Alfasud TI Cup: A debut fraught with obstacles

Admittedly, not everything ran smoothly in the first year of other one-make cup racing series either. Take, for example, the R5 Cup two years earlier or the VW Junior Cup, which started in April 1976. Here, too, both organisers first had to iron out a number of inconsistencies, which took varying amounts of time.

In the debut season of the German Alfasud TI Cup, too, there were a number of organisational issues that needed ironing out. Alfa Romeo’s Frankfurt headquarters had announced the Cup was due to start at the beginning of the 1976 season, but the launch was repeatedly postponed towards the middle of the year. This was the start of the first signs of uncertainty.

Alfa Romeo had appointed the experienced motorsport expert Klaus Steinmetz to manage the series; he enjoyed a very good reputation as a tuner and technician. However, right from the first race, the Cup director failed to exercise firm control over the new racing series.

The confusion began with a set of regulations that were vaguely worded and interpreted according to the whims of the Cup management. Sometimes things were permitted that had previously been expressly forbidden; at other times, things were criticised that had previously been considered legal.

Thanks to my close ties with the Wiesbaden-based ‘Fox Alfa Racing’ team, I gained insights into the organisational workings of the Cup management that I would have been better off without. Fox Racing fielded two red Alfasud TIs, and later in the season even three of them.

The Salzburg Ring debut on 4 July turned out to be rather sparse, with just over a dozen entrants. Even the drivers’ briefing was rather peculiar. Cup boss Steinmetz declared in all seriousness that the regulations ‘needed to be refined step by step, particularly from a technical perspective’ and that, for the sake of simplicity, any unclear points should be discussed directly with him.

The row over the regulations then took centre stage during the first races, particularly as the Cup director was constantly seeking compromises. For instance, during drivers’ briefings, he would, in all seriousness, put it to a vote amongst the participants as to whether this or that contentious technical detail should be permitted or not.

However, such voting results only lasted for one or two races; after that, the Cup director claimed not to remember a thing. Endless discussions and even disqualifications were the result. And whenever the situation threatened to escalate, the Cup director would, if necessary, slip away from the paddock early and discreetly. Left behind was a bewildered Alfa community.

As the season progressed, it became clear that the Cup director would very much like to see one particular driver become the first title winner. The favoured candidate was indeed a very fast and, moreover, a nice chap. But unfortunately, the two Fox-Alfasud drivers still had a realistic chance of winning the title – and that did not fit in with these plans at all.

To make matters worse, Klaus Steinmetz’s regard for team boss Günther Fox was evidently very limited. So the atmosphere deteriorated further after Fox defiantly fielded a third car from the fourth race at Zolder right through to the final, just to annoy Steinmetz.

Touring car specialist Willi Bergmeister was recruited for a one-off appearance at his home circuit, Zolder, which meant that at times there were three Fox cars battling it out at the front. On the final lap, Bergmeister then showed how to catch everyone off guard from fourth place and take the win.

Unfortunately, the speedy Willi had no time left after that. Now VW Junior Cup maverick Manfred Winkelhock was on Fox’s wish list for the third car. He, too, accepted immediately and made it onto the podium on his very first outing.

Manfred handled the Alfa like a young god, never shying away from a duel and dishing out some serious punishment in the process. His spectacular performances shook the Cup to its very foundations and only served to infuriate the exasperated Cup director Steinmetz even more.

After finishing second and third in the final race at Mainz-Finthen, team owner Fox was then presented with the final verdict in the form of a disqualification due to an interpretation of the technical regulations. The detail in question had been expressly approved by Steinmetz just weeks earlier – unfortunately, only verbally. He could no longer remember this either.

Despite all the twists and turns, Fox Racing remained loyal to the Alfasud Cup in the years that followed with new drivers and even strengthened its line-up. A trio of Cup specialists threw themselves into the battle for victories and titles: Georg Weber was appointed as the regular driver, whilst Wolfgang Sander and Hans-Georg Bürger took turns at the wheel of the second car.

Ignazio di Notto, that gifted mechanic who later ended up at AMG as a sought-after technician in the DTM, joined the team. No wonder that Fox won the German title with Weber in 1977 and that its drivers also shone sporadically in the European Championship, which was dominated by Italians.

Meanwhile, Alfa’s headquarters in Frankfurt appointed new management for the German Alfasud Cup, ushering in a shift towards a less chaotic organisation. Head of PR Antonio Cerlenizza and his Technical Delegate Geatano Petralia now ensured that everything ran smoothly on the ground.

From 1977 onwards, the Alfa headquarters in Italy, France and Austria also organised their own well-attended national championships. In addition, the cars became wider, faster and more visually appealing, with power output rising from just under 80 to 125 PS.

Whilst the number of entrants in this country remained modest, the Cup was booming in neighbouring countries. And in the European Cup, managed by Alfa Italia from 1977 onwards, up to 80 cars and drivers from seven nations took part, including the young Gerhard Berger.

Autodelta works driver Teodoro Zeccoli was sent to the front line as the European Cup’s chief technical officer. His technical expertise automatically led to rigorous technical inspections, which were as feared as they were successful.

“Zeccoli could tell just by the sound of the gear changes or the engine revs during a race whether there was something wrong with the gearbox or the engine,” said former German European Championship competitor and journalist Jürgen Zerha.

Until the European Championship series was discontinued in 1983, the title winners were almost exclusively Italian. The German Cup, which had only ever attracted a modest field, was discontinued in 1980 after five years.