bugatti in 1937. As he had been working as a mechanic for Mercedes-Benz he was invited for test drives in 1938, but did never get one of the Silver Arrows for a race. After the war it became quiet around him for a while, but he gets usually mentioned as an important person for the beginnings of Hans Herrmann´s career. When Herrmann was contracted by Porsche to drive in the 1953 Mille Miglia, Bauer was his co-driver, and he was probably also somehow involved in the deal with Hans Klenk to give Herrmann some racing experience in Klenk´s Formula 2 stable. When Klenk was injured in an accident testing for Mercedes in the middle of the 1953, Herrmann was promoted in the team to drive Klenk´s Veritas Meteor in the German Grand Prix, so Bauer could make his return to the tracks as a driver in the old Veritas Special which had been prepared for Herrmann. In the race the car did not last long, but from then on Bauer would be seen more frequently behind the wheel of a competition car, for example at the Eifelrennen 1954, where in the 1.5 litre sports car class he became the first German to drive a Lotus in a race. He met a tragic end in 1958 in Austrian Gotfried Köchert´s Ferrari in the Nürburgring 1000 km when he did not see the chequered flag, carried on in full speed and crashed into the trees.
 

[uechtel]

#32 Hans Herrmann - Klenk/Veritas Meteor: Hans Herrmann: Like Seidel and partly also Bauer and Barth, the most important parts of Herrmann´s career are out of my personal time scope. So here I concentrate on the beginning, when he was perhaps the most promising new talent of German motosport. And living at Stuttgart, home-town of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which attracted drivers, technicians and other enthusiasts, this was the ideal place to into the contact with the right people. At the age of 23 he bought a Porsche 356 sports car and began driving in rallyes. At the German Grand Prix 1952 he drove his first circuit race in the 'Porsche' class (1500 cc production sports cars) and was impressively quick before an engine failure. The 1953 season began even better with a class win at the Mille Miglia with his friend and mentor Erwin Bauer as co-driver and on his return from Italy he also won his class in the support race at the Eifelrennen. Shortly later he was even invited by Porsche to drive one of the new works Coupes at Le Mans, and, sharing the car with Helm Glöckler, thanked this with a class victory - a quite steep career in such a short time! At the Avusrennen he appeared again in one of the Coupes and finished second behind no other than Hans Klenk in the works Borgward. With him Herrmann had already come to an agreement to drive the Formula 2 season under the wings of his Stuttgart-based team. For this Herrmann had obtained the Veritas Special, in which Ulmen had had two successful seasons and which had been straightened and upodated since Ulmen´s heavy crash at the Sachsenring. At the Eifelrennen the car had failed during practise, but at the Avus it lasted for a good fourth place in Herrmann´s Formula 2 debut. The next event to come was the German Grand Prix and Herrmann drove the Porsche to his first win in the German championship. And in Formula 2 he was allowed to take place in the seat of Klenk´s Veritas Meteor as the team captain had sustained severe injuries during test drives for Mercedes some days before. In the race Herrmann was the only German who was not lapped to score the second time full championship points in one day. With only the Schauinsland hillclimb left, in spite of having missed the frist round, in the sports car class Herrmann came as leader to this event and secured the title with his second win of the season. In his drive he set the second fastest time of the day behind de Graffenried in his Formula 2 Maserati. In that class Herrmann could have had also still hopes for the championship, but could finish only in sixth place. More worse, with Stuck making a guest appearance and driving into second place he took top score from Herrmann and so Theo Helfrich´s 9th place was enough to give him two additional points to just snatch the prestiguous title of German Formula 2 champion from Herrmann´s nose by just a single point. No wonder that Herrmann was also invited to test drives for Mercedes, as they were searching for drivers for the Grand Prix comeback in 1954. But being chosen as No 3 driver behind Fangio and Kling, Herrmann would remain in their shadow with a third place in the Swiss Grand Prix as his best result in the season. Meanwhile Herrmann could continue with Porsche in the sports car class, where he could repeat his class win at the Mille Miglia in a very spectacular way, driving the low Spyder under a railway gate just in front of the approaching train. Herrmaann also won again the title in the German championship and at the end of the season added another impressive class win ond third in the overall ranking of the Carrera Panamericana to his records. In 1955 Herrmann then would have his first major setback of his career. With Stirling Moss Mercedes had signed up yet another top driver, so that the internal competition would get even tougher and during practise at Monte Carlo Herrmann crashed his car into a wall and sustained severe injuries, that put him out of action for the rest of the season. In spite he tried his comeback in 1957 with a couple of rented drives in one of the Centro Sud Maseratis he could never really get his foot into Formula 1 again, neither when he again became only No 3 driver in Porsche´s Formula 1 team in 1961. Instead he would find his destination in sports car racing, crowning his career with the famous Le Mans win for Porsche in 1970, after which he ended his driver career like he had promised to his wife.

[D-Type]

I never realised how serious Hermann's 1955 Monaco accident was.

[Rob G]

it was the railway gate incident that got my attention!

[Paul Taylor]

Herrmann's 1955 Monaco crash: http://the-fastlane....hp?editid1=1859

 

Two broken ribs, a broken pelvis, right thigh shattered in six places and a dislocated hip. Even by today's standards, they are very serious injuries...

Edited by Paul Taylor, 12 August 2017 - 12:47.

[uechtel]

#34 Kurt Adolff, Ferrari 500: The textile industrialist from Aachen was another German newcomer of the post-war era, who caused some sensation when he set pole and finished second (after losing the lead because of a tyre failure) in his very first sports car race at Hockenheim in 1950 in a Veritas RS. Shortly later at the Solitude he would drive to his first win in front of his old school-comrades to finish runner-up in the German championship. But perhaps this had put a little bit too much pressure on him, as, on his next visit to Hockenheim in 1951, he drove too fast into the Stadtkurve and ended up with his car rearwad on the straw bales in a spectacular spin, just in front of the camera of the weekly newsreel, to be seen in the cinemas all over Germany! Unfortunately this would also be his last action in motorsport for a while, as for the rest of the season he was put out of action from an illness. On his comeback in 1952 at the Eifelrennen he seemed very much like before, starting on pole and finishing in a fine third place. He also made the long joruney to Oporto to start in the Portuguese Sports Car Grand Prix, from where he came home with a fine second place in his class. But after that he left out some races and in those, who he started, the very much worn-out Veritas did not reach the finish line. He knew that he had to look for better options if he wanted to continue his career more successfully and early into 1953 it was announced, that to finally get a competitive German Grand Prix car into the races, a new team called the "Ecurie Nübrurgring" had been established with Adolff and Heeks as drivers. For them Ernst Loof had produced two completely 're-mastered' Veritas Meteor Formula 2 cars with the same modifications being made to Adolff´s old Veritas sports car. In the same announcement there had been already vague mention of a further "high-performance car of Italian origin" for the team, which turned into reality when Adolff sensationally appeared at the Eifelrennen in one of the all-conquering Ferrari 500, who had absolutely dominated the 1952 Grand Prix season! Adolff´s car, painted in the red-and-white Swiss national colours, had been used by Rudi Fischer in 1952 to become best-ever privateer in the World Championship with a second place in the Swiss and a third in the German Grand Prix. But despite this performance Fischer was deeply disappointed not to have been taken up into the Ferrari works team and decided to quit with racing. Right from the start Adolff tried to present himself worthy for the car and put it on pole position for the Eifelrennen. But in a very wet race on his dry-weather tyres (according to his own report) he had to give way to de Graffenried in the new Maserati and also to the two HWM drivers Frere and Collins, to finish at least best of the Germans in fourth place. Again one can get the impression, that he set himself a little bit too much under pressure, when he spun out of the banked Avus Nordkurve, luckily to the infield. For this he gave the excuse, that he had to avoid Behra, who had also spun on an oil spot right in front of him. But I am not always sure how reliable his statements are, for example when he reports, that at the next event, the German Grand Prix at the Nübrugring, first he had been handicapped in practise by problems with the shock absorbers and then - after a disappointingly unspectacular drive in the midfield - he was taken out of the race, because Ascari needed some spare parts from his car after he had lost a wheel! Well, whether true or not, his performance in the Ferrari had by far not met the expectations. Also by this time Ernst Loof with his Veritas-Nürburgring company was already close at its end and this seems to have had its effects onto the Ecurie Nürburgring as well (my only explanation why they would have 'sold' parts of the car to the Ferrari works team). At the Schauinsland hillclimb, only a week after the Grand Prix, Fischer drove his Ferrari himself again and also the Veritas sports car was in the hands of another driver, with of Adolff there was nothing to see. He tells he had to care for his industries again, so he gave up racing.

[uechtel]

#35 Edgar Barth, EMW "R3": East German racing hero and perhaps the GDR´s most talented driver of his time was born in 1917 and grew up in the Saxonian village of Herold, almost in the shadow of the nearby DKW factory at Zschopau. No wonder he did his first steps into motorsport at the age of 16, starting in trials and other competitions on a DKW motorcycle. In 1937 he was chosen into the DKW works team for the Six Days Trials in Britain, but then his career was interrupted by the war. When motorracing started over in the Eastern Zone again, Barth soon became one of the young state´s most successful motorcycle riders with his 500 cc BMW. And just like many other drivers of his time, he made the successful step from two to four wheels, when he was invited to drive for the "Rennkollektiv" in one of their DAMW cars in Formula 2 trim at Halle in 1951. There his performance was good enough to drive more regularly the team in 1952, while still carrying on with the motorcycle races, so that he would make a double start at the events. Soon he could demonstrate, that he had as much talent in cars as he had shown on the bike, which would him almost inevitable bring into conflict with the team´s leading driver Arthur Rosenhammer. In fact, Rosenhammer had been technical director of this East German "national" team, but with his selfish behaviour (on and off the tracks) had alienated enough people to be demoted to being "just" a driver (even if he remained still to "No. 1" status in the team and not least because of his journalist activities keep much influence on the East German motorsport in general). So Rosenhammer certainly must have had no good feelings with barth already at the first race of the 1952 season at Rostock, when he was sanctioned by the team for being found responsible for yet another engine damage during practise, to have to watch from outside how Barth was driving in "his" car! Perhaps to avoid further conflict after this it was obviously decided for Barth to start in the Formula 2 races while Rosenhammer was given the 1500 cc sports car. Barth thanked the team by winning his first race at Leipzig as well as the two subsequent championship events at Halle and the Sachsenring (the latter against respectable opposition from West Germany) to become GDR Formula 2 Champion of 1952. At the end of the season he was also invited by the team to his first "international" race outside Germany at Brno / Czechoslovakia, where he finished second to Pavelka´s "formule libre" V8 Tatra. In 1953, having been ordered from Berlin-Johannisthal to Eisenach under control of the EMW factory, the "Rennkollektiv" worked on a new 'real' monoposto for Formula 2, but like almost everything in the GDR reality fell far behind intention, so Barth had to be still content with the "multi-purpose" offset-seater, now re-christened into "EMW". With this he was sent (together with Rosenhammer in his rebodied 1500cc sports car) to West Germany for the first time to the Eifelrennen. Of course they would not have expected to challenge the Ferraris or Maseratis, but at least the West German 'privateers' should be well within their reach. And so it happened. In the rain-soaked race Barth´s EMW was first German-made car over the line in fifth place, with 'only' der Graffenried in his Maserati, the two HWM of Frere and Collins and Adolff in his Ferrari in front of him. Motivated by this result, the team reappeared again at the Avus, where Barth´s car was fitted with a streamline body, while, for once, Rosenhammer started alongside him in the Formula 2 class in a standard EMW model. But after qualifying a solid 5th (Rosenhammer) and 8th (Barth) on the grid, in the race neither of them could repeat Barth´s performance from the Eifelrennen and both had to retire. So while at home in the East German races Barth achieved victory after victory to win his second consecutive championship title, on the East-West challenge the drivers of the Rennkollektiv had already to face strong headwinds. The disappointment must have been the greater when Barth was able to qualify only for 24th on the grid at the season highlight at the German Grand Prix and after an unspectacular race among the backmarkers had finally to retire with piston failure, followed by another zero-result after a crash at the Schauinsland hillclimb. His only consolation for this was his subsequent victory at the Sachernring, where he was able to beat all the West German guests, among them Hans Stuck. For 1954 the team intended a new attack, now, with Formula 2 having been abandoned by the FIA, with a completely new designed sports car for the 1.5 litre class. It was a very beautiful 'lowline' design that looked able to challenge the factory Porsches and Borgwards in this class. But as usual the development of the cars limped behind the time schedule so at the Eifelrennen both cars suffered from teething problems and the race turned into another big disappointment. Ad mid-season the cars were even taken out of action completely in order to prepare for the important support race at the German Grand Prix, but yet again Barth´s sixth place was the best what they could achieve. Over the winter the Rennkollektiv worked hard to produce a completely revised version of the model and with no less than four of these cars at the season opener at Dessau the team seemed very much determined. This was immediately confirmed at the Eifelrennen when Barth set duly best practise time in their class to drive to an impressive double victory ahead of his team-mate Paul Thiel in the race. Of course after this the team reappeared again for this year´s 500 km race at the Nürburgring (the German Grand Prix had been cancelled after the Le Mans catastrophy) and Rosenhammer and Barth shared the car (which was probably the best way to keep them out of each other´s way on the track) into another fine third place in their class, albeit beaten by von Frankenberg´s semi-works Porsche on this occasion. With this result Barth was now also leading the All-German Championship (which was carried out for the first time in this season), but while he would have needed to finish third at the Avusrennen, the accelerator linkage of his car broke in the race and after Frankenberg´s second win Barth stood with empty hands again. But at least success had come within grasp and so the Rennkollektiv started yet another attempt for 1956. In the meantime the GDR had been acknowledged as full FIA member, so also starts in other West European countries were possible now. The Rennkollektiv celebrated this with an outright success at their first journey to Montlhery with a 1 - 2 - finish of Barth ahead of Rosenhammer in the "Coupe Valvoline", followed by a third place in their class (again sharing the car) in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring. Nevertheless the works Porsches turned out to be, perhaps slightly, but decisively faster and the now-called AWE were not able to beat them. Moreover, since the East German economy was already in trouble, the factory at Eisenach had now been ordered to stop production of the expensive BMW-derived models in order to concentrate the whole East German car industry on the new two-stroke philosophy. At least this was a good excuse for the state to stop funding the expensive - and so far not very successful - Rennkollektiv for 1957, a decision, which obviously caught the drivers quite by surprise. Without a drive Barth received an invitation from Porsche team director von Hanstein for the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring, but did not get a permission from the East German authorities. Pretending to be on the way to some motorcycle race Barth managed to travel to the Nürburging anyway and when he and his Italian team-mate Maglioli finished with a class victory and in fourth place overall, the East German officials were so much upset, that they banned him for lifetime from racing! Of course after this Barth was not too eager to return home and settled near Stuttgart instead to become a Porsche works driver. For them he won the 1959 Targa Florio and three European mountain championships in 1959, 1963 and 1964 before he died much too young at the age of 48 from cancer.
 

[uechtel]

#36 Rudolf Krause, Greifzu-BMW (see above)

 

#37 Ernst Klodwig, Klodwig-BMW (see above)

 

#39 Helm Glöckler, Cooper T23 - Bristol: (Wil)Helm Glöckler (and not Helmut like it´s frequently to read) was descendant of the Glöckler automobile dynasty from Frankfurt. His uncle Otto Glöckler had founded the car dealing business, starting by selling NSU motorcycles and Hanomag cars alredy in the 1920ies. After the war his son Walter ran the company as official VW and Porsche representation, which it is still today. Walter was also a successful racing driver and the initiator of the Glöckler-Porsches, which became role models for the famous Porsche 550 "Spyder". Meanwhile his cousin Helm had also started racing as one of the first Veritas customers, driving his "RS" sports model into third place at Hockenheim in 1948. In 1949 he won all three rounds of the German championship in the 1.5 litre class and also the race at the East German Sachsenring. 1950 did not work quite as well, so for 1951 he sold the Veritas to Sweden and tried his luck with French-made DB-Panhards in Formula 3. With this he won his race at Hockenheim and finished in second place in the championship, nevertheless in 1952 he took the chance to drive his cousin´s newest "No. 3" model (who had himself just won his second consecutive German sports car championhsip). With this car Helm Glöckler had again a very successful season, winning his second title after 1949, while he also appeared in some rallyes with a Renault 4CV. With the cooperation between Porsche and the Glöcklers becoming closer Helm Glöckler appeared in 1953 in the works Porsche "Spyder" prototype, in which he immediately won the 1500 cc class at the Eifelrennen. He was also invited to share one of the Porsche works cars (now with Coupe hardtop) with newcomer Hans Herrmann at le Mans, which ended up as winner of its class in front of its sister car driven by von Frankenberg / Frere. In addition to his drives for Porsche, for the Avus Glöckler had obviously come to an agreement with the British team 'Equipe Anglaise' to drive one of their Coopers. But it is not quite clear to me whether he actually sat in the car, as in the race programme his name is hand-writtenly scratched and replaced by something I am not able to decypher... In contrast to this I have found a clear statement, that Glöckler practised in the car at the German Grand Prix, but broke the engine and thus became a 'dns'. This seems to have very much been his complete Formula 2 career, while he carried on with Porsche in the sports cars, for example to a class win together with Wolfgang Seidel at the 1955 Mille Miglia.

 

#41 Karl-Günther Bechem, Bechem/AFM "Sport" - BMW - see above

[uechtel]

And with Glöckler as we already had the 'dns', just to complete with the 'dna's:

 

#25 Hans Blees, Veritas RS - BMW: Another driver from Düsseldorf, but I do not know much about him. He appeared in Peters´ second Veritas RS at Leipzig in 1952 (the car in which Josef Hackenberg had died at the Eifelrennen) and in a couple of further races in East and West Germany. In 1953 he changed vehicle, appearing now in the AFM of Heeks, who himself was now starting with a Veritas Meteor for the Ecurie Nürburgring. Blees´ results remained unspectacular and at the Grand Prix he had placed only an entry, but did not turn up. In 1954 he continued with the car in East Germany, where Formula 2 was still alive, and because of the smaller grids could register better results with a third place at Dresden and even a second place at the final race at Bernau.

 

#33 Adolf W. Lang, Veritas RS - BMW: While some of the 'Formula 1' webpages omit him completely from their statistics, Adolf Werner Lang was at least on the entry list in the race programme. But as I did not find any picture or further reference of him for the Formula 2 race at the 1953 German Grand Prix he is probably to be listed as "dna". Adolf Lang was in mainly a Formula 3 driver, among the first Germans to turn up with a Cooper, and right away finishing as best of the locals and 7th overall from the 49 starters in the 1951 German Grand Prix. At the Sachsenring, in absence of all the foreign drivers, and with the Cooper certainly in advantage over the East German specials, he soon also had his first outright victory. He was obviuosly a decent driver and would remain among the top drivers in Germany during the following years, to win the German Formula 3 Championship in its last full season in 1953. In that year he also made a number of starts in Formula 2 races. Having moved from Northern Bavaria to the Southwest of Germany in the meantime, it is not too surprising, that for this he used the Veritas RS sports car, which had been driven by Oswald Karch so far. With also only one year to go in this Formula, his race log is of course not too extensive: 12th overall (and 4th of the German drivers) at the Eifelrennen and not classified at the Avus. Other than that I do not have many information about his performance in these races, in which he was obviously rather an 'also-ran', and it is possible, that he used them just as an additional source for starting money at events, to which he had travelled anyway because of his Formula 3 campaign.

[VDP]

It seems also that Klenk was involved in Polensky Monopoletta car ?

[uechtel]

Yes, obviously Klenk made the bodies for the "Monopoletta" F3 cars and also for the previous 750 cc "Fidelitas" sports car,.

[ensign14]

And now for the mystery of the MSM...?

[uechtel]

Well, I have only written about those who were real entries...

 

Von Strachwitz´s is still a very mysterious case to me. The only literature that I know is Schumann´s book. Schumann´s version of the story is, that Strachwitz had in fact placed an entry for the German Grand Prix and also appeared for "pre-practise", where he recorded the fitfth best lap time of all participants. But as he had been involved in a road accident some time before the race after which his driving license had been seized. According to the position of the German motorsport authorities this meant, that he would also loose his racing license, so they had already denied his participation at the Avus race, and also at the Nurburging he was not allowed to start in the race. Schumann also has a photo, that shows a grid of seven cars, described as "start of pre-practise", with the three works Ferraris, the two de-facto "works" Veritas and von Strachitz´s MSM-Lancia with No. 13 on the bonnet. But Schumann´s story seems maybe not completely wrong, but at least somewhat imprecise. Von Strachwitz is not listed in the race programme, so if he did not have a "late entry" it seems more plausible to me, that he had perhaps only applied for an entry (which then was refused). Also a "grid for pre-practise" does not make sense. In practise sessions the participants usually start individually out of their pits, like it is still today. What Schumann obviously did not know, that around the Grand Prix weekend there were filmings for a movie (Muss man sich gleich scheiden lassen?) with German film star Hardy Krüger, in which he has some scenes in the cockpit of Heeks´ Veritas. I can not remember all the scenes (and certainly don´t want to watch THAT movie again...), but it seems that even Ascari had some 'acts' for the film! So I think this "grid" on the picture in Schumann´s book was also a scene for the film. This could also explain the quite unconventional No. 13 for von Strachwitz´s car (while all the other German entries had numbers from 21 onwards).

 

Also of von Strachwitz himself I don´t know really much. In 1951 he appeared with a 1.5 litre Lancia-engined sports car, that had been previously raced by Karl Klinger (not to be mismatched with Karl Kling). But von Strachwitz had only a couple of races (Hockenheim, Eifelrennen, Nürnberg) without noteworthy results before he appeared again with his MSM-Lancia Formula 2 car.

[rogerv]

 

Wonderful work from uechtel and Paul Taylor (photos). But why stop at the German GPs? There are many more eigenbaus about which I know nothing.

 

The following list is from 8W, but there are more on the-fastlane's results pages

 

West German eigenbaus:

 

Kurt Adolff 1951

Prinzbach 1949

 

East German eigenbaus:

 

Hans Althoff

Clemens Sandgathe

EMW 340/I (Werner Jager)

Gerhard  Erfurth

Fitzau

Helmut Grauer

Kollektiv Versicherung

Erich Kubelka in 1950/51

Mitteldeutsches Autohaus

Otto Reichardt

Paul Thiel

Albert Veryser

Hans Winkler

Willy Wolf

Helmut Zimmer

 

So more info and photos please.      

 

[D-Type]

I assume the career of Wolfgang von Trips started after this era.

[Doug Nye]

This really is a stupendously informative thread.  Thank you Uechtel.

 

DCN

[uechtel]

Thanks Doug, always welcome! I have got much inspiration from your books!

 

 

 

Wonderful work from uechtel and Paul Taylor (photos). But why stop at the German GPs? There are many more eigenbaus about which I know nothing.

 

The following list is from 8W, but there are more on the-fastlane's results pages

 

West German eigenbaus:

 

Kurt Adolff 1951

Prinzbach 1949

 

East German eigenbaus:

 

Hans Althoff

Clemens Sandgathe

EMW 340/I (Werner Jager)

Gerhard  Erfurth

Fitzau

Helmut Grauer

Kollektiv Versicherung

Erich Kubelka in 1950/51

Mitteldeutsches Autohaus

Otto Reichardt

Paul Thiel

Albert Veryser

Hans Winkler

Willy Wolf

Helmut Zimmer

 

So more info and photos please.      

 

 

Well, Roger, the question had been explicitely for the drivers in the Grand Prix, and of course, as those have been quite the prominent ones (in the German scene of that times of course) it is much easier to gather information on them. Now, your question contains rather projects than persons, much more obscurities and, as I am afraid, even some only mythical ones among them. So I will have took up what I can find on them, but don´t expect too much.
 

 

I assume the career of Wolfgang von Trips started after this era.

 

 

Indeed, but only just. In brief, AFAIK he started competition when Walter Hampel (of whom I know close to nothing besides that he was an engineer from Wolfsburg, so presumable an employee at Volkswagen) needed a co-driver for the Mille Miglia. Together they achieved a class win with Hampel´s Porsche 356 in the 1.3 litre GT class.

 

Soon later von Trips bought himself a worn-out Porsche 356 (from his last money as legend is told) to finish second at his first outing at the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring in the 1600cc production class, using the pesudo "Axel Linther" to disguise his family descendence for the beginning, like other drivers of rank and name did as well. In 1955 he was signed up by Neubauer into the Mercedes sports car team, which then did really really start off his career. But to me most of this is out of my personal scope and I think there should be lots of publications available.

 

[uechtel]

To start with an easy one, I have already wrote a couple of lines over Fitzau a little bit earlier in this thread. As Fitzau was an entrepeneur, not a mechanic, it is very unlikely to me that there has ever been some kind of special made by him or to his order by somebody else. At least I have never found a single trace of such a thing. Rather he had the means (under East German post-war econimical conditions) to buy himself drives and/or cars from other guys, like Rosenhammer for example.

[ensign14]

I can throw in a few more pics from the Hamburg Prototyp exhibition...

 

 

^ Baum

 

 

^ Holbein HH49

 

 

^ Rudi Krause's Reif

 

 

^ blurring the boundaries - the splendid postmodernism of the EMW

[uechtel]

Ok, I have to continue with another disappointment, maybe not the last one:

 

 

"Kurt Adolff 1951" - again no such thing. Read my passage from above. From 1950 to 1952 he was driving the ex-Kling Veritas RS all the time.

[uechtel]

"Prinzbach 1949" - a very obscure thing. Fritz Prinzbach was from Lörrach, which is in the very far southwest of Germany. Consequently he appears in the entry lists of the hillclimbs in this area only, in 1948 at the Eggberg, in 1949 at the Schauinsland (near Freiburg). The car is simply called "Eigenbau" and it is said to have had a Salmson engine (in the rear!), but I do not know anything further about the origin.

[uechtel]

Hans Althoff - This guy was not a builder of specials, but only a driver, who was installed in the first car built at the Werkmeister workshop in 1951. It was an open wheel sports car based on BMW mechanics and ran in the 1500cc class, so probably a BMW 315 derivate. In the races Althoff competed mainly agains Max Wetzig for the position as "best of the rest" behind the sole car of the national Rennkollektiv and finished up third in the championship with two second places, but the races rarely had more than five or six participants and the span of performance between the cars was very wide. But the public was happy to see racing at all. For 1952 the car was sold on to Richard Knöfel and Werkmeister built a second car for the 2 litre class. In appearance it was completely different with a wide full enveloping body. At the debut at the Sachsenring it is said that Althoff felt overstrained with the performance of the car, so he was replaced by Carl Weber. But the car was crashed in test drives for the Avus race and obviously the rebuilt lasted into 1953. By that time the 2 litre sports car category was no longer supported, so like many others, the team found a new home in Formula 2. Because the character of many tracks, which were run on crossings and intersections of the highways, it did not matter too much, as "streamliners" were there popular, anyway, and the organisers were happy about every car to fill up the grids. In the season Weber showed some quite decent performances, not the very top like Edgar Barth of the Rennkollektiv or Rudi Krause in the famous Greifzu car, but good enough to finish third in the championship.

[uechtel]

Clemens Sandgathe - neither a special builder nor from East Germany, but besides that about the person himself I know absolutely nothing. He appeared first at the sports car race which was part of the German GP meeting in 1952, driving a BMW 328, but obviously without countable result. In the programme his place of residence is given as the town of Ahlen in Westfalia, so no GDR connection. Later that year he also appeared at the Avus. In 1953 he bought or borrowed an old Veritas RS to drive in the Eifelrennen and at the Avus, in both cases similar to Werkmeister participating with a sports car in the Formula 2 class, because the 2 litre sports car category was no longer supported.

[uechtel]

EMW 340/1 - not a real "special" but a prototype (ort better two prototypes) made by the BMW factory at Eisenach when it took up automobile production after the war. This was a strange situation, as the factory was in the Eastern Zone, confiscated by the Soviets, while the BMW headquarters were of course at Munich in the American Zone. But until the war, all the BMW cars had been produced at Eisenach, the former Dixi factory, which had been taken over by BMW around 1930. So they felt to carry on tradition and still named their cars BMW. In fact, Eisenach was the very first German automobile company to produce a new model after the war, the BMW 340 being more or less an update of the previous 326. At the same time they were looking for a successor to the more "sportive" 327 Coupe/Cabriolet as well, for which they built two roadster prototypes with much more modern full-enveloping bodies, named the 340S or 340/1 (like it had been the 315/1 or 319/1 roadster before the war). When the first races took place in the GDR in 1949 the Eisenach factory took the occasion to present their latest developments. On first hand it was a purposeful-looking open wheel "Intertype"- Sportscar (like Ferraris Tipo 166 "Inter" a sports car that could be run in Formula 2 races as well) and a very futuristicly styled streamliner called the "S1". The third car they brought to Dessau was one of the 340/1 prototypes, of course with a "hot" BMW 328 engine aunder the bonnet. Strangely, while the "Intertype" and the "S1" participated in the sports car class at the following event at the Sachsenring, the more "civil" 340/1 had to run in the F2 class there. This was probably because the latter category was of very weak competition only, while in the sports car class there was strong opposition from West Germany. Consequently Adolf Brudes won the F2 race with the 340/1 ahead of Kurt Baum, but these were also the only two finishers out of three cars taking the start.

 

After this, for the time being  the racing activities of the Eisenach factory were ended, maybe on official order by the Soviet authorities. Only after the company was returned to German ownership in 1952 (and renamed into EMW - Eisenacher Motoren Werke - after a legal confrontation with BMW at Munich) the old cars appeared again for competition. Drivers of the cars were Otto Reichardt (later also Paul Thiel) in the "Intertyp" and Werner Jäger in the 340/1. But opposition had grown much stronger in the meantime, in particular with the national Rennkollektiv racing team being founded at the end of 1950. So with old cars and comparatively inexperienced drivers the result of the two "works cars" remained poor. Also the Berlin-based Rennkollektiv was in some internal quarrels during 1952, concerniing leadership of the team and supply with parts, so for 1953 the decision was made to move the team to Eisenach to operate as a "racing department" for the EMW company from now on. This meant the old EMW cars were no longer needed and only used as back-up on some occasions.

[uechtel]

Gerhard Erfurth - was employed as mechanic at the "Mitteldeutsches Autohaus" in Halle, a car-dealer-cum-garage company that is still existing today. At the end of 1950 he appeared in the East German sports car races with a BMW 328 with a huge well-rounded body in the style of the contemporary Jaguar cars. Mechanically the car was described as "pure BMW 328 standard" by the press, so a couple of second places was probably already more than what could be expected. Erfurth continued throughout 1951 and 1952 and also well into 1953 (of course now changing to the F2 class as well), but with the results gradually decaying.

[uechtel]

Helmut Grauer - sorry, never came on that name so far. Where do you have that from?

[uechtel]

Kollektiv Versicherung - "Collective insurance", a company´s name indicating probably a project initiaded by members of a works sport group, which was a common thing in the GDR. At that time everything had to be under control of the public community, so it was hard to set up private enterprises or clubs. Rather the publicly owned companies - as core of the East German "labour society" - would set up groups for all kinds of sporting activities, even when it came to motorracing. The first entry for a race by the "Kollektiv Versicherung" I found was for the Sachsenring race in 1951, sports car class up to 2 litres. On a distant shot of the grid the car, driven by Helmut Zimmer, looks very much like a standard BMW 328. In 1952 it looked a little bit more refurbished and it may have been a case of a BMW 319/1 disguised as 328 like it was not uncommon in these days. But I do not have really conlcusive pictures or information on this effort.

[uechtel]

Erich Kubelka - similar case perhaps to Helmuit Zimmer in the car of the Kollektiv Versicherung. There is only one photo in Wolfgang Melenk´s book "Meister des Sports" which shows a car that is a BMW-lookalike sports car special. A first appearance seems to have been at the Sternberg hillclimb in 1950 followed by a number of unconfirmed entries for the rest of the season. In 1951 he apperaed again but there was report of an on-board fire at Halle. In the same report it is also stated that the car was red, so this was probably the most impressing feature of this vehicle. After this no more apperances.

[Henk Vasmel]

I have a Michael Grauer in my database. Halle-Saale Schleife 22 April 1951. Entered, no result available. BMW 328. Sports car race. Cannot find a Helmut with a last name like "Grauer"

 

Closest may be Hellmuth Laue, but he is only seen in '54/'55 and doesn't seem to be the one we are looking for. (EMW works driver).

Edited by Henk Vasmel, 18 April 2021 - 10:41.

[rogerv]

Helmut Grauer - sorry, never came on that name so far. Where do you have that from?

 

Last line of your 8W article : Other drivers who started occasionally in a "BMW" were Helmut Zimmer (1951-'54) and Helmut Grauer (Halle 1951).

 

I guess that Henk Vasmel may be correct with Michael Grauer

[uechtel]

Ah yes, found the name in the entry list, from Elster/Saxony, entered by BSG Nagema, a factory producing cookings stoves and things like that. No indication that he actually participated in the race.

[uechtel]

Otto Reichardt - as written before, together with Werner Jäger and Paul Thiel he was one of the "factory" drivers for EMW in 1952, driving the old Intertyp from 1949. First race in my records was Halle, followed by a second place in the 2 litre sportscar class at the Kyffhäuser hillclimb. In 1953 after the merge with the Rennkollektiv first he was kept as a driver, now in the 1500cc class as back-up for Rosenhammer. When the car lasted, he usually finished second behind his team-leader, but obviously not good enough so no further appearances in 1954.

[uechtel]

Paul Thiel - probably the most talented of the EMW "factory" drivers. First appearance at the end of 1952 in the "Intertype" at the Sachsenring in the 2 litre sportsc car class. While Reichardt was promoted to Rosenhammer´s 1952 car, followed by an appearance in 1953 at Chemnitz, now in the F2 class (as explained above). He carried on driving the Rennkollektiv´s older cars throughout 1954 and together with Binner was chosen to carry on as "junior driver" now with one of the latest competitive 1500 cc sports car models. The most outstanding result was certainly his 2nd place finish in the 1500cc class at the Eifelrennen in 1955 behind his team leader Edgar Barth (after Rosenhammer had retired from the race). In 1956 he was allowed to travel with the team to Montlhery and Monza, but without countable results. At the end of the season the team was finally closed down which also meant the end of his career.

[uechtel]

Albert Veryser - reality of myth, something in between. Normally his name appears in the entry lists of the 1100cc sports car class in a "Volkswagen-Fiat" (whatever that means) during 1951, but I have never found evidence for a real appearance. Somehow he managed to appear in the final points tables of the 1952 GDR championship in the 2 litre class credited with a second place in the race at Rostock, but that seems very questionable as his name does not appear in the result list in the race report (2nd place to Carl Wojciechowski in a BMW 328 there). Another dnf is noted for the F2 race at Dessau, but again no further information available.

[uechtel]

Hans Winkler - his first appearances were in a VW special made by Kurt Baum in the 1100 cc sports car class in 1950/51. In 1952 he promoted himself to a BMW Coupe made by famous body designer Hufnagel along Veritas design principles. Hence the car is frequently called "Hufnagel-Veritas" in literature, but is unclear how much Veritas was actually in it. First outing was at the Sachsenring where he finished 9th in the 2 litre sports car class. In 1953 he of course changed to F2, despite a Coupe being a very unusuaql view even under East German circumstances. After that I have him also in the list for Halle and Bernau, but without appearing in the result lists on both occasions.

[uechtel]

Willy Wolf - according to the entry list he should have started at Halle in 1951, his name marked with a hand-written "1." in the programme. Winner of the 2 litre sports car class was Kurt Straubel, who was also from Weimar (and was not included in the entry list in the programme). So a mistake? A nom-de-course? Who knows.

[rogerv]

Thanks for all the info, uechtel. Just one more. I left out people I knew something about, however little. Theo Weissenberger; I read on a memorial site "Nurburgring in 1950, killed himself at the wheel of a Herrmann Kathrein Eigenbau-BMW." So who was Herrmann Kathrein , and was he the builder or the owner of the car?

[uechtel]

The car in which Weißenberger came to death at the Eifelrennen in 1950 was the BMW 328 Special, which had been driven by Otto Schöpflin before. Therefore I keep it in my records as "Schöpflin Special" or maybe "Schöpflin Eigenbau" (Eigenbau means "self-built", so not exactly the same meaning as "Special", which to my understanding can also be something singular, that is made by a third party). I never got information that Hermann Kathrein was somehow involved in that car (which doesn´t mean I have any proof that he wasn´t), so to name that "Kathrein Eigenbau" sounds very unfamiliar to me.

 

Schöpflin appeared 1948 at Hockenheim in a standard looking BMW 328, which he drove throughout the season. For 1949 this was converted (or exchanged) into a more competitive looking Special with open wheels covered by motorcycle fenders. At Schotten mid-season Schöpflin had a bad accident, from which he suffered severe injuries, so that he did not appear as a driver any more. Instead at the Grenzlandring the car was driven by Weißenberger for the first time. There had been a Helmut Weißenberger in the earliest post-war event at the Ruhestein in 1946, so I think Theo must have been a brother, cousin or something like that to him. Like to Schöpflin the car did not bring him any good luck when he crashed on the first lap of the Eifelrennen in 1950, dying from skull fracture.

 

Hermann Kathrein from Lorsbach near Frankfurt was already active before the war. In 1938 he appeared with one of Toni Neumaiers low-chassised specials. With this he won the 1.5 litre sports car class at the 1939 Mountain Grand Prix at the Großglockner and managed to salvage the car in raceable condition over the WW II years. He reappeared quite successfully in 1947 and scored another mountain victory at the Eggberg hillclimb. In 1948 he was one of the earliest Veritas customers (again one of the 1.5 litre variants), but seems to have not been to much satisfied, as he switched between the two cars all the time and occasionally hired the Veritas also to Helm Glöckler (also from Frankfurt, who was waiting for delivery of his own Veritas). At the Grenlandring in 1948 he used the Veritas for himself, whil the Neumaier was driven by his brother Emil there.

 

This game carried on in 1949, even after Kathrein had exchanged the Veritas for a newer model of the same make. His results remained good, like in 1948, usually 2nd or 3rd in his class, but the wins would always go to a Veritas (normally Glöckler). So he had to wait for another hillclimb, the 1949 Schauinsland event, to score another class victory, again with the ancient Neumaier. By that time he had already got rid of the Veritas, which he had sold to famous impostor "Dr. Ring", one of the heroes in the past of our forum. Of course he never received the money as Dr. Ring had crossed the border to East Germany to ask for political asylum.

 

In spite of this loss Kathrein was happy to reappear in 1951 in the cockpit of the very first Glöckler-Porsche in the 1100cc class, which he handed over to Heinz Brendel for 1952.

[rudi]

Well, I have only written about those who were real entries...

 

Von Strachwitz´s is still a very mysterious case to me. The only literature that I know is Schumann´s book. Schumann´s version of the story is, that Strachwitz had in fact placed an entry for the German Grand Prix and also appeared for "pre-practise", where he recorded the fitfth best lap time of all participants. But as he had been involved in a road accident some time before the race after which his driving license had been seized. According to the position of the German motorsport authorities this meant, that he would also loose his racing license, so they had already denied his participation at the Avus race, and also at the Nurburging he was not allowed to start in the race. Schumann also has a photo, that shows a grid of seven cars, described as "start of pre-practise", with the three works Ferraris, the two de-facto "works" Veritas and von Strachitz´s MSM-Lancia with No. 13 on the bonnet. But Schumann´s story seems maybe not completely wrong, but at least somewhat imprecise. Von Strachwitz is not listed in the race programme, so if he did not have a "late entry" it seems more plausible to me, that he had perhaps only applied for an entry (which then was refused). Also a "grid for pre-practise" does not make sense. In practise sessions the participants usually start individually out of their pits, like it is still today. What Schumann obviously did not know, that around the Grand Prix weekend there were filmings for a movie (Muss man sich gleich scheiden lassen?) with German film star Hardy Krüger, in which he has some scenes in the cockpit of Heeks´ Veritas. I can not remember all the scenes (and certainly don´t want to watch THAT movie again...), but it seems that even Ascari had some 'acts' for the film! So I think this "grid" on the picture in Schumann´s book was also a scene for the film. This could also explain the quite unconventional No. 13 for von Strachwitz´s car (while all the other German entries had numbers from 21 onwards).

 

Also of von Strachwitz himself I don´t know really much. In 1951 he appeared with a 1.5 litre Lancia-engined sports car, that had been previously raced by Karl Klinger (not to be mismatched with Karl Kling). But von Strachwitz had only a couple of races (Hockenheim, Eifelrennen, Nürnberg) without noteworthy results before he appeared again with his MSM-Lancia Formula 2 car.

There is a DVD with the film. The racing images are on the beginning so no need to follow the whole "story". The grid is static, there are images of the real start and race, images of the 1950 F2 race and of the 1951 GP (very few). The only cars from the fake grid really part of the film race are the Heeks Veritas #23 and the MSM Lancia #13 of von Strachwitz.

[uechtel]

Very lovely shots indeed!

 

Like von Strachwitz I assume it had been "cheap" to hire the Heeks Veritas for some filming takes. The Veritas company was in severe financial trouble (not to say already insolvent) so they probably needed all the money they could get.