Archive
Joaquin wins first Race of the Season
Joaquin Folch wins the first race of the season. Despite the training session at Mugello two weeks ago, Joaquin was unable to dominate
the weekend the way we all would have liked. Hampered by a sore back, Joaquin was able to lead after the first qualifiying but had to handover the pole to Peter Sowerby racing in Fredy's old Williams FW07. Unfortunately, Peter's engine died and with no spare engine available he had to depart Mugello without a race. A pity, we all would have liked to see a good race between Peter and Joaquin. So Joquin won with quite some back pain, but well a head of Kubota (in a Lotus 88) and Steve Hartly.
Fredy Goes Racing Again
After a two year break from racing Fredy Kumschick will restart his racer career in 2007. After many years (and titles) racing open wheel race cars, we will see Fredy in a Spice IMSA GTP competing for glory in the Historic Group C / GTP Racing Series. Fredy racing with a roof over his helmet? Well for all those who can't believe this.... visit us at the races and you will have a chance to see Fredy mastering a car that has 1.5 times the power over his old Williams as well as 1.5 times the weight. It's gonna be an exicting 2007. Have fun... we certainly will!
Christian wins at Hockenheim
The Jim Clark Revival aims to fill the top spot among the historic motorsport meetings and they are doing a good job... especially if the weather is so sunny and warm! Snow flakes last year and sun burn this year... anyway for Team Kumschick Racing it was two cars, two drivers and two podium finishers. After qualifying 1 & 2 we had Christian on pole position closely tracked by Peter Sowerby and Joaquin. So we had a great setup for an interesting race.... and that it was. Joaquin stormed ahead passed Peter and Christian to lead the race after the first lap, but unfortunatly for not much longer. Under intense pressure from Christian and Peter, Joaquin lost his pace and was passed by 5 drivers. With Christian in the lead, but under constant pressure from Peter and Joaquin slowling fighting back to third, Team Kumschick couldn't complain about too little action. So all in all it was another great race-meeting with great weather, 1 & 3 on the podium and a cheerful atmosphere.... what else can you ask for?
GP Live -- Joaquin wins again .... TWICE!!
By Oliver McCruden
Rounds 3 & 4 of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship had a bit of everything: superb racing throughout the strong field, changeable conditions, enthusiastic crowds, first-time outings of HFO cars, big screen live action (which broadcast the causes and effects of spills) and, ultimately, Joaquin Folch’s Brabham BT49 claiming victory in both races.
QualifyingQualifying well for rounds 3 & 4 of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship was always going to be vital at Donington’s GPLive double-header event on Saturday. Drivers had just one 30-minute session, which would set the grid for both the sprint race AND the feature race on the Sunday, and focus would be imperative. With twenty minutes run of the half-hour session, drivers were just getting up to speed and with several of the front runners sat in the pits changing onto fresh tyres for their hot laps. Of the potential front runners, Dean Lanzante in the beautiful McLaren MP4-1C/7 was on track and, with a relatively clear track, was going for it. After setting the second quickest time so far on what was a somewhat ragged lap, he pushed on for one more shot. Exiting the old hairpin right-hander, the McLaren ran slightly wide and onto the rumble strips. As Lanzante got back on the power, the rear end snapped away, pitching the car around, back across the track and onto the grass where the car picked up speed before slamming backwards into the tyre wall, ripping of the nearside rear wheel before coming to a standstill.
The incident brought the session to a halt as Lanzante was carted to the medical centre and when the stewards ruled that it would not be restarted, it was Peter Sowerby’s Williams FW07 which was left on pole with the top 7 drivers separated by just under a second but all united in disappointment that their qualifying times which would decide the grid for the two races, were not optimum.
Shaken but unhurt in the medical centre, Lanzante was coming to terms with the incident, phased more by the potential cost of the repairs to his client, Aaron Hsu’s car than the 100mph+ impact. His mood wasn’t helped by the disclosure that the whole incident had brought the session to an end and worse stills, that it had been broadcast to the paddock on the largest LED screen in Europe!
Saturday’s Race - Round 3
With Lanzante out of the picture, Sowerby looked comfortable on pole with the impressive Katsu Kubota promoted to second. Behind them, the usual suspects – Hubertus Bahlsen, Steve Hartley, Richard Eyre and Joaquin Folch were joined by Aaron Hsu in the MP4-1C/7 and the Tyrrell 011 of John Wilson, winner here in 2005. But despite the entire grid being made up from potential points-scorers, the big player was to be the weather during the 12-lap sprint race on the Saturday.
It was Bahlsen who once again that made the best start putting both Sowerby and Folch behind him as the lights changed. Hsu pulled off after just a few corners after what he could only admit to as “a terrible display of driving” as Wilson fought to keep Hartley at bay with Kubota and Richard Eyre, who appears revitalised after working on the set up of his Williams in recent months, just behind. Folch pursued Bahlsen for several laps before finally getting past under braking coming into the chicane, one of the few passing spots on the circuit.
As Folch pulled out a short lead, Sowerby, again not getting the best start, began to reel in Bahlsen. The pair went wheel-to-wheel through Redgate at least twice in a n excellent display of hard but fair racing until finally the Englishman got past and soon began closing in on Folch. It wasn’t to last though. As light rain began to fall and Sowerby’s team began to quiver on the pit wall, the big screens revealed the Williams spinning out of position. By the time he regained the circuit, he was back in 9th and would ultimately finish 8th just behind a solid Dan Collins. The Wilson/Hartley battle was another to watch with Eyre close behind. Hartley came out on top ultimately, finishing third overall and winning another vital 10 points with the class victory. Mauro Pane’s class B efforts are still going strong and the Italian looks to have a good claim to be an overall title contender after finishing 6th overall and collecting the class honours whilst John Delane, robbed of competition and full complement of points by the withdrawal of Ean Pugh’s Brabham BT34 just before the event, scooped class A again. But it was Folch that won overall, with Bahlsen six seconds behind. The results saw both Steve Allen and Patrick D’Aubreby score their first points of the season.
Sunday Race – Round 4
With no adverse weather to contend with for the 23 lap feature race on Sunday, it turned out to be just Joaquin Folch that needed to be dealt with carefully following his win the previous day. As the red lights went out, Sowerby got bogged down and, as first Kubota then Bahlsen came past, the Williams left the track onto the grass. As the crews and crowd watched on the big screen, Sowerby regained the track just as Folch came across him. The two cars touched wheels, Folch getting off lightly and continuing whilst Sowerby, suspension broken, once again hit the grass before limping round to the pits and retiring. Folch’s drama continued however. Having left a stricken Sowerby behind him, he continued his charge to the first corner where, trying a move up the inside of Bahlsen connected with the Swiss driver. Both cars span – Bahlsen to the left and onto the gravel and Folch right onto the grass. John Wilson, with nowhere to go, was forced to hit Bahlsen with both cars coming to a rest buried in the gravel trap and joined by Dave Abbott. The latter was able to get a push start and tour around to join up with the grid, which was now stopped again under a red flag on the grid. Folch was also fortunate; he skilfully kept the engine running and got off the grass before returning to the grid. A cursory check of the car by the Kumschick Racing team revealed no damage and, with race distance reduced to 21 laps, was able to make the restart.
The chaos meant that Kubota was in A1 position and that three other contenders were out of the running. As the lights changed, the Japanese driver made the perfect getaway, opening up over a second’s gap from Folch in the first two laps. Slowly though, the Brabham of the later closed and, on lap 8, took the lead. The pair began to drive away from Eyre in third place until lap 10 when the DFV on the Lotus 88B let go in spectacular fashion promoting Eyre to second and clearing the way for him to set the fastest lap in the process.
One driver in particular that was showing strong was Hsu. Following his disappointing race on Saturday, the American was driving excellently and, still relatively new to the car, was able to fight past Hartley to claim the class D win and close to within under half a second from Eyre by the finish. Behind Hartley, the two Lotus’ of Collins and Nico Bindels finished neck and neck having bettered the 6 wheeled Tyrrell of Pane. Abbott made good of his fortune to get out of the initial first corner incident to claim eighth. Rodrigo Gallego put his Minardi ninth with Abba Kogan’s Williams FW06 just over a second behind. Peter Wunsch & Patrick D’Aubreby finished a lap down on the leaders with Andrea Bahlsen, John Delane and Terry Sayles one lap back.
The next round is at the Nurburgring on June 20th.
Fredy Returns with a Vengeance
Two years of race retirement didn't stop "Fast Fredy" in the Spice SE90GTP. He is back with a vengeance: 2nd in the first race and 3rd in the second 40min race.
Within 9 weeks, Fredy and his mechanics brought the AUTO TOY STORE Spice back to victory lane. After a quick shake down during the first practice session we all new that we got a powerful package with Fredy and the Spice. With only one timed lap on the book Fredy finished on P4 for the training session. Qualifying was typical Kumschick Racing style, but this time not by the Brabhams of Folch and Gläsel, but by Fredy himself.... P2 and first row! Wow what a start!
We all started Race 1 with wet feet and soaked sweaters. Nürburg Ring weather at it's best. 10 Minutes before the race heaven's gates opened and wet tyres were in fashion. However, it didn't took long before the sun was breaking through again. So with black sky to the right and sun to left we had to think about intermediates. Well the race was started with field of GroupC/GTP cars on wets. Sure enough, a spin from Fredy and 3 laps later the track started to get dry. Would the wets hold up for the remaining 20 minutes? Yes the tires did as well as Fredy. First podium for the AUTO TOY STORE Spice and second place for Fredy after a two year "race vacation". Happy about the result and the car we knew that we could expect quite a bit from Sunday's race.
Race 2 started in bright sunshine an all of us knew that it will be difficult to beat the FAT Joest Porsche 962. So nodoby was surprised when the Porsche pulled away followed by Mercer in his Cosi Spice and Junstin Law in the Jaguar, but Team Kumschick Racing was very surprised to hear misfire and sputtering from our Spice's Chevy engine. Changing mixture didn't change a thing so Fredy played it safe and lowered the redline to 6000 RPM. With Justin out and Pearson in his Nissan under control Fredy managed to secure the third spot on the podium.
Check out the pictures in the Picture Gallery.
Fredy finishes second at Le Mans
Ok we all know that Fredy is fast, but how fast is he when the engine develops full power? Still strangled by engine problems (cut outs) during test sessions and qualifying the team decided to gear the Spice to accomodate for a strangled engine with max 6000rpm. First race was like expected. Fredy was able to keep up the pace for about 10 minutes before the engine started to cut out again above 6000 RPM. Thanks to the regearing Fredy was able to secure P4. Good but not podium so the team knew that the problem needed to be solved soon -- no matter what. After wading through ecu manuals, wire diagrams and sensor spec sheets we started to measure the wire tree -- wire by wire. Based on logged sync errors we focused on the ref and sync sensors of the chevy engine. Ultimatrely we discovered that the sync sensor was no longer a hall type sensor but a mag type sensor that was still connected to the hall port on the ecu. Funny enough the engine run perfectly in the warmup after we changed that little detail!! Details -- motorsport is all about details!
The second race was labeled a wet race, so hopes were high that Fredy could do well in weather he likes and an engine that performs. Yes that's exactly the way it turned out. The FAT porsche took the lead but Fredy could keep up quite well until the overtaking started were he lost more than Sumptner in the Porsche. However, in the second part of the race the rain got lighter and Fredy got more agressive... leading to the fastest lap with over halve a second clearence to Sumptner's time. All in all it was a great weekend for us. We learned alot about the car and the engine management and we even had time to do some pit stop/tire change training. And YES Fredy ended up on the podium at Le Mans after a hard race! Let's go to Silverstone and kick some Porsche butts!
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Joachin Folch wins twice at Oldtimer-Grand Prix
Joaquin Folch had a quite sucessful race weekend at Nürburging. After a canceled training session at the Eifel track due to fog, Joaquin was granted the pole based on past performance. The following two races were nice and clean start to finish jobs. Twice on the podium on the top spot --- what can you ask for more?
Win number four for Sowerby, Gläsel 2nd, Folch 3rd
The penultimate round of this year’s FIA Historic Formula One Championship was part of the Kiki Bruyns organised RMU Classic at the newly re-developed Francochamps last weekend and proved dramatic on all fronts. Peter Sowerby took his fourth win of the year in the Colin Bennett run Williams and the pure consistency of Steve Hartley’s ’07 campaign resulted in his retention of the Championship title.
Two heavy shunts in practice saw Janine Payne seriously damage the Arrows A4 without injury although Richard Eyre’s lady was taken to Vervier’s hospital for a mandatory check-over. In the second session Peter Wuensch inflicted equally heavy damage on his Wolf having hit the oil liberally spread from Alain de Wagter’sA6. The same slick also claimed Abba Kogan’s Williams which sustained suspension damage.
The on-form Sowerby took an emphatic pole, nearly four seconds quicker than the Brabham of Christian Glaesel ahead of Hubertus Bahlsen’s Arrows and the Kumschick run BT49 of Joaquim Folch. New recruit Bobby Verdon-Roe was fifth fastest in his class B McLaren M26 alongside Nico Bindel’s rebuilt Lotus 87B. Championship title contenders Steve Hartley and Mauro Pane in the six-wheel Tyrell shared row 4 and with just two points difference in the overall standings, this was going to prove a decisive race with just one round remaining.
Whilst the first corner at Spa has been opened for a better shared line from the start there was a coming together as Pane cut inside Folch’s Brabham going into the tightening corner. The contact ended the Italian’s race and championship hopes, the front suspension being seriously deranged. Bahlsen had arrived at the corner ahead, gone wide and coming back onto line drove over the front wheel of Verdon-Roe’s M26. The Swiss Arrows coasted to a halt before La Source.
Sowerby’s race plan was to head Glaesel on the first lap and make the German’s Brabham fight from behind. Having already set the fastest race lap Sowerby had a 3.5 second advantage over the Brabham duo by lap four with Glaesel preparing to attack. One of the best duals featured Verdon-Roe, Hartley, Bindels and the twin-chassis Lotus 88 of Dan Collins. For four laps this group swapped places, the scrap ultimately resolved in favour of Hartley, followed by Verdon-Roe, Collins and Bindels.
From lap five Glaesel cut the gap to Sowerby to just one second going into lap ten. However the Lincolnshire house builder was not about to pass up win number four this season and led the German across the line with Folch third in Mr Eccleston’s BT49. Hartley took fourth overall and class fastest lap to secure his points and the retention of his 2006 Championship title. The Darwen engineer has benefited from a savvy racing philosophy this year and reliable preparation by Mirage Motorsport.
Frenchman Patrick D’Aubreby brought the Ecurie Griffiths Tyrell 012 home eighth ahead of Peter Dunn in his newly acquired Tony Smith Williams FW07. Dave Abbott recovered from a poor grid place to tenth ahead of the Minardi of Rodrigo Gallego.
Class positions still need to be resolved at the final race of the season at Dijon in late September.
by Oli McCrudden
Fredy on Fire.... this time not the way we like!
OK the race season is over...
Season 2007 is history and all efforts go into our 2008 projects. Rebuiding Daniel's Nissan Group C3 car, rebuilding our Spice or just plain vanila winter maintenance on our Brabhams, Maclaren or Williams F1 cars. We are all a bit tired after such a long season, but we think and talk about next season Monte Carlo with F1 and LeMans with a GTP car how much better can live be?! This brings me to a very sad story. For many weeks now, Steve Fosset is missing. If you read the next few paragraphs you will agree that one of the "last action heros" is missing. Sailing, gliders, airships, baloons, airplanes, racecars or triathlon, swimming the Channel, or climbing. This guy is special. Let's hope just did a detour to a mexican cantina or found the entrance to the center of the earth.....
On this... enjoy life and if you have time visit us at the garage for some "hangar flying"
cheers and all the best to all of you
Daniel
Freitag, 13. April 2007 - 10:23 Uhr
Our new big baby arrived 03-04-2007
After 5 months our baby arrived very healthy at our headquarter
in Schoetz.His name is Spice SE90 GTP Chevrolet-13.
2 Histroric Racing Titans united in one Cockpit
Spice SE90 GTP
Well we have an exciting Group C / GTP season ahead of us. Not only are we part of the support races ahead of the modern 24 heurs at Le Mans, but sporting code changes of the series will equalize the available power between atmo and turbo cars. Also, Charlie Agg, the new series organizer thought that these cars have to run the way they were built.... as endurance cars. So the race format in 2008 includes a Saturday sprint race of 30' and a Sunday 90' race with pitstop and driver change.
Driver change?
Well when you are in need of a great historic racecar driver not many names pop up. Having one already in the car we had to call Martin Stretton.... and he agreed to race with Fredy in the Spice. Are we serious about Group C / GTP racing? You bet! Do we have a chance to win? We will see. Do we believe that we are prepared to win? You can bet your grandma on this!
Historic Grand Prix Monaco 2008
MONACO 'Historic' GRAND PRIX 2008
The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco exists since 1997.
It takes place on the same circuit as the Formula 1 Grand Prix with the charming old cars that propose a travel back in time.
Organised every two years by the Automobile Club of Monaco, the 2004 edition was a success for the spectators that come more and more each year.
Here are the main modifications for the 2006 edition :
The circuit, as for the Formula 1 Grand-Prix, has been modified from the swimming pool to the curve of the Rascasse. The total distance is now 3,340 km. The exit of the stands goes now up to the curve of Sainte-Devote,
The 3 series (before 1934, before 1952 and before 1961) are merged into 2 series : before 1947 (C & D period from the FIA) and before 1961 (period E).
Sports car race will be only for cars from before 1953 (no more from before 1959), because the Monaco Grand-Prix for sports cars had only one edition in 1952.
F1 Race for cars from before 1966 (period F) doesn't accept cars from series Tasman and Intercontinentales,
F1 race, 3 liters, is reserved for cars that participated to a Grand-Prix before 1979 (period G & H).
Sunday 11 May
1 Race per Group (10 laps or max 30 mins) except Groups F & G (15 laps or max 45 mins)
15h30-16h15 Group F 1966-1974 'Formula 1' cars
16h45-17h30 Group G 1975-1978 'Formula 1' cars
Kumschick Racing's new Trailer Design
Kumschick Racing's new Trailer Design
Pole, Fastest Lap and Win for Joaquin Folch at Spa
Joaquin did it again. A very convicing performance at Monaco charged him to a even more convincing victory at Spa. It can't be better than pole, fastest lap and a top spot on the podium.
Check in soon for the podium pictures.
Yes we got the pace but not a podium, yet!
The Group C Racing Series had its first two races of the 2008 season at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. On the 7 kilometer long circuit one 45-minute free practice session and a 40-minute qualifying session were followed by two races. On Saturday afternoon a 30-minute sprintrace took place followed by a 90-minute enduro race on Sunday afternoon.
During the free practice session on Friday it was British driver Mark Sumpter in a Porsche 962 who set the fastest time of 21 cars that set a time. A 2:13.067 was the fastest time set in the session. Sumpter was quickest again in the qualifying session on Sunday morning. Twenty-seven cars entered the qualifying session and when the chequered flag came out Sumpter had lapped the Belgian track in 2:19.443, over 7.5 seconds quicker than the second fastest driver, Andy Purdie in the Nissan R90-CK.
Sumpter and Purdie did not play an important role during the first race. After three laps both drivers were already out of the race and the battle for victory as fought out by other drivers. Quickest car out on the track was the number 11 Spice SE GTP of Fredy Kumschick and Martin Stretton, but a pit stop prevented them from winning the race. After completing 12 laps the number 3 Jaguar XJR12 of Justin Law and Andy Wallace took the win. 48 seconds behind Law and Wallace it was David Hart who took second place on his Group C debut, with Peter Sowerby and Calum Lockie taking third, one minute away from the winning Jaguar.
On Sunday the expected rain stayed away and as the race progressed the sun started to shine. Unfortunately Mark Sumpter’s Porsche did not take the start after the retirement during Saturday’s race and the car stayed in the box. Purdie’s Nissan led the Law/Wallace Silk Cut Jaguar at the start of the second race, but unfortunately both cars were unable to retain their positions throughout the race. Fredy Kumschick in the Spice took the lead on the second lap and was able to hang on to it till the end of his stint. Purdie managed to set the fastest lap time of the race, but eventually finished in eleventh place, while the number 3 Jaguar’s race came to an end after 26 laps. By then the Sauber Mercedes of Rob Sherrard and Wayne Park had already taken the lead and the ‘Silver Arrow’ was in a league of its own. As it crossed the chequered flag after 38 laps the gap to nearest rivals Sowerby and Lockie was more than one lap! David Hart in the Porsche 962 was a minute and a half behind the British Nissan drivers and finished third.
The next round of the Group C Racing Series will take place at the legendary Le Mans circuit. Instead of a regular weekend the cars will run one 40-minute race on Saturday morning. So far 40 cars have been confirmed to take part in France.
For images of the Spa-Francorchamps Group C Racing weekend take a look at ourgallery.
Group C Race
Joaquin finish 2nd at Monaco
Group F: Formula 1 Grand Prix cars (1966 – 1974)
Duncan Dayton and Joaquin Folch-Rusinol met once more on the track. The American led most of the race in his Brabham, until the Spaniard passed him during a questionably tight cut across the chicane and crossed the line first in his McLaren. Folch-Rusinol didn’t however complain when he was bumped down to second in the official result. The weekend’s two victories combined with those in the previous four editions make Dayton the most successful historic racer at Monaco. Well back in the pack finishing thirteenth, the unique Amon F101 was driven to its first-ever race finish in the hands of Ron Maydon. The problems causing Chris Amon to abandon the project in 1974 seem to have been solved by Maydon’s present-day team. There were also many non-finishers in this class, most of whom fell victim to the track’s unbendable Armco barriers. One of the weekend’s biggest accidents occurred in Group F’s second qualifying session when Jacques Nicolet in the BRM P201 and Andrea Burani in his McLaren M19 collided in the run up the hill towards the casino. The entire left hand side of the McLaren was ripped off as the car got pushed along the barrier. Both drivers fortunately managed to escape unharmed. Further adding to the complexity of the Monaco track was Judy Lyons in her Surtees; she had trouble keeping up with the safety car and served mainly as a rolling chicane.
Temporary Calendar 2008
Fredy misses Podium finish at Le Mans
After an absence of many years, Group C sportscars came back to Le Mans and they did so in style! Providing the spectacle were 30 fantastic Group C machines that took to the grid in glorious sunshine to compete in the historic support race organized by Motor Racing Legends. The 10-lap sprint race makes up one of the four-round Group C Racing series for 2008.
Fittingly, it was the Jaguar XJR V12 driven by Justin Law that took victory, exactly twenty years on from the famous Jaguar v Porsche duel that ended in the win for Jaguar and a marked a shift in the balance of Group C power.
Law rolled back the years and led from lights to flag after securing pole position in qualifying on Thursday. In an impressive display he never looked threatened, although second placed Mark Sumpter in his Porsche 962, only back backed off when it was clear that a win wasn’t going to be possible.
An ecstatic Justin said: “It’s awesome, I never expected this, I’m over the moon! I could see Mark in my mirrors all the time, so I just kept pushing as hard as I could.”
Commenting on a fine second place, Mark added: “Justin had an advantage as he’s been here before, but as the race went on I was getting progressively quicker.”
It was less controlled behind the pair as an exciting battle unfolded between Fredy Kumschick (Spice SE GTP), Gary Pearson (Jaguar XJR 11) and Oliver Mathai (Porsche 962).
After running in a solid third place, it was Fredy who lost out in the final corners as a fast charging Gary, who started from 15th on the grid. Making a desperate last-lap-lunge, Gary just tagged Fredy, sending him wide and two-places down the order. The chief beneficiary of the coming together was Oliver, who had qualified ninth and enjoyed a superb race-long battle with Gary that was only settled in the final metres when Gary and Fredy touched.
The first four across the line accounted for first and second places in classes 1 & 2 (C1: Justin Law, Jaguar XJR 12 and Mark Sumpter, Porsche 962C. C2: Oliver Mathai, Porsche 962C and Gary Pearson, Jaguar XJR 11).
The Class 3 & 4 winners were Peter Schleifer, March 84G and Christopher Catt, Spice GTP Light.
It is obvious that even after the best part of two decades, Group C cars are engraved on the heart of the motorsport enthusiast, because the Le Mans spectators just couldn’t get enough of these iconic racers.
The depth and quality of the Group C field is emphasized by the fact that the series runs examples of Le Mans winning marques such as Porsche, Jaguar, Mazda, Spice and Mercedes, as well as cars from Aston Martin, Nissan, Argo and Tiga.
The Group C experience doesn’t stop at Le Mans. Motorsport fans can see and hear these marvelous machines at Silverstone next month as they again take a central role in the Silverstone Classic meeting, which takes place over the 25th, 26th & 27th July.
At Silverstone there are two races, a 30-minute sprint on Saturday and a 90-minute endurance, which includes driver changes and refueling on Sunday.
The endurance race is the David Leslie Memorial Trophy, dedicated to the memory of sportscar legend David Leslie and a fitting way to bring the racing programme at Silverstone to a close.
Fredy & mechanics inject new life into Mexican GTP
Over a period of two years, Fredy, Wisu, Martin and the rest of the Kumschick Sports Car garage team rebuild a 1993 sports prototype.
The car, officially a Nissan Tame TA-120, was run between 1993 and 1996 in the Mexican Copa Tecate a "one Make" sports prototype series. The series was born in 1992 after Nissan stopped the US GTP program and to promote the brand "NISSAN" in Mexico and it's new Mexican car production plant.
Nissan approached Alfredo Tame Sr. who has a long experience in motorsport, first as a mechanic for guys like Shelby and latter as Mexicos race series promoter. His own race car preparation and operation is Escuderia TAME Racing. Tame Racing build the cars for NISSAN Sport prototipo series Copa Tecate. The cars itself were based on the KA24e engine that was widely used in US GTO racing series.
Stay tuned to see how we progress with this car.
Win for Martin in the Spice & 2 x 2nds for Joaquin
Silverstone Classic was quite a good weekend for Kumschick Racing. After an inital setback with an engine failure in Joaquin's Brabham, the weekend was saved with the engines out of Joaquin's FW08 Williams.
HFO Race 1
Peter Sowerby won the first FIA Historic Formula One race of the weekend in a lights to flag victory in front of a large crowd enjoying the glorious summer sunshine and entertainment at the 2008 Silverstone Classic. Sowerby took the flag in the ex-Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C ten seconds ahead of Joaquin Folch in the Brabham BT49C-10 and the ex-Keke Rosberg Championship winning Williams FW08 of Richard Eyre.
HFO Race 2
The final day of the 2008 Silverstone Classic exceeded all expectations with visitors streaming through the gate to push the total visitor number to 57,000, 40% up on the 2007 event and well above the target of 49,000. A packed programme of 10 races and other off track activities kept everyone entertained in the glorious summer sunshine.
In the second FIA Historic Formula One encounter of the weekend Joachin Folch crossed the line in first place ahead of Saturday race winner Peter Sowerby only to be handed a penalty for a yellow flag infringement which reversed their finishing positions.
GTP Race 1
Martin Stretton took the win in the first Group C race after a red flag caused the race to be shortened to 20 minutes. Stretton crossed the line in the Spice SE GTP just 1.1 seconds ahead of Justin Law’s Jaguar XJR8 and Andy Purdie’s Nissan R90-CK. The Group C cars will be providing the finale on Sunday with a 90-minute race for the David Leslie Memorial Trophy.
GTP Race 2
The final 90-minute Group C race was full of incident providing a cracking finale to the 2008 Silverstone Classic. Peter Sowerby took his third winners trophy home to Lincoln as he and Calum Lockie crossed the line in the Nissan RC90-CK a lap ahead of their nearest rival David Hart in the Porsche 962. Justin Law and Andy Wallace were third in their Jaguar XJR8 after a puncture forced Wallace to make an unscheduled pitstop while leading the race. Martin Stretton had to retire the previous day winning Spice due to a water leak.
See pictures in the gallery
Joaquin Folch finishes 2nd and 1st at Nurburgring
Joaquin raced hard to win at Nurburgring
Fredy waiting to see Joaquin win
Die – zumindest in akustischer Hinsicht – spektakulärste Performance des Wochenendes zeigten beim ADAC Eifelrennen die Fahrzeuge aus der Historischen Formel-1-Meisterschaft der FIA. Der Italiener Mauro Pane war als Führender angereist, dem die Aufmerksamkeit aber auch aus ganz anderen Gründen sicher war: Er pilotierte mit dem sechsrädrigen Tyrrell P34/5 den einzig jemals erfolgreich im Rennen eingesetzten Formel-1-Sixwheeler. „Das ist schon ein großartiges Auto“, grinste Pane, der sich beim Eifelrennen sichtlich wohl fühlte. „Dies ist fantastisches Event, bei dem sich für mich die sehr guten Erfahrungen bestätigen, die ich mit deutschen Organisatoren schon oft gemacht habe: Alles ist gut organisiert, es gibt keine Verzögerungen oder unvorhersehbaren Änderungen.“ Einzig auf die Möglichkeit, das Fahrzeug im Rahmen einer Revivalfahrt den Fans entlang der Nordschleife zu präsentieren, verzichtete er: „Ich wollte nichts riskieren, schließlich führe ich die Meisterschaft derzeit an“, warb er um Verständnis. Während Pane den Anspruch auf die Spitzenposition bei den beiden Läufen des Wochenendes mit Siegen in der Klasse der Post-1971-Fahrzeuge ohne Ground Effect unterstrich, bestimmten andere das Geschehen an der Spitze: Der Brite Peter Sowerby (Williams FW07C-14) gewann den ersten Lauf, Joaquim Folch (Spanien, Williams FW08-05) holten die Gesamtsiege. Beide traten in der Klasse der nach 1971 gebauten Ground-Effect-Fahrzeuge an.
Season is over and it's time to rebuild the Cars
For Kumschick Racing it's going to be a busy winter season.
Not one but 3 Formula 1 cars await their usual winter maintenance and build up. Along the Formula 1 cars, a new challenge is waiting: the restoration and buildup of a Mercedes Sauber C11 Group C car. Sometimes it's hard to understand how much time, effort, detective work and reverse engineering goes into the buildup of a historic race car. The short video below illustrates (in a time condensed version) what is needed to restore a Spice GTP car. Have fun and when you have time visit us at the workshop.
Joaquin Folch wins at Spa RMU Classic
HFO at Spa 2009 - Race Report
by Dan Collins
The 2009 FIA Historic Formula One Championship kicked off at Spa which delivered surprising fine weather for most of the weekend. With 25 cars entered, there was plenty of on track action and the obligatory first corner incident.
Friday Free Practice
Friday morning dawned bright and sunny. It seems that the only place on the planet which will benefit from global warming is the lovely circuit of Spa Francorchamps.
A superb grid of 26 Historic Formula One Cars suffered its first retirement when the newly re-built Fittipaldi of Jean-Michel Martin was found to have problems with its steering rack. The replacement parts could not be finished in time and so, regretfully, Jean-Michel was forced to withdraw without turning a wheel. Jean-Michel stayed with us for the weekend and intends to compete for the rest of the season.
On track, we were joined by new-comer Giancarlo Casoli in a magnificent Ferrari T312, flat 12, sadly, despite successful winter tests, a gearbox problem sidelined Giancarlo – who also intends to compete in the rest of the Championship. Bill Coombs, in the ex-Max Samuel Camps Tyrrell 009-01, also joined us for the first of a number of events. Bill runs the racing schools at Thruxton, Pembrey and Croft for the BARC but had never seen Spa before so was delighted to be in the top ten.
To the surprise of many of our regular competitors, Friday’s timesheets were headed by Peter Meyrick’s son Andy followed by Steve Hartley, Joaquin Folch, an improving Dan Collins and Hubertus Bahlsen in Andrea’s Tyrrell 008.
Saturday Qualifying 1
Once again it was dry and sunny and normal service was resumed as Joaquin Folch, revelling in the predictability of the newly re-built Brabham BT49, headed the timesheet. Over 2 seconds behind Joaquin, Rowland Kinch, Andy Meyrick & Steve Hartley, with less than 3/10ths of asecond between them, took second, third & fourth places with Bobby Verdon-Roe & Dan Collins hot on their heels.
Abba Kogan, forsaking his beloved Matras and trying a ground effect Arrows, stayed just ahead of Hubertus in the Tyrrell. A failure in the “measuring department” caused Richard Eyre’s times to be excluded from the first practice session as his skirts were well under the 40mm limit. Unfortunately, Bill Coomb’s engine suffered a bearing failure and he was unable to qualify and with no spare, was forced to spectate for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday Qualifying 2
Second practice, unbelievably also dry, was generally slower as a result of a significant oil slick laid all the way through Radillion and Eau Rouge by a sick Formula Junior car in the previous session. Joaquin, retaining his first place, but allowing Andy Meyrick to grab second place from Rowland Kinch. Class D Leader Steve Hartley retained fourth place, Class B Leader Bobby Verdon-Roe retained fifth whilst Richard Eyre struggled to get on terms with Abba Kogan who retained eighth place.
Sunday Warm-up
Despite an overnight shower, the track was damp but drying for the warm up on Sunday morning. A combination of new slicks and a damp track proved difficult for many drivers and particularly for Dan Collins who spun the Lotus 91 going over the brow of Eau Rouge, bending a wheel but, fortunately, causing no major damage. Sadly, a broken rear wheel hub meant that Hubertus was forced to retire as no spares were available.
Sunday Race
By start time, 1.35 p.m., the weather was perfect for racing. Stefano Rosina, unsure of his engine, opted to start from pit-lane and Michel Baudoin was unable to take the start due to a stone becoming wedged between the brake calliper and the wheel on the green flag lap!
At the front, Andy Meyrick made a text-book start and headed Rowland KInch into La Source, followed closely by Joaquin Folch. Behind these three, confusion reigned! Dan Collins had a vivid view, recorded on his in car video, of Peter Meyrick attempting a dive down the inside of Steve Hartley from some way back. It was a little ambitious and Steve would not have seen the March coming from his track position.
The inevitable collision resulted in Steve’ Arrows being launched high enough by Peter’s front wheel, for all of us on the pit-lane to see fresh air beneath. For a moment, Dan thought he might be able to dive underneath the Arrows! Steve retired on the spot but Peter carried on with little damage.
With most of the field having scattered to take avoiding action, up front, Joaquin soon disposed of Rowland. Andy resisted Joaquin’s attempts to pass him a little longer and even re-passed the Brabham but had to give best on lap 5. Twenty seconds behind these three, Bobby Verdon-Roe was delighted to inherit third place when Rowland’s throttle linkage broke.
Further down the field Peter Dunn, Peter Meyrick and Abba Kogan stayed “glued” together for the whole ten laps, whilst Richard Eyre was able to keep them in sight but unable to close in.
Stefano Rosina’s brave attempt came to nought and he switched off on lap 4 before the engine problem became terminal.
Dan Collins also retired the Lotus on lap 4 with an engine emitting clouds of blue smoke and Dan muttering something like “no wonder everyone was flying past me on the bloody straight”.
David Abbott’s shoulder, an old war wound (or so he claims!) was giving him so much pain that he was unable to turn the steering and he retired on lap 7.
Patrick D’Abreby made several trips to the pits to cure fuel pressure problems, eventually finishing fourteenth.
Joaquin took the chequered flag and it was delightful to see two new faces on the podium, Andy Meyrick in second and Bobby Verdon-Roe in third place.
A delighted Terry Sayles took first place in Class D.
With Bobby Verdon-Roe and Joaquin Folch sharing the lead in the FIA Historic Formula One Championship, we move on to Monza 6th/7th June – where we expect an even bigger grid and hopefully fewer early season teething troubles!
All results are here.
Race At Monza
The Build Up
A maximum 30 car grid was entered to contest the FIA Historic Formula One championship event held at the 57 Coppa Intereuropa Storica meeting at Monza and 26 cars filled the long Monza start grid on Sunday afternoon as a result of a few qualifying woes.
This iconic Italian venue always attracts a full compliment of local pilots who, coupled with the burgeoning regular runners this season, makes the HFO grid the healthiest in the historic racing scene. Mauro Pane’s F1 Storiche squad included the March 741 of Stefano Rosina, the Shadow DN3 of Yves Saguarto, the Theodore of lawyer, Luciano Quaggia, and the glorious Ferrari 312T of Walter Burani. A further example of this beautiful Prancing Horse was the entry from fashion magnate Gianfranco Casoli. David Abbott debuted his new Mirage assembled Arrows A4 and Manfred Rossi joined the HFO ranks for the first time in the Kerry Adams tended Martini & Rossi liveried Brabham BT43.
Joaquin Folch in the Brabham BT49 had annexed pole just ahead of Rowland Kinch in his Arrows A4, Bobby Verdon-Roe’s brilliant McLaren M23 and, in a bizzare timekeepers mix-up which saw him awarded an incorrect time, David Abbott’s Arrows. Former HFO Champion Steve Hartley failed to start having had the gearbox casing crack wide open. The Blackburn engineer even took hold of the mig-welder himself in an attempt to get the car to the grid.
Another non starter was Hubertus Bahlsen following some low level aerobatics during qualifying which removed a few parts from his Arrows.
Class B cars always show well at Monza, perhaps it’s the lower frontal area that gains straight line benefits. The March of Peter Meyrick rounded out the top ten after qualifying behind Peter Wuensch’s Hall & Hall Wolf WR1 and the MEC Auto March of Rodrigo Gallego who had a troubled practice with broken gearbox and then damaged driveshaft. Peter Dunn started from the back of the grid having had to miss official qualifying through attending to family matters in the UK on Saturday. His 12th place finish was a credit.
Tony Smith changed the ignition trigger on his Williams before the race but a misfire persisted on the green flag lap and he headed straight for the pits, no doubt satisfied with winning in his glorious Ferrari Dino in the earlier front engined GP car event.
Sunday Race
A sun baked crowd watched the Parmalat Brabham confidently lead the cars onto the grid at the end of the green flag lap only for the clutch pedal to go to the floor as the Spaniard selected first. Both hands shot into the air and the skilled Monza marshals threw a mass of yellow flags instantly as starter John Felix hit the start delayed lights. The number 7 was wheeled to the pit road as the grid reformed for the renewed count-down.
Verdon-Roe beat Kinch to the first chicane and Dan Collins out dragged Abbott on the way there. It all went wrong for Collins as he spun away third place exiting the chicane and re-joined in last place. Further up the track, Kinch regained the lead from Verdon-Roe who held second place for six laps until an injection trumpet came loose and the engine died.
Abba Kogan’s Arrows passed the similar car of Abbott and ran third on the first lap but a couple of chicane cutting manoeuvres dropped him down the field. Richard Eyre’s tenacity saw him benefit as the race progressed, only to relinquish third in the final three hectic laps.
Meanwhile, Folch had started from the pit road and a brilliant drive through the field, which included fastest lap of the race, saw the Spaniard’s Kumschick Racing prepared car finish third overall.
Katsu Kubota’s Colin Bennett-tended class B March 761 was a sensation working up from 8th on the grip to claim second spot on lap seven with the engine grenading on the slowing down lap, delaying the popular Japanese from his podium celebrations! HFO newcomer Frank Sytner took fourth in his Dunn Racing Hesketh having been up to third.
Best charge of the day was certainly that of the flying Folch who cut through the field with fastest lap to take a remarkable third place and the Championship lead.
Joaquin finishes 4th in Class at Brands
Kinch completes historic Brands win
10:45am Tuesday 7th July 2009
ROWLAND Kinch secured an impressive victory in his Arrows A4-2 in the third round of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship.
Having started from third, Kinch had dropped to fifth before an incident between the March 761/6s of Katsu Kubota and Peter Meyrick promoted him two places.
Kinch then passed the fast-starting McLaren M26/5 of Bobby Verdon-Roe to take second, before hunting down the lead Brbaham BT49C-10 of Joaquin Folch.
With Kinch in a comfortable lead, the race was red flagged two laps from the end after an incident involving Peter Dunn's March 761/4 on the outside of Westfield Bend.
He said: “It was great fun and I have to say thank you to the team for giving me a great car.
“It all came together in the race, and once I found where I was faster than the others and just kept my head.
“Now I’m just looking forward to the next race. Hopefully I can win there as well.”
Folch had been unable to keep pace with Kinch’s Arrows, but looked certain to secure second until transmission problems befell his Bernie Ecclestone-prepared Brabham with six laps remaining.
Instead, the runner-up spot was inherited by Verdon-Roe, the only other driver to come near the pace of the front two.
He said: “I got a great start and perhaps I could have even snatched the lead, although that would have been greedy.
“I saw I was clear of Peter Meyrick and cut to the inside of Katsu Kubota.
“Luckily my judgement was spot on.
“It was very good fun and I’m happy to take second.”
Peter Wuensch took third, although the German was under increasing pressure from Peter Dunn’s March before the latter's accident at Westfield.
Wuensch admitted: “I had good luck beacuse other drivers in the race were unlucky.
“It’s the third time I have raced at Brands Hatch and I really enjoy it.
“Today has been another happy day.”
Joaquin finishes 3rd after race thru the field
Rowland Kinch put the boot into the opposition with a lights to flag victory at Donington last weekend to take maximum points in his quest to top the points table for this year’s FIA Historic Formula One Championship. The G-Cat Arrows started from pole and was never headed, finishing nearly 15 seconds ahead of Steve Hartley’s rapidly improving Mirage Arrows and Joaquin Folch’s Kumschick Williams which had started from the back of the grid.
This HFO meeting was a hurriedly organised replacement for the aborted Interlagos event, the Donington meeting taking place as part of the Superleague Formula spectacular. “We worked with Superleague last year at Estoril and have had full co-operation with them again here in the UK,” said HFO co-ordinator, Stuart McCrudden.
Whilst prior travel and holiday arrangements conspired to limit the HFO grid to 16 cars, the regular front runners were all present. The monsoon that covered most of the UK on Saturday afternoon washed out the second qualifying session so the grid was formed on the damp first run. Kinch took pole from Bobby Verdon-Roe’s McLaren with Hartley third, Folch in the Brabham, Frank Sytner’s Hesketh, Richard Eyre’s Williams, Peter Dunn’s March and Dave Abbott in his new Arrows. Katsu Kubota had gone into the gravel and was going to have to start way down the grid.
In Sunday morning’s 10 minute warm-up Folch’s car had fuel pressure problems which could not be identified accurately enough for security so with just 20 minutes to go to the start, Freddy Kumschick decided to off load the Williams from the truck and hastily get it scrutineered and fuelled for the race although of course the Spaniard had to start from the back of the grid just as he had done at Monza. Could he drive through the field again to get a foot on the podium?
From pole Kinch was never headed whilst Hartley out jumped Verdon-Roe with Sytner and Eyre chasing. Kubota had gear selection problems from the start and Abba Kogan stalled his Williams and was last away. Kinch set fastest race lap on his 2nd tour. Eyre battled past Verdon-Roe only for his fuel pressure to die on lap 10. Abbott broke a drive shaft and Giancarlo Casoli apparently ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap. Frank Sytner’s run ended early with handling problems having had to remove the damaged front wing after just six laps. “There was absolutely zero front grip after we took the wing off and that really is no fun at all, so I brought it in rather than risk anything else,” said the Monaco resident.
Peter Dunn finished 5th ahead of Abba Kogan with a fast finishing Katsu Kubota 7th, Tony Smith 8th and Michel Baudoin 9th, Casoli classified 10th with Terry Sayles pretty Osella 11th and class D winner.
What of Folch? By lap 5 he was up to 8th, by lap 8 he held fifth and kept on working the Williams hard. “This car is much more physical to drive than the Brabham and 18 laps round here is pretty hard anyway,” reported the Spaniard wiping away the sweat as he mounted the podium to take a hard earned third place trophy.
Verdon-Roe has been carefully collecting points and leads the Championship by a single point from Kinch with Folch just five points further back. The next race is the traditional double-header at the Eifelrennen meet at the Nurburgring at the end of September and the finale will be at Paul Ricard at the very end of October. It seems highly likely that the result will, as is often the case, go right down to the wire at the last race of the season. Whoever collects the trophy will have had a remarkably close run season.
Joaquin drives Williams after BT49 engine problem
Out of the truck & thru the field in less than 1h!
Joaquin storms to a 3rd and 1st place finish!
And so it goes if you go racing with your wife!
Joaquin Folch: FIA World Champion
If you ever wanted to see a heartbeat finale, then you should have been at Circuit Paul Ricard on November 1st. The situation was simple. Joaquin had to win the Class C race with fastest lap or the championship was lost. After a successful test in mid October at Le Castellet we all knew that nothing was lost but a lot to gain if all plays out well.
Qualifying was running well even if Joaquin was only second fastest with young Andy Meyrick gunning all down with a March 761. A stunning performance of Andy and we wish him all the best to catch a seat in a DTM 2010 car.
But back to Paul Ricard. Sunday November 1st, grey clouds and 18 Degrees C and tension was high. The grid packed with more than 20 historic F1 cars, the drivers awaiting the start of the race. But then, Joaquin lets the clutch go just centimeters and only seconds before the red lights go out and race starts. Joaquin hesitates a fraction of a second, long enough to block Martin Stretton approaching from behind. Martin's right front wheel connects with Joachin's left rear wheel... Martin's Lotus becomes airborne before landing hard but safe. Not worried about what happened behind him, Joaquin charged down the straight confirming his second spot in the first corner. Shock and disbelieve was painted on the faces of the members of Team Kumschick Racing. But there was no time to waste. Joaquin's car was apparently ok, his times were fine and he was able to hold on to storming young Andy Meyrick. Fastest lap in lap 2 and 8 long laps to go. Will the car hold up? will Kinch recover from a bad start or will Rob Hall be able to catch and overtake Joaquin? Well all played out like a fairy tale. Joaquin finished second in the field and first in Class. Play, Set and Match! Yes Joaquin Folch and Team Kumschick Racing are FIA World Champions again!
(pictures are here)
Richard Borer is SPCC Vice Champion 2009
Kumschick Racing had a quite successful year in the historic French Sports Prototype Classic Challenge - SPCC. The challenge is managed by Fabio Magnani, a 5 times LeMans participant and owner of the French race suply outfit Autotecnica. The 2009 season has quite impressive stats to show. Despite the global economic downturn Fabio was able to attract drivers from France, UK, Spain, Switzerland and Italy to present an average field size of 30+ cars and over 60 classified drivers. The SPCC events were all run as part of Club Europa's Trophee Pierre Martinet and displayed great and well organized racing weekends. Richard Borer was able to score valuable points together with Daniel in the Nissan and Bruno Weibel with the Lotus Elise Motorsport 200. Richard who usually drives the Kumschick Racing truck and dubbles as race mechanic displayed his racing ambitions well by finishing second on the overall SPCC scoreboard. Daniel with his Nissan finished 18th in the championship while Bruno was able to finish 7th with 4 class wins shared with Richard.
All in all, SPCC is fantastic club sport racing and open to all cars 10years and older. Got plans for 2010? We sure have!
Kumschick Prepared Group C3 finishes 2nd and 4th
After a two year restauration process, the Nissan Tame Group C3 racecar got his first race action again after 14 years off the tracks.
The Blue-White-Red colored closed cockpit prototype car took 2nd and 4th in the French Sports Prototype Car Challenge at Magny-Cours. Even if there are a few issues left to be tackled, the car presented itself in great condition and impressed spectators and fellow competitors alike. Have a look at the pictures here.
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