MG-CORNER-KELKHEIM

Our team, consisting of Siggi Weinberger, Heinz Nagell, Dieter Schoenwies, Michael Braun und Jochen Geiken, now had a home base from which we entered many national and international race meetings by means of one car towing the trailer with the others in close company. Very soon we realized the need to obtain a proper transport vehicle. With frequent bad weather at the race tracks, having to accommodate the crew and work on the race car without shelter was, at the least, uncomfortable. Purchase of an old furniture van (Daimler Benz Type 319 with BERGER superstructure) overcame this problem.

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Naturally we converted the van according to our requirements into a virtual dream mobile, containing an air compressor, a generator (not all race tracks supplied electricity) and a solid workbench, everything that a race team needed. Fold-away installations provided seating and even space to lie down. Often, during inclement weather, we had visitors dropping in to warm themselves - of course we had parking heating too. All this enabled us to attend many, many race meetings and despite of having only 50PS on tap travelled back and forth over half of Europe. A simple rain shelter attached to the van became a proper marquee and soon we were planning to develop a second MGA for racing, employing the knowledge we gained building the first one (1). To avoid confusion we numbered the cars (i.e. C1 for Competition Car 1).

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A lot of thought went into building the C2. The MGA had to be competitive - within the regulations, also safer - and we would adapt the knowledge accumulated from the English. It took us almost a year. At that time the regulations permitted the use of an alloy crossflow cylinder head (we had great fun with that one). Manfred Berger designed and built a roll bar which turned out so well that we asked him to do another one for the C1.


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Thus we had one of the first historic cars (Class E) in Germany fitted with a roll bar before regulations requiring such were in existence (FIA regulations for Class F were introduced later). I (Jochen) drove the completed C2 in the first races and knew right away that we had gone too far with the development. In the dry it was quick but twitchy, in the wet almost uncontrollable. Upon cornering many a fellow competitor went by me. It was "back to the drawing board". Softening the suspension did the trick. Accelerating out of the corners was now possible.

At that time we attained our best race results. The attentive reader would have realized that there was another race car in existence - namely the C1. Therefore Michael Braun had his first try as an up-and-coming racer.

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He was then the youngest participant in historic motor sport in Germany. Soon we found we had discovered a "natural". We marvelled at his courage and confidence whilst competing against much more experienced and able drivers. Only the lack of reliability of our equipment limited his process. The two race cars kept us busy leading up to and following race weekends. We had to develop the right strategy to run the operation smoothly.

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As fate would have it, our friend Juergen Dessau crashed his MGA in a race on the Nurburgring. Luckily it resulted only in a damaged car, but he and his wife Gisela decided to quit partaking in historic racing. Following this Juergen offered me his damaged car which I happily accepted. I recognized then the chance - after restoring the car to compete as the first privateers in Germany with 3 MG-A's - to emulate the former MG works team. Now our transporter and the race cars sported the same paint work. That's how we fronted at the starts in Europe. (Photo "Old Logo")

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The newcomer became "C3". Question: who was to drive it? Since it was a MGA Twin Cam (actually only the chassis and body was a Twin Cam carrying the appropriate badging. The original motor had been replaced with the normal ohv pushrod motor) the right man for it was Siggi Weinberger - because Juergen had lent him the car previously to race. He quickly noticed that it needed some work to get it right, the brakes especially required sensitive treatment. Unfortunately we still had reliability problems with our motors. Elation and frustration went side by side.

We obtained quite spectacular performance from these small motors, but even the race commentators at the events back then remarked that the cars would not last long. Pity we did not know about MOTUL lubricants (in my opinion the best motor oil that ever was)!. More about this later. After a few more races I asked myself: Should I involve myself more in in organizing the operation? We all had built and financed the cars ourselves , therefore an outsider as a new driver was out of the question. As crazy as it might sound: it had to be Heinz Nagell. Anyone else would have jumped at the offer - but our toolmaker, who normally battled with 100th and 1000th of a millimetre would now have to fight for a 10th or a 100th of a second?! Only after much coaxing and persuading by all the members did we win him over. And what do you know - Heinz was our bank!

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When the others by dicing with the opposition failed to finish - our Heinz always did. Even in races where the fuel quality sometimes was doubtful and the two others dropped out - Heinz got his car to the finish. I often think about our "newcomer". I wish every team had such a driver, because finishing is the priority. To greet the chequered flag is special for every racer, no matter in what position.

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1982 saw the passing on of our landlord Jakob Kunz in Kelkheim. His inheritors announced that they required the premises for themselves and we had to go looking for a new home - or at worst abandoning motor racing for lack of a suitable workshop. By chance it came about that a garden implement business in the neighbourhood went bankrupt and the lessor, frustrated by the leftovers and the unreliability of the previous occupant was looking for someone to take care of the clean-up and maintenance of the premises. The landlord, through his model business, had great interest in technology and was certainly sympathetic towards our group. We came to an agreement and the move could go ahead.

In the meantime it was obvious that the circle of our friends became larger. We welcomed to our core Giovanni Delicio, Rainer Salomon, Peter Semmelrock, Manfred Bauer and Wolf and Stephan Proepsting. Because of our move everything needed reorganizing. The extra available space allowed us to install a very amiable club room. All this of course brought a massive increase overall in expenses. New finance schemes were drawn up again and again just to be abandoned. As usual it was left to me to solve these problems. A few members managed to contribute regularly. In any case we were able to attach ourselves for one year to Ronny Bredhauer and his GT-serie of races with Peter Semmelrock as driver.

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And we could still drive in the Classics (Jan-Wellem/OGP/Eifel-Klassik). Our MG-Car-Club mate Wolf Proepsting had the great idea of engaging the assistance of the Henkell Company. With their help he was able to arrange a neat marquee at the Nurburgring, definitely improving our appearance.

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Shortage of space forced us to acquire a new transporter (DB307D), to be used as a mobile workshop and tow vehicle.

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The 319D with its output of 50PS was quick enough downhill but there were also uphill section to overcome on the routes to the race tracks. By now we had a proper convoy heading for the events and careful planning was the order. Fewer and fewer times was I able to grip the leatherbound steering wheel of a race car, the organisation demanding my full attention. Now even our Rainer Salomon had the opportunity. A few kilometres at racing speed made him aware of the strain on man and machine.

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After seeing the advantage of having the support of a sponsor like Henkell, I tried to contact all the well known liquor producers (and others) with the aim of getting their recommendation - albeit without success. Again it was coincidence that one day in the competitors paddock at the Nurburgring someone next to our tent tried, unsuccessfully, to start the motor of a black MGB GT, a malfunctioning intake, it seemed. After a while I was unable to tolerate the constantly failing bursts from the accelerator and was amazed to observe a man standing next to the car, cursing, with the driver in the car following his instructions. In situations like this it can be hazardous to interfere, but I felt I just had to. I introduced myself and offered to assist. He gave his name - Dieter Hoppe and said he had prepared the car for the race.

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What surprised me at first - it was easy to see - was the fact that he was disabled - a quite severe handicap. Frank Williams in Formula 1 getting around in a wheelchair came instantly to mind. Dieter at least was able to move about with the help of a cane - and quite well too! At once I admired the man. Fact for now was that the car would not run properly. After listening to his opinion about the problem I asked to make some adjustments to it, to which he agreed. Following this the car ran reasonably well and the driver (overjoyed) could run his race. Afterwards we lost contact with each other.

Weeks later the phone rang and a Dieter Hoppe was on the line, telling me he observed us several times and concluded we had the right foundation to combine with a sponsor. I thought lightning had struck. Perhaps, after all these years, a connection with a sponsor? Dieter Hoppe promised to establish a contact. Again weeks went by. During a second call he talked about the possibility to include his own drivers in the arrangement - against which I had no reservations. However I had to develop a draft to be tabled at the negotiations. Lacking any PR training I simply assembled many photos from our past efforts and presented these at our discussions. That led to an agreement with the WARSTEINER BREWERY. And to the establishment of the WARSTEINER-HISTORICAL-MOTORING-TEAMS, the first amateur team so rewarded. This moment remains part of the historic motor sport and the people mentioned therein will be able to say they were present when it happened.