Former F2 and Group C heroes swapped memories in Thurgau

Markus Hotz, the ‘local’ motorsport all-rounder, had invited guests to a lovely little workshop party in Sulgen (near Kreuzlingen/Konstanz). This is where Horag-Racing, the long-established company founded by Hotz and now run by his son Benjamin Hotz, is based. Among other things, the company imports Ligier prototypes.

Now 84 years young, Hotz entered the world of motorsport as a designer and driver in the late 1960s, when he was heavily involved in the wild, dust-filled world of Formula V, including, for example, the only car race ever held in Israel.

His Horag Formula Super-Monoposti were also successfully driven by Harald Ertl, who even let Hotz take his F1 Hesketh out for test drives. However, Hotz pulled out of what had initially been planned as his debut at the 1975 Swiss Grand Prix in Dijon – it was too dangerous, given his young family with three boys.

This decision did not, however, prevent Hotz from competing successfully internationally in F2 March racing cars. For example, he won the St. Ursanne–Les Rangiers and Freiburg–Schauinsland hillclimb classics – both part of the European Championship – three times each.

As team principal, he successfully fielded his cars as a privateer team in the F2 and later the F3000 European Championships. Drivers included, amongst others, motorbike world champions Johnny Cecotto and Rolf Biland, as well as Mike Thackwell and Stanley Dickens, who have now joined the celebrations.

For his friend Fredy Lienhard, a successful Swiss entrepreneur (Lista: industrial plant and warehouse equipment), a passionate motorsport enthusiast and fast racing driver (winner of the 2002 Daytona 24 Hours), he successfully fielded the Ferrari 333 SP as well as the Lola-Judd and Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes in endurance races.

Together with engine builder Mario Illien, Hotz is now dedicated, with a wealth of knowledge and passion, to the use of synthetic fuels in motorsport.

New Zealander Mike Thackwell drove for Horag Racing in a March-BMW in the 1982 European F2 Championship. Thackwell had been involved in a crash whilst test driving a Ralt-Honda at Thruxton in 1981, sustaining serious head injuries and comminuted fractures to his heels. On his comeback with the small Horag team, he finished third in both the F2 races at Pau and Spa-Francorchamps, repeatedly giving the March-BMW works team a real run for their money. In the Ralt-Honda, the blond-haired driver finally clinched the F2 European Championship title in 1984.

His orange helmet, featuring a large white ‘T’, was a striking feature. Many German motor racing fans are also familiar with the poster for the Eifel Race at the Nürburgring in the early 1980s, on which Thackwell peeks out from his helmet with steel-blue eyes.

In the Ralt-Cosworth, Thackwell secured the runners-up spot behind Christian Danner in the inaugural F3000 European Championship in 1985. At the age of 19, he became the youngest F1 driver in Grand Prix history to date when he made his first of five GP starts for Tyrrell at the Canadian Grand Prix.

In 1986, he triumphed alongside Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo in the Sauber-Mercedes C8 at the 1,000-kilometre race at the Nürburgring.

After the 1987 Norisring race, the “free spirit” surprisingly ended his career at the age of just 26.

As a helicopter pilot, he later flew workers to oil rigs in the North Sea before becoming – a role he still holds today – a special needs teacher, who, with great enthusiasm, personally drives his pupils to school as a bus driver.

Stanley Dickens (74), who hails from Färila in northern Sweden, is a relative on his father’s side of the famous British writer Charles Dickens. After starting out in Formula Ford and Formula 3, the qualified advertising graphic designer raced for Horag-Racing in Formula 2 in 1981.

His greatest motorsport success, however, came in sports car racing. He secured overall victory at the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Jochen Mass and Manuel Reuter in the Sauber-Mercedes C9 Silver Arrow.

The previous year, he had already finished third at Le Mans in the Joest-Porsche 962. As well as competing in seven Le Mans races, he also enjoyed success in Group C racing in Japan. Today, he also works as an LMP3 driver coach for the Gebhardt team based in Sinzheim.

Although Kenny Acheson did not drive for Horag Racing, he was part of the great Formula 2 family in the early 1980s. Initially a fan of motorbike racing (and an admirer of the legendary Bill Ivy, amongst others), the 68-year-old from Northern Ireland found his way into motor racing.

Driving for Toleman, Ralt and Maurer, he competed in the European Formula 2 Championship and secured several podium finishes. In total, he contested ten Grand Prix races for RAM Racing.

In the World Sportscar Championship, he won two championship rounds in 1989 alongside Mauro Baldi in a Sauber-Mercedes C9. At Le Mans that same year, he finished second alongside Baldi and Gianfranco Brancatelli. At the endurance classic, he finished second again in 1991 (Jaguar) and 1992 (Toyota). Most recently, at the end of June, Acheson completed a few brisk demonstration laps in the Sauber-Mercedes C9 at Brands Hatch as part of the London Historic Trophy.

Legendary mechanic Bruno Flückiger, from the Bern suburb of Gümlingen, was also present at the event. He worked as a mechanic in F2 for Horag and also for the Munich-based Cassani team, alongside drivers Mario Ketterer, Axel Plankenhorn and Manfred Winkelhock.

In F1, he worked for the ATS, Ensign and Theodore teams on Marc Surer’s car.

In England, he helped build the Procar BMW M1 racing cars for Ron Dennis, who later became McLaren’s boss. He then looked after one of them during races for Hans Stuck. In Group C, he worked for Brun-Motorsport for several years, including as lead engineer on Stefan Bellof’s Porsche. With Brun, he became World Champion in the World Endurance Championship in 1986. In 1989, Flückiger was chief engineer on the victorious Sauber-Mercedes at Le Mans.

Other former Horag mechanics gathered within sight of the Säntis. These included Josef Brunner, who had designed his own Formula Ford racing car, Thomas Gantenbein and the Swabian veteran Willi Zeller. Acheson had taken his former loyal racing companions, Zoltan Wirth and Steve Horn, along on the alternative Lake Constance outing.

You never stop learning: ETH student Elisa Cavaliere, who helps fine-tune the set-up of the Ligier prototypes at Horag, explained to the old-school racers during the successful evening – between the aperitif, main course and dessert – how racing cars are tuned using state-of-the-art methods today. After all, none of the ‘Trio infernales’ wanted to rule out a comeback entirely.