Forgotten Airfield Races, Episode 6: The Wild North – Faßberg, Sylt, Hohn

Alongside Diepholz, Celle and Itzehoe, the north had further airfields – including Faßberg, Sylt and Hohn-Rendsburg – where championship-level races were held, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. However, apart from Faßberg, the rest had only a limited lifespan of between one and a maximum of four or five years.

Let’s start with Faßberg, undoubtedly the most popular airfield race in the far north at the time, situated about 30 km north of Celle on the southern edge of the Lüneburg Heath. The Bundeswehr airbase not only treated fans to well-attended championship races, but also provided a track announcer whom everyone in the state soon came to know and appreciate.

Streckenskizze Faßberg: Start- und Landebahnen plus Schikanen

Foto: ASC Hamburg

Our colleague Kalli Hufstadt, who sadly passed away far too young, did his military service here with the Bundeswehr. As a captain and press officer, this motorsport fan naturally became involved with the races held at his base.

The fact that Kalli took over track commentary as a stand-in for an absent commentator at one of the early races around 1967 or 1968 has been expressly confirmed by his son Frank when asked. This also makes it clear that one of the most successful careers as a commentator began in Faßberg – a career that accompanied German motorsport for almost 40 years as one of its most distinctive voices. His son Frank (56) has been carrying on the Hufstadt commentary tradition for many years now.

Curt Wetzel mit seiner Corvette war ein gern gesehener Faßberg-Starter

Foto: Archiv Braun

The circuit in Faßberg, just over four kilometres long, was usually the venue for races in the German Circuit Championship, the Formula 3 DM, Formula V and Super V. The circuit was used for car and motorbike races, as well as classic car events, right up until the late 1990s. Today, the airfield is used exclusively for military purposes by the Bundeswehr.

Incidentally, there is another nice anecdote to add on the subject of ‘unconventional commentators’. My colleague Hufstadt Sr. had to step in as a stand-in commentator for a second time in Diepholz in 1969 or 1970, because the author of this story had entered the date incorrectly and had instead treated himself to a lovely day at the swimming pool.

However, the blunder did have a silver lining – from the following year onwards, the two of us were able to climb the old announcer’s tower in Diepholz together for decades and enjoy the special atmosphere there.

Sylt was always worth a visit…

…and in this case, the same can be said of the racing events held there at the private commercial airport. The very ambience of sun, beach, wind and sea alone was enough to make many a participant or fan happily embark on the often long and arduous journey to the far north of the country. Especially as the races on Sylt had something special about them, if only for their entertainment value.

Whether it was the beach beckoning after training and races, rock star Udo Lindenberg providing top-class trackside entertainment at the VW Scirocco Cup, or the press officer of the local organising club answering the question about spectator numbers with “there were only a few many spectators there” – there were plenty of opportunities for smiles and amazement, particularly in the first two years, 1976 and 1977.

Rockstar Udo Lindenberg und sein Dreher mit nachfolgender Irrfahrt

Foto: VW Motorsport

The line-up included touring cars, GTs, Sciroccos, Golf GTIs and R5 Cup cars, as well as Formula V. The event was organised by the rather inexperienced ‘Sylter Automobilclub im ADAC’, which was assisted by the AMC Diepholz, with Peter Rumpfkeil and his experienced organisational team, to ensure that proceedings ran smoothly. In view of various incidents, the involvement of experienced staff also seemed urgently necessary.

For instance, Rumpfkeil – who was also acting as race steward – had a GT qualifying session in progress interrupted by a red flag because he had spotted two occupants in a single Porsche. When asked what a co-driver was doing in the car during an official qualifying session, the Frisian driver replied with the simple explanation that he “just wanted to show his friend the track at racing pace”.

A short while later, Rumpfkeil had to raise the red flag once more because he had spotted a portable toilet standing almost exactly in the line of fire of a fast bend. The recovery crane on site was to lift the portable toilet and move it to a safe place. Unfortunately, during the lifting operation, the base remained in place and, to the laughter of the spectators, an occupant emerged.

At least the two races in 1976 and 1977, which I attended as a journalist, were at times highly entertaining in terms of how they unfolded. Rock star Udo Lindenberg also contributed to this as a celebrity guest driver in the VIP car of the then fledgling VW Scirocco Cup, competing in his first and only car race.

The good man, already bringing up the rear as he chased the field around the course – a good six kilometres long – soon spun out in one of the fast corners, apparently losing his bearings in the process, and initially continued driving in the opposite direction. It was only the sight of the field bearing down on him that made Udo realise he’d be better off heading for the infield grass as quickly as possible.

The Sylt event was regarded, for various reasons, as something of an oddity amongst German airfield races. For one thing, there was the complicated, costly and time-consuming journey by car train from Niebüll to Westerland, with nerve-wracking waiting times at the loading points.

Then there was the extreme length of the track – around 6 km – although this was shortened to 4.2 km by the second edition. And, of course, the atmosphere, which could be described as both exclusive and unique. Not to mention the minor and major mishaps.

The event’s inevitable demise was brought about primarily by rising costs for track safety and massive complaints about noise levels. Thus, the history of the Sylt Airfield Race came to an end after just a few years.

Hohn – a milestone for Ford

The Hohn airfield race, near Rendsburg and some 60 km from the Danish border, was also destined to have only a short lifespan. Although further races were planned at the Bundeswehr Transport Wing’s airfield following the events in July 1968 and October 1969, they never took place. This was because, from 1970, the Bundeswehr had imposed a general ban on racing – initially intended to be temporary – at all its airfield sites.

Military considerations were initially cited as the reason, with the prospect of the ban being lifted at a later date. The fact that the ban then dragged on for several years was also due to a tragic accident at the airfield race in Neuhausen, Württemberg, which claimed several lives.

Nevertheless, the two years in Hohn were thoroughly enjoyable, both from a sporting and a social perspective. Throughout the weekend, there were plenty of wild barn parties around the airfield grounds, organised by the local, racing-mad youth, to which the racing drivers were also emphatically – and in some cases even personally – invited. Nobody needed to be asked twice.

Some of the party-loving racers turned up for practice and races with quite a hangover and, what’s more, were considered missing for days after the event had ended. It is said that at least three intrepid party-goers from the motor racing world definitely didn’t turn up back home to their worried wives until Tuesday, and in some cases not until Wednesday, after the race. They are said to have looked rather pale and worn out.

Drivers and spectators had every reason to be delighted. There were full starting grids and truly thrilling races. The second edition in October 1969, in particular, turned into a real showdown in the battle for the title.

With privateer Harald Menzel (Dannenberg, Fiat Abarth 1000 TC) and Ford works driver Dieter Glemser (Warmbronn, Ford Escort 1.6 Twin Cam), two contenders went into the final round of the German Circuit Racing Championship level on points. For Menzel, it was a matter of prestige; for Ford in Cologne – whose racing department, newly established in 1968, was headed by sporting director Jochen Neerpasch – it was all about securing their first championship title.

Both won their engine capacity classes and remained level on points, but under the championship system in force at the time, Glemser had accumulated more so-called ‘bonus points’ (calculated from the margin between winners and runners-up and the size of the starting grid in each class) and was therefore crowned champion. The fact that Glemser consistently scored more bonus points than Menzel was largely down to his ‘escort’, Manfred Mohr, in the second works Escort TC.

But runner-up Harald Menzel also ultimately benefited from the Hohn airfield race. Following his flawless performance, Erich Zakowski recruited him to the Zakspeed team, where he drifted from victory to victory in the green-and-yellow Escort over the following years. And at the start of the 1973 season, Jochen Neerpasch – by then BMW’s new head of motorsport – recalled Menzel’s stellar performances and brought him to Munich to join his newly formed works team. There, he was given the chance to drive one of the coveted works BMW CSLs in the racing championship.

Finally, this: among the class winners at Hohn in 1969 was a certain Heinz-Dieter Werner from Dortmund in a BMW 2002 TI – the father of three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner.