GT World Challenge Europe Sprint
Nurburgring Results
SIR JACK& ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
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SIR JACKS BACK AT THE NURBURGRING
In a race of high attrition, the "Hippies VW Beetle" survived its second trip around the torturous 23.9 Kilometre Nurburgring circuit in Germany to finish second in its class in the Nurburgring 6-Hour.
The driving combination of three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, Castrol Cougar driver Melinda Price, and Ross Palmer managed to escape the mayhem to finish the event on a hot and greasy track.
Of 172 cars starting the race, only 108 finished.
"There were smouldering wrecks all over the place", said Sir Jack after he exited the car in Parc Ferme after crossing the finishing line at 6pm German Time.
"The Germans are really aggressive, and apart from a shunt up the back which really did no damage to the plastic rear panels on the Beetle, I managed to steer clear of any drama."
Melinda Price started the classic at 12noon and handed over to Ross Palmer 2 hours and 10 minutes later.
"We thought we could do two full stints on the tires but Ross had to come in mid session at around 3.30 PM to put on new fronts. I guess we underestimated the wear in the hot conditions," team manager John Reece said.
Palmer, who did the fastest time of the trio with 10min.37 seconds on lap 22, handed over to Brabham at 4.25 PM.
The car which ran and finished the "Nurburgring 24 Hour race" in June in a drama packed outing, did not miss a beat.
"We were able to do some development work on the beetle and we learnt a lot in the earlier race," Palmer said.
"I sure have a lot of respect for Jack, who at 72 can still mix it. His times were consistent and quick and he got out of the car looking as good as when he got in with not an ounce of sweat.
"He made it look easy but I guess a dozen or so previous stints around "The Ring" including a classic formula one win in 1966, are still embedded in his memory.
"He is an inspiration to all."
Jack's son David, current Panoz GT driver, was at the circuit to lend some moral support to his father who was mobbed by people of all ages for autographs all weekend.
The overall race win in the race went to Andreas and Ralf Schall in a DTM 190E Mercedes Benz touring car.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Paul Ryan, (0419) 295 285 E-MAIL: paulryan@camtech.net.au FURTHER NEWS: http://www.gtprod.com.au/beetle HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE AVAILABLE AT: http://www.fan.net.au/~paulryan/beetle.jpg
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