Classic Endurance Racing at the Nürburgring with the Gstaad Automobile Club

This weekend the world of Formula 1 will gather at the world-famous Nürburgring for Lewis Hamilton the European Grand Prix. Three weeks ago on the same stretch of track, a small group of intrepid racers from the Gstaad Automobile Club gathered for a weekend of modern and classic endurance racing.

For the non-initiated, endurance racing cars are the long distance tourers of the kind used in the famous 24 Heures du Mans race. The cars themselves range from what look like ultra-souped up versions of such road cars as Ferraris, Aston Martins, and Porsche 911s, to full-on prototypes capable of speeds in excess of 300 km/h. And while Audi and Peuguot rule the roost today, back in late seventies, the BMW M1 (shown above) was a major force in the endurance racing scene. And it was by his 1978 M1 that we met up in the paddocks with Stanislas de Sadeleer (of Transafricaine Classic Paris-Dakar Rally fame) on a chilly windswept day at the Nürburgring. de Sadeleer was competing alongside other GAC members, including Stephan Gutzwiller in a classic B15 Chevron with a BMW engine, Christian Traber in another BMW M1, and Karim Ojjeh in the modern Le Mans Series LMP2 category.

In the video below [coming soon], de Sadeleer is in car 38, Traber car 60 (with on-board camera), and Gutzwiller car 3:

Having had a chance to check out the complete field of racers, the morning saw a qualifying session for all to sort out the starting line-up for the afternoon’s main event, one of the official races in the CER Series that includes stops in Monza, Valencia, Spa, and Silverstone (GB). The main event was a pedal-to-the-floor one-hour affair featuring the best endurance cars of yester-year, and while there were a number of different types of endurance cars on the track at the same time, the racing was still taken very seriously. We could go on about the extreme levels of noise and the exhilaration of the sheer speeds involved, but better just to watch the video and check out the photos below. GAC members turned in excellent performances, with Traber coming in 8th (of 43, first in his category), Gutzwiller coming in 11th, and de Sadeleer 16th. Ojjeh did even better, coming in second in modern LMP2 category. Full results are here (classic) and here (modern). Bravo to all!

Click images to enlarge.

Below, Stanislas de Sadeleer's 1978 BMW M1 in the Nuerburgring paddocks:

Below, de Sadeleer (left) and Xavier Ferguson inspect CER competition:

Below, de Sadeleer kits up for his qualifying run:

Below, the rear of de Sadeleer's BMW with the Gstaad Automobile Club colors visible in the license plate area:

Below, de Sadeleer waiting to enter the track for his qualifying run:

Below, de Sadeleer makes his final checks, ready to roll in his patriotic-colored helmet:

Below, de Sadeleer tears down the main straight of the Nurburgring at around 240 km/h:

Below, de Sadeleer takes the chequered flag: