2025 Oldtimer Grand Prix report
All-weather performance
Author
- Mattijs Diepraam
Date
- August 5, 2025
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Who?Yutaka Toriba What?Williams-Cosworth FW07C Where?Nürburgring When?52nd Oldtimer Grand Prix (August 1, 2025) |
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Why?
Mike Cantillon took a pair of wins in the two historic F1 races at the Nürburgring, as the circuit held the 52nd edition of its Oldtimer Grand Prix event. The changing conditions required all-weather performance from the drivers who had to deal with a treacherously slipping Ersatzring on Saturday before a cloudy but dry Sunday marked their second race. Some of the grids were fortunate to get two dry races but others weren't so lucky: the single 90-minute FHR Historic Championship ‘81 race was hit by the weekend's worst deluge.
Mike Cantillon was miles ahead of the competition at the Nürburgring. (photo 8W)
Masters had only come out to the Nürburgring with their Masters Racing Legends grid for 3-litre F1 cars, having cancelled its Group C grid, but whenever the programme features a brace of Masters F1 races, they are still headlining the show. Cantillon won the first race from pole and then fought his way up from fifth place on the grid to claim his second win of the weekend. The Irishman already made his mark on the weekend in sunny Friday qualifying, as in the first five minutes he posted a time that would prove unbeatable. For the rest of the session, the Williams FW07C driver watched from the pit wall as the competition vainly attempted to match his flyer. Yutaka Toriba created a Williams monopoly on the front row with his FW07C, while the second row was swamped by Tyrrell 011s, with Jamie Constable alongside reigning champion Matt Wrigley. Werner d'Ansembourg started from the third row, but not in his usual Brabham BT49C, which suffered gearbox damage on Thursday's test day. His father Christophe's FW07C tub was rushed to the circuit, and the young Belgian managed to get acclimatised to it by the end of the session.
It had rained heavily on Saturday when the Masters Racing Legends were due to start, but none of that seemed to bother Cantillon, as he took off like a rocket after the start, posting lap times that were three to four seconds quicker than anyone else's best effort. Towards the end, he slowed his pace to save his equipment, but fortunately left enough margin to get involved in a full 360 spin at the start of the last lap and continue on his way – it went on to show how tricky the conditions were at the Nürburgring. After Wrigley was forced to retire with a broken front wing, Constable and d'Ansembourg battled hard for second place, having both left Toriba behind. It was a close-fought duel, but Constable managed to make his Tyrrell wide enough to keep the Belgian behind.
Marty Bullock took a pair of pre-78 class wins in his Williams FW06, on Saturday coming out on top of an exciting three-way battle with John Spiers' March 761 and Peter Williams' Lec CRP1. (photo 8W)
The next day was dry – and Cantillon proved to be the best in those conditions too. Starting fifth from the partially reversed grid, the Irishman quickly made up the necessary places, even though it took him many laps to pass Toriba's leading Williams. During a failed overtaking attempt, Cantillon damaged his front wing, forcing him to finish the race with an imbalance in his FW07C. Afterwards, it turned out that he had also completed the race with a slow puncture on the left rear. As a result, his rivals inched closer and closer going into the final laps. In the process, Constable and d'Ansembourg were once again fighting for every inch, and this time the Belgian managed to find a way past the Tyrrell. In the final corner, d'Ansembourg managed to also outsmart Toriba, after which three FW07Cs crossed the line within a second of each other, creating a unique Williams 1-2-3.
The Historic Grand Prix Car Association for Grand Prix cars up to 1966 had only brought the front-engined cars to the Oldtimer Grand Prix this time, as the mid-engined cars had competed for the Gold Cup at Oulton Park last week. At the Nürburgring, John Spiers' Maserati 250F proved to be the best in Saturday's wet conditions, but on Sunday's dry asphalt, Joaquin Folch's Lotus 16 proved to be a better proposition. Spiers hunted down Richard Wilson's Ferrari 246 Dino on Saturday, to beat him on the final lap, while Eddie McGuire's Scarab and Rod Jolley's Lister-Jaguar ‘Monzanapolis' also moved past Folch. On Sunday, it was the other way around, as Folch quickly dispatched with Spiers and was soon seen chasing Wilson, passing the Ferrari on lap 8. Behind Wilson and Spiers, Klaus Lehr's Maserati 250F made it up into fourth ahead of McGuire's Scarab.
John Spiers was the HGPCA's wet-weather star in his Maserati 250F. (photo 8W)
In the Golden Ära series that celebrates Germany's magnificent touring car history, both races went to Altfrid Heger in the Audi 200 quattro. The mighty Audi was pressured early on by Stefan Mücke's Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, but halfway into the race the ex-Gabriele Tarquini Seat León WTCC of Olivier Meurens had moved up into second place, also passing the Chevrolet Cruze that once belonged to Tom Coronel. That Chevy finished third twice in the hands of Michael Sadurski, as Kris Nissen's BMW E30 M3 stormed through to claim the runner-up spot on Sunday.
Golden Ära also hosted two races for the Porsche Classic Cup. In a field consisting of many RSRs and GT3 Cup races of various generations. In a topsy-turvy first race that saw a handful of lead changes, Matthias Jocher's 964 ended up on top, while Stephan Jocher's Porsche 996 GT3 RSR beat Thomas Ardelt's 997 GT3 on Sunday.
James Hagan and Valerio Leone once again contested the post-82 class wins. In the Tyrrell 011B, the Irishman proved adept to Saturday's wet weather to beat the Monegasque, but on Sunday, Leone turned the tables on Hagan. (photo 8W)
Both Graf Berghe von Trips Pokal races organised by HRA, Marcel Biehl's organisation for the smaller single-seater categories, were won in commanding fashion by the young Dane Alexander Weiss in a Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT35. On Saturday, Weiss was well up the road before Elio Cocciarelli decided a duel of Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT3s with Patrick Andriessen in favour. On Sunday, Ralf Goral's Reynard-Opel from the Opel Lotus days took second ahead of the recovering Daniel Hornung in a Dallara-Alfa Romeo 388.
Along with Palle Birkelund Pedersen, Weiss was just as dominant in the event's traditional evening race for sports cars. Their Ginetta G4R lapped the rest of the field by a lap and a half, and even after their pit stop, the Danish duo retained their massive lead. The next day, the same scenario seemed to unfold during the shorter race, but a broken rear suspension for the Ginetta threw a spanner in the works, the win going to Oliver Hartmann in an Elva MkVIIS.
Alexander Weiss proved untouchable over the weekend. In the ex-Giancarlo Fisichella Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT35, the young Dane dominated both HRA races while he also helped his countryman Palle Birkelund Pedersen to victory by one and a half lap in the traditional Saturday night sportscar race, their Ginetta G4R easily having the legs on the competition. (photo 8W)
Usually, the DRM and CanAm races are always the highlight of the Oldtimer Grand Prix, but this year's entries were slightly disappointing. Both DRM races were won by the Group 5 Zakspeed Capri Turbos of Peter Mücke and Ronny Scheer. The latter's car broke down during Friday's practice sessions and even had to miss Saturday's race, with parts needed to be sourced from far away in Germany. Even though, Scheer had to start at the back of the grid for Sunday's race, he fought his way through the field to take an impressive victory, partly helped by a mid-race safety car after which Mücke's Capri mysteriously lacked pace for a couple of laps.
After a brilliant CanAm showing in 2024, unfortunately very few CanAm cars competed in FHR's Historic Championship CanAm & Sportscars this year. The first race at the Nürburgring started dry, as Klaus Abbelen in the ex-Andretti Dauer Porsche 962C fought Silvio Kalb's Lola T296 for the lead. In the changing conditions, Abbelen decided to opt for rain tyres, but it turned out to be the wrong choice. The pit stop took longer than planned, so Abbelen dropped down to eighth overall. The second race was convincingly won by Abbelen.
Manfred Niederhof gave his all to thwart the Capri Turbo opposition in the pair of DRM Revival races, and looked in with a chance on Sunday before he threw his Porsche 934/5 into the gravel at the Dunlop-Kehre while attempting to pass the leading Capri. (photo 8W)
FHR had brought wo more grids in the shape of the Historic Championships up to ‘65 and ‘81. The Griesemann family's GT40 dominated the former championship on both occasions, before going on to win the long-distance race of the ‘81 championship with their 911 RS.
Axel Sartingen won both Ferrari Club Deutschland races in his 488 GT3, while René Aeberhardt (Opel Vectra) and Markus Reich (Audi A4 quattro) shared the spoils in both STW races, after two very entertaining duels that only ended at the finish line. The gaps between them were 0.095s and 0.105s!