26 replies to this topic

[Rob Ryder]

Here is a puzzle for the TNF Guru's regarding the 1976 German Grand Prix and Rolf Stommelen. Rolf and Lella Lombardi were entered by RAM Racing in Brabham BT44B's, no problem there.

Loris Kessel however thought he also had a contract with RAM to race at the Nurburgring, so took legal action against RAM Racing. After the two Friday practice sessions the police impounded the RAM cars, which meant no drive for Rolf or Lombardi .

Bernie Ecclestone then gave Rolf one of the Martini BT45's (No.77) for the final practice session on Saturday and the race.

The puzzle is... what number was Rolf's RAM Brabham BT44B in each of the Friday practice sessions, No.32 or No.36?
This is what I have from my sources for the three practice sessions...

FORIX
No.32 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT44B-01 7'21.6 , No time , No time
No.77 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT45-01 No time, 7'21.6 , 8'02.3

Autocourse
No.32 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT44B-01 7'33.5, 7'21.6, No time
No.77 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT45-01 No time, No time, 8'02.3

Motor Sport magazine
No.36 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT44B-01 7'33.5, 7'21.6, No time
No.77 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT45-01 No time, No time, 8'02.3

Sheldon
No.36 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT44B-01
No.77 Rolf Stommelen Brabham BT45-01

Allen Brown's website has no mention of any BT44B for Stommelen at Nurburgring.
Also check theseimages...

So when did Stommelen drive which car and with what number?
Rob

[Frank de Jong]

Prüller: #36
my own records: #32
That's not going to help.

[ReWind]

To begin with: I cannot say anything definitive. But I have a theory.

RAM entries throughout the year had numbers 32 and 33 - before the German GP as well as after it. Only at the German GP the cars had numbers 36 (Stommelen) and - presumably - 37 (Lombardi).
Ulrich Schwab listed Stommelen and Lombardi beneath Stuck and above Pescarolo but without giving numbers. But those positions point to # 36 and # 37 as Stuck had # 34 and Pescarolo had # 38.

Since there is photographic evidence that Stommelen raced with # 32 and with # 36 it seems likely to me that the change of number(s) had something to do with the impounding of the cars by Loris Kessel. Maybe the change of numbers was an attempt to avoid the impounding of the cars by telling the bailiff: „Look, Mr. Kessel is about to impound cars number 32 and number 33 but our cars have numbers 36 and 37."

Remember, RAM boss John MacDonald is said to have been a shrewd guy. I think he is still around. Maybe someone is able to contact him on this matter.

BTW, times given by Schwab for Stommelen are: 7.33,5 in first practice on Friday, 7.21,6 in second practice on Friday, after switch to BT45/1 8.02,3 on Saturday.

As surely is well known for the starting grid Stommelen was credited with 7.21,6 although he achieved that time with a car with a different engine. Famous quote by Bernie Ecclestone: „A Brabham is a Brabham".

[conjohn]

Autosport has the same info as Autocourse.

Can it be that the 36 is Rolf in Lella's nr 33 as a T-car? A passage from the regulations for the Swedish Grand Prix 1974 may explain it:

The use of a training car, not entered for the race, is allowed provided the organizers have been notified by letter of its use, and provided the car has been granted a special authorization by the Clerk of the Course who will give it a particular racing number. (my bold)

So if RAM wanted to be sure to have a spare for Rolf, maybe they entered Lella's car also as Rolf's training car?

[Rob Ryder]

From the sources listed above.. if Rolf is No.32 Lella has No.33 and if Rolf is No.36 Lella is listed as No.37.

Looking at the images it seems to me that the numbers on the 36 car are more 'race prepared' than those on the 32. The numbers on the 32 are not quite in line and lok as if they were added as a temporary mesure?
Rob

[GIGLEUX]

Sport Auto also gave n°36 to Stommelen. I agree with you Reinhard and think the cars practised on friday's morning with n°32 and 33, and that after hearing about Kessel's intentions, the entries were modified and n°36 and 37.(after all the AvD was one of Stommelen's sponsors!).
Stommelen obtained the third Brabham for quite a lot of reasons: Martini was the common sponsor for Brabham and Porsche in sports cars racing in which team Stommelen drove; secondly Ecclestone was behind McDonald in the RAM team and the boss of the Brabham team and last it is said that Stommelen evocated he had hired the wheel of a Brabham!

[marat]

...Stommelen paid 20000 DM to Bernie.

[D-Type]

An interesting point about the numbers, Rob. But I would read it the other way. The 32 looks like the work of a signwriter with time to do the job with the 'arty' shadows. On the other hand the 36 is a basic straightforward number as if it had been applied in a hurry.

The signwriting on the rear wing in each picture is different suggesting that it is not the same car. So "Number 36" either started the weekend as no 33 and was changed or it was the spare hastily numbered 36.

Where does this lead? I would incline towards Rewind's idea "Now look officer, this is car number 36 not 32 or 33 like your warrant"

[GIGLEUX]

Originally posted by marat
...Stommelen paid 20000 DM to Bernie.

Interesting of course but who paid: Stommelen, the AvD, Warsteiner or Martini and for which car, a Brabham, the BT44B or the BT45?

[marat]

Stommelen for the Brabham Alfa.

[Geza Sury]

Originally posted by ReWind
To begin with: I cannot say anything definitive. But I have a theory.

RAM entries throughout the year had numbers 32 and 33 - before the German GP as well as after it. Only at the German GP the cars had numbers 36 (Stommelen) and - presumably - 37 (Lombardi).

Why not? According to my sources, Lombardi was entered in the #33 RAM Brabham, but she practiced in the #37 car as this photographic evidence shows:

[conjohn]

Originally posted by Rob Ryder

Originally posted by Geza Sury

There goes my spare car theory... no way they would have changed that much bodywork...

[ensign14]

Originally posted by D-Type
An interesting point about the numbers, Rob. But I would read it the other way. The 32 looks like the work of a signwriter with time to do the job with the 'arty' shadows. On the other hand the 36 is a basic straightforward number as if it had been applied in a hurry.[/I]

I would too. In fact, this may sound weird/anal/whatever, but the numbers 36 and 37 look more German than the others - compare Heyer and Binder when they had ATS number 35, the typography looks similar. Vaguely reminiscent of German number plates, or the numbers on the West German footy shirts in the 66 World Cup.

[Rob Ryder]

Originally posted by D-Type
32 looks like the work of a signwriter with time to do the job with the 'arty' shadows

I think these numbers are available as decals... drop shadows and all

[Reyna]

Source: L'automobile


Rafa

[D-Type]

Originally posted by Rob Ryder

I think these numbers are available as decals... drop shadows and all

As the RAM cars regularly raced as 32 and 33 the team probably had decals for these numbers and 36 and 37 would have been painted.

The use of decals could explain the slight misalignment. It's all too easy to put them on slightly wrong.

Based purely on the information on this thread:

Theory 1 - The Stommelmen car was originally numbered 32 and renumbered 36 to avoid the writ as suggested by ReWind. But this doesn't explain the change of rear wing

Theory 2 - RAM had two cars painted in Stommelmen's colours with the black and yellow stripes. The car intendedfor the race was renumbered 36 to match the entry list but the spare still had no. 32 on it.

Theory 3 - On Thursday free practice Stommelmen practiced one car with number 32. Overnight they re-numbered the cars and as his car had been giving trouble on Friday he drove what had been the spare.

Theory 4 - The photo of car no 32 was taken at an earlier test session.

As is obvious by now - I haven't a clue.

[Rob Ryder]

What we really need is someone with an official race program for the 1976 German Grand Prix. This would not solve the problem of photos with two differing numbers, but would at least give us the 'official' race number for Rolf.

Personally I like D-Type's Theory 3: that the No.32 photo was taken in free practice, before the cars were correctly numbered for the Grand Prix. If this is correct though it does not explain why the usually reliable Autocourse got it wrong and listed Rolf/Lella as 32/33.

[ReWind]

Originally posted by D-Type
Theory 1 - The Stommelen car was originally numbered 32 and renumbered 36 to avoid the writ as suggested by ReWind. But this doesn't explain the change of rear wing

Theory 2 - RAM had two cars painted in Stommelen's colours with the black and yellow stripes. The car intendedfor the race was renumbered 36 to match the entry list but the spare still had no. 32 on it.

Theory 3 - On Thursday free practice Stommelen practiced one car with number 32. Overnight they re-numbered the cars and as his car had been giving trouble on Friday he drove what had been the spare.

Theory 4 - The photo of car no 32 was taken at an earlier test session.

AFAIK in 1976 there was no such thing as „free practice" in Formula 1 and at the German GP in particular there was no practising on Thursday. All action started on Friday.

Furthermore the RAM team had no BT44 spare car. AFAIK it had bought a 1975 BT44B and a 1974 BT44 (converted in 1975 to B-specification) and also a 1973 BT42 (which had been entered at the start of the season as third car for Damien Magee at the International Trophy race in April 1976).

From looking on the bodywork I think # 32 and # 36 are clearly one and the same car. Obviously they had more than one rear wing. The configuration on # 36 (with only "Goodyear" on it instead of "Warsteiner" and "Shell" on # 32) resembles the blank one used by Lella Lombardi on # 37.

[Steffen]

Originally posted by Rob Ryder
What we really need is someone with an official race program for the 1976 German Grand Prix. This would not solve the problem of photos with two differing numbers, but would at least give us the 'official' race number for Rolf.

Personally I like D-Type's Theory 3: that the No.32 photo was taken in free practice, before the cars were correctly numbered for the Grand Prix. If this is correct though it does not explain why the usually reliable Autocourse got it wrong and listed Rolf/Lella as 32/33.

The official race program says:

36 Rolf Stommelen
37 Lella Lombardi

And the german magazin's rallye racing and sport auto have both a comment by Stommelen about the weekend, but nothing about the car numbers.

[Rob Ryder]

Thanks Steffen

[Théodore33]

Originally posted by Reyna


Source: L'automobile


Rafa

Hy,

Does anyone possess a picture of Brett Lunger on board the "Campari" Surtess TS19, because I have never seen this american driving a Surtees painted with the Campari colors ?

Thanks.

[Rob Ryder]

Not a good picture, but the only one I have seen... 1976 German Grand Prix

(Source : Unknown)

[Théodore33]

Originally posted by Rob Ryder
Not a good picture, but the only one I have seen... 1976 German Grand Prix

(Source : Unknown)

Thank you very much , I have really never seen it before.

[fines]

Originally posted by Théodore33


Thank you very much , I have really never seen it before.

So, have you never seen a picture of Lauda's crash???

Have not much to add except that, of course, RAM did not have a spare car! The "look, bailiff" theory sounds odd but interesting, and is all too probably true.

[John-w]

Hello,

here is my model in scale 1/20th from Rolf Stommelen's Brabham BT45/1 (practice).







More photos on my homepage:

http://www.john-w.de/models/news.htm

John-w

[COUGAR508]

Originally posted by John-w
Hello,

here is my model in scale 1/20th from Rolf Stommelen's Brabham BT45/1 (practice).







More photos on my homepage:

http://www.john-w.de/models/news.htm

John-w

That is impressive!

[uechtel]

Interesting of course but who paid: Stommelen, the AvD, Warsteiner or Martini and for which car, a Brabham, the BT44B or the BT45?

 

Very late answer to your question, but Ulrich Schwab in his yearbook tells that the money (20,000 DM) to buy Stommelen into the works Brabham BT 45 spare car came from the AvD.