Avus/Berlin

The second race in the Procar series of 1980

11th May 1980

The second race for the Procar series in Germany in 1980 was staged over 15 laps at 8.11 km each. The winner mastered the race distance of 121.65 km at an average speed of 213.602 km/h.

Manfred Schurti, 38 years old, motor vehicle expert from the Principality of Liechtenstein. Currently in his 20th season of motor sports, he showed them all – the young, the old, the Formula 1 stars: He won his first Procar race at Avus in Grunewald, Berlin.

Now the Procar has its technical regulation from the previous year again. After having driven on the 4 kilometre long straight of the Avus racing track during the first practice permanently at the electronically limited engine speed of 8,700 RPM and establishing a rear wing inclination of 3 degrees didn’t help either, the limiter was turned up to 9,300 revolutions again.

“8,700 tours remained our maximum suggestion” explained Dieter Stappert, “there is no more power above that anyhow”. When, during warm up all revved up 9,000 RPM anyway, a high engine exitus quota was predicted. However, all engines survived, although the cars were driven hard in Berlin.

Hans-Geog Bürger made a start with the old engine speed: With 2:14,57 he attained pole position, whilst Manfred Schurti in a Cassani M1 with 2:15,12 and Walter Brun in a Schnitzer with 2:15,72 in the next positions completely shocked the competitors.

There were also many shocks during the race. The first hit Hans Heyer, who was eliminated during the first lap, being chased into the tyre walls of the chicane limits by Walter Brun, whose car flew out of a chicane whilst braking, due to a broken brake disk. The second shock occurred when “Strietzel” Stuck, who came out of the first lap with a flat tyre and after a tyre change, like in Donington, was in over his head. One lap later, Nelson Piquet flew out into the tyre wall at the same location – due to braking too late.

During this, Manfred Schurti led the race for two laps, however later having to give in to Didier Pironi. Five laps later, the Frenchman was out – due to a broken gear shift linkage.

The eventual winner, 55 Manfred Schurti at the start line

The eventual winner, 55 Manfred Schurti at the start line

Schurti was race leader again, followed by Jan Lammers, who continued to catch up two laps before the finish, as the Liechtensteiner suddenly fought a flat right, front tyre. The Dutchman’s attempt to overtake 300 metres before the finish line bowled over the spectators. But Schurti blocked him. Lammers, who in the beginning initially almost passed out due to a damaged fire extinguisher in the cock pit had to slow down and spun: Victory for Schurti, second place for Lammers.

Behind that, Hans-Georg Bürger achieved an uncontested third place, whilst Jacques Laffite and Carlos Reutemann came in fourth and fifth place, following a thrilling duel over the entire distance (with a short ride out by the Argentinean).

The race result

Avus/Berlin – The second race in the Procar series of 1980

BMW M1 Procar Design - Werkswagen mit rotem StreifenBMW-Werksautos in rotem Design // Roter Text = F1-Fahrer

Pos. # Name Nat. Team Laps Time T-Time
1 55 Manfred Schurti FL Cassani 15 34:10,26 2:15,12
2 99 Jan Lammers NL BMW Nederland 15 34:16,53 2:15,43
3 80 Hans-Georg Bürger D GS-Sport – BASF 15 34:18,16 2:14,57
4 26 Jacques Laffite F B&S Fabrication 15 34:19,69 2:17,42
5 28 Carlos Reutemann RA B&S Fabrication 15 34:23,64 2:16,76
6 61 Walter Brun CH Schnitzer / Brun 15 34:25,92 2:15,42
7 27 Alan Jones AUS B&S Fabrication 15 34:34,62 2:16,62
8 69 Arturo Merzario I BMW Italia 15 34:35,30 2:17,33
9 60 Edy Brandenberger CH Team Lepitre 15 34:58,56 2:18,48
10 77 Dieter Quester A BMW Austria 15 36:04,51 2:17,67
11 75 Ralf-Dieter Schreiber D Kannacher GT 14 2:21,61
12 40 Hans-Joachim Stuck D Project four Racing 13 2:17,14
13 45 Sepp Manhalter A Schnitzer 12
88 Jo Gartner A Dr.Helmut Marko dit not finish 2:16,78
41 Wolfgang Schütz D Schütz Racing dit not finish 2:17,62
62 Beppe Gabiani I BMW Italia dit not finish 2:16,79
25 Didier Pironi F B&S Fabrication dit not finish 2:16,73
5 Nelson Piquet BR B&S Fabrication dit not finish 2:15,81
70 Massimo Sigala I BMW Italia dit not finish 2:19,50
81 Hans Heyer D GS-Sport – Denim dit not finish 2:16,03

The races of the 1980 season