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Home , 1983 24 Hours of Daytona, Brabham BT52, Daytona Finale, Formula Two, Gunnar Nilsson, Jochen Neerpasch

people Hobbs and the Bimmers For a decade, David Hobbs was BMW North America's star driver, piloting CSLs, 320 Turbos and March-chassised prototypes to IMSA glory.

hat you, David?" I ask. Where BMW was concerned, Hobbs "Who else do you know with had driven its IMSA CSL in a couple of this funny an accent?" he replies. races early in 1976, teaming with Benny That accent-which still bears more than Parsons at Daytona and Sebring. Mayer's a trace of Coventry, England's Motown, after pitch was for another IMSA attack, this one more than 30 years in the US.-should be at the wheel of an as-yet-undeveloped instantly familiar to anyone who's watched BMW sedan racer. a race over the last few sea- sons. But it's not so much where that voice An intense training regimen comes from as how it's used, its owner "So I went to the Faaaatherland to see David Hobbs stretching and bending his Jochen," Hobbs says, "and we ended up words in such an idiosyncratic manner. And doing a test at Paul Ricard in a 320." that's not to mention the diction, itself rather , and Manfred idiosyncratic, or the legendary wit. Winkelhock were also there. Hobbs ran glori- Hobbs has been a presence on American ously and signed with Neerpasch to shoe the television since 1976, when CBS hued him as Bimmer in 1977's IMSA GT events. First, a race commentator at least partly on the though, it was off to Jochen's January fitness strength of his performance in a documen- camp for contracted BMW team drivers. tary I'd made five years earlier that featured "We all arrive at the factory," says Hobbs' on-track rivalry with Sam Posey. That Hobbs of himself, , Harold CBS job, as well as Hobbs' success behind the Gross and , among others, Daytons, '78: Davld wheel, led to an invitation from McLaren's "and there in the car park are thirty 323s, Hobbs (on wall) shows Teddy Mayer to meet BMW boss the latest and greatest 3 Series. Jochen the strain of night rac- , "partially because I was Neerpasch, looking like an SS general in ing in the 320 Turbo. now on TV and becoming better known over his long black coat, is saying, 'We are all Roger Bailey looks on. here," Hobbs says. going to St. Moritz and driving very care- By 1976, Hobbs had already competed fully because BMW owns the cars and we and won in an enormous variety of are representing the factory. We are going bystanders gasping. "Of course," Hobbs machines, having started in a Lotus Elite to maintain full control. No stupid driving, says, "I'm driving like a madman trying to and a Jaguar XK140 equipped with his and I don't want to see any racing or other hang on!" father's Hobbs Mecha-matic non-torque ridiculous antics. You will all follow me.' It gets worse. "Then there is Marc Surer, converter automatic, which caused his fel- "Neerpasch then jumps into the lead whose 323 is planted right in the frrrront of low competitors first to laugh and then to 323, drops the clutch, screeeeeeanzs out the this ," Hobbs tells, "and Jochen gripe when he beat them. He'd since driv- gate, and from there on we have this Neerpasch is standing there looking very en in , , maaaaniacal chase through southeastern thoughtful. Theeeerz, along come some of our Formula One, Trans-Am, Can-Am, Indy, Germany, up into Switzerland, over the victims. I mean, tlus truck driver gets out Le Mans, and Formula A open-wheelers, border and down to St. Moritz. It was the swinging this bloody jack-handle. So winning the latter championship with a most haaaaair-raising drive I've ever done!" Neerpasch says to me and Ronnie, 'I think McLaren MlOB in 1971, the year my film Gross spun in slush as they flew full-bore you better go on to the hotel and we will meet was shown nationwide on CBS. through quaint little villages, leaving you there."' Miraculously,reprisal is avoided.

98 AUGUST 2005 Bimmer "Our training at St. Moritz was American facility at Livonia, M&gan- out of BhV? Motoarsport in German3 for- intense," Hobbs says, "a lot of cmss-coun- these "outside mods*' being a first for tra- mer NASCAR and SCCA wrench Wilq try skiing, for miIes. But of murse every ditionally dosed-shop BMW, [The IMSA McCoy was hired by ex-Chaparral guru night Ronnie would put his fur caat on, CSL program had been run by Gary ahs son to take charge of its engines. which came down to his ankles, and he'd Motorsport mechanics out of Donnie And since Bayerisehe Motoren Werke go back to town and get picked up and AllisanFa shop in Alabama.] Roger wanted this 320 race program to publicize dance a11 ilight. And the drive home the ^Jibost"' Bailey joined as team manager- its roadgoing cars in North Americaf BW following week was just as Bd!" Habbs already knew Bailey having raced NA competition manager Jim Pattersan- Getting down to business in the US,, with him in England "when we were just "keen as muskrd," Hc~bbsdescribes him- spomrsMp and proven talent gravitated kids" before Bailey went on to build added PK/media ingenue Carla Harman to to the new 320 program, The cars would engines for M~Larenand later put Johmp the squad, To quote Roger Bai1e J "It was a be hilt by Motorsport, but they'd be Rutherford on the pole at Indy, very diverse group, adthat was prabably tuned at MeLaren Engines' North While the track-ready 320 itself came why it worked,"

Bimmer AUGUST 2005 99 Racing with "the popular team" didn't always go well. Then, Bailey says, (Above, left to right) Having jud broken the lap Come February 1977, the crew went to "It was David's attitude that kept the team record by more than 5 seconds, Hobbs was the with Germany's together, because even in the darkest of clearly elated to take pofe at Laguna Sea In normally aspirated Junior Team car. Back moments he would throw a zinger and 1977. Hobbs and Wley McCoy share a laugh at in Livonia, McCoy was scrambling to everybody would laugh when they really Road Atlanta, '77. McCoy and Mark Rushman ready a turbocharged version of the four- wanted to cry." replace the owiecehood on the new sgllght- cylinder MI217 F2 motor that would be Hobbs proved adept mechanically, too. weigm' 320 at Ume Rock, 1978. able to compete with A1 Holbert's muscled- Of his initial test for up Chevy (also McLaren-motored) Neerpasch, he recalls, "I did my laps and and A1 Holbert. Al's Goliath 6-liter grunt and and that near-bulletproof arsenal of said, 'I think we need to stiffen the rear roll failing brakes versus David's turbo lag but 934 Turbos headlined by former bar up on this thing.' And they said, 'This flawless binders saw the two swap for the BMW CSL racer Peter Gregg. car does not have a rear roll bar!' And I lead almost to the flag, when Hobbs pulled Daytona was an outright flop for the said, 'Perhaps that explains it.' Later, when what he called "a pretty foolhardy outside unblown Bimmer. Not until mid-April did Roger informed Germany, 'The driver move, because anybody but A1 would have the McLarenized 320 make its turbo'd needs a rear bar,' they went apoplectic!" just eased me straight off the road." debut at Road Atlanta, where Hobbs fin- For Laguna Seca in '77, Bailey went Hobbs won that race, but at year's end, ished fourth. By Laguna Seca in May, he ahead and had McCoy install a rear anti- Holbert was champion. "I didn't bounce was on pole, and at Mid-Ohio in June he roll bar, made of Indycar stuff from adjoin- off too many cars, and we kept making won, a feat he duplicated at Sears Point in ing rooms in Livonia. Hobbs took pole, improvements on ours," Hobbs says. "I July. With six races left in the 1977 season, shattering Laguna's track record by five thought we had tremendous potential, but the David Hobbs McLaren/BMW quasi- seconds. Bailey's glowing report on the bar it never ever seemed to grow beyond that." factory team was lookin' mighty fine. sent BMW brass "absolutely berserk." What was it really all about, then, this "It was a great little car," says Roger "'Take it off!"' Hobbs says they factory BMW effort that gave flashes of suc- Bailey. "It sounded good, performed well, screamed. "They still1111 wouldn't accept cess though it lacked support enough to and people loved to see it run, shooting out it!" Bailey then removed the bar, put it back earnestly pursue the championship? As it a mile of flame every time you backed off." on and gave it no further mention. Carla, who wrote reports, set interviews Most of the political problems were with (Below, lefl to right) Hobbs teamed with Derek and took pictures, called theirs "the popu- Neerpasch. "[Paul] Rosche was more free Bell, far rlght, for a nlmlaceflnkh at MktOhlo lar team" when measured against what with us," McCoy recalls. "You could sit with In 1979; hem the drivers confer with McLarenss else was out there in the IMSA series. him, have a beer and plan things." Steve Harvett and Roger Bailey. SIX weeks later, "When you are swamped by Panzers, peo- Hobbs won at Road Atlanta in Hobbs and Bell scored a mlmculous victory In ple want you to do well," Bailey says. September, and October's Laguna Seca the milerace at Road Amerlca. The BMW Even with such encouragement, things redw saw an intense battle between Hobbs March MlC prototvpe meed by Hobbs In 1981. with 200 pounds out of it," says Hobbs, "but anywhere there was any sort of a straight, the 935 just killed us." Sears Point, a Hobbs favorite, saw him take both pole and the win. Then he and Tom Klausler finished second at Mid- Ohio's 250 late in August. But 1978 wound down somewhat disappointingly for the BMW-McLaren crew, with the champi- onship, not surprisingly, going to Peter Gregg and his Brumos . "Could have done better.. ." For IMSA's 1979 series, Neerpasch expanded the IMSA program to include a turned out, another play was in the works- the 1978 season, presto! There in aaaalll its second 320 Turbo team for Jim Busby. titled Formula One. glory is the full-blown 935! Our attempt to Meanwhile, resolute ol' Hobbs pressed on to "David Hobbs," says Wiley McCoy, counter this was our new 'lightweight' win Hallett after taking second at Laguna, "was a professional, understanding in those car-but we didn't get it until Lime Rock." then finished runner-up at Lime Rock and days how to deal with the corporate world The 1978 season began at Daytona's 24- Brainerd while hotly pursuing Peter Gregg's of racing for a car company, which was new Hours with Hobbs and F1 pilot twin-turbo exhaust. At Mid-Ohio's mid- to me. The whole plan for the engine was Ronnie Peterson starting third on grid but summer 250, Derek Bell joined Hobbs for a that we were pre-developing it for Formula lasting only 48 laps. Then, still in the 1977 lackluster ninth after starting second. Two One. Teddy [Mayer] and Neerpasch set the car, Hobbs grabbed pole at Sebring with a DNFs followed, and completing the 500- whole thing up, and the plan was for new lap record. mile grind at Road America seemed doubt- Ronnie Peterson to drive the F1 car." "Everybody accused me of cheating!" ful. "We can't even do 50 [miles], let alone It all made sense, in a Germanic sort says Hobbs, but of course he didn't. "We 500," Hobbs recalls thinking. of way. just cranked the old boost up." In the race, Only at the last minute did they decide however, the 320 lived far less than the req- to give 'er a shot. "I had to be team manag- Twin-turbo terrors uisite 12 hours. Trailed by half a dozen er at Elkhart because Tyler Alexander took Now our curtain rises on Act Two of more , won in the everybody to do the Indy car race in this IMSA drama, whose cast also com- awesome 935. California." McCoy says of that Labor Day prised , Danny "On-The- In Laguna Seca's drizzle, Hobbs pulled weekend in 1979. Gas" Ongais, , , off a respectable fourth, still in the old car. Gregg got pole. Hobbs and Bell in the John Morton-hot names, all. A week later, at a twisty course in 320 Turbo qualified fourth-and then went At the end of the 1977 season, Hobbs Oklahoma called Hallett, he won. "It suited the distance, ending the race first to the and Bailey sat down to dinner with IMSA our car down to the ground," he says. "We checkered flag. Speaking for both himself boss John Bishop and pondered the future. put a huge front wing on it there, a great and Derek Bell, Hobbs says, "The last few Yes, IMSA rules would stick with the sin- big splitter sticking out two feet. Pissed laps we were very concerned that it would gle-turbo for 1978 and would Gregg off mmrmously." expire, but luuuuckily, it did not. The car definitely not allow in Porsche's super new When at the end of May they finally got just ran like a clock! I was extremely tick- 935 twin-turbo. But you had to wonder: their all-new 320 Turbo (#003) on track at led, because I'd made quite a rapport with Could America's hottest road racing series Lime Rock, Bailey recalls, "David stuck 'er a lot of people in the village of Elkhart preserve its eminence without adding that into the weeds in a pouring rain!" Lake, including the owners of Siebkens two-headed turbo from hell? Lighter, quicker, better balanced and Resort, where I had been going regularly "Peter Gregg and Porsche's Jo Hoppen, with bigger brakes, this revised 320 "was a for ten years." who was a very aggressive little guy, really much better race car," in Bailey's estimate. Laments Bailey, "Elkhart Lake was our nailed Bishop," says Hobbs. "And come "You could certainly feel the difference biggest win of all, and I wasn't there!" Says McCoy, "I got a lot of brownie points for Elkhart, but it was David and Derek that did it all." Maybe that's what those three years were really about-winning the 500-mile endurance in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Three weeks later, David managed third at Road Atlanta's 100, but in the 250-mile Daytona Finale he lasted a mere four laps. Porsche's Peter Gregg was again series champion, and BMW North America put its 320 Turbo IMSA program to rest. An apt accounting of that effort comes from Hobbs years later with this, his droll summing up: "In England, at school, you

Bimmer AUGUST 2005 101 have a report at the end of every term. For BMW returned to GT prototype racing A premature end practically the entire time mine said, 'He's for a 1986 IMSA season that was packed With the season's curtain about to drop, a nice boy, friendly disposition, but could with marvelous theater-an entire story on the BMW team went to the Daytona Finale. have done better.'" its own [see Bimmer #33]. Nonetheless, an "What happened in the end was I ran out What's more, Hobbs believes that the epigrammatic passage is relevant here, of fuel!" says Hobbs. "But everybody up contiguous M1 program, through which with Hobbs again at the wheel. and down pit lane was saying, 'Geez, if Neerpasch was trying desperately to birth Development of BMW's four-cylinder these guys get their act together, even a "killer car" for BMW, consumed too turbo motor had persisted after the shut- haaaalf get it together, they are going to much time and too many resources. Had down of the 320 program, maturing in rel- absolutely kick butt next year. And-they that not been the case, Hobbs suggests, atively short time with Stapperfs support decided to pull111 the program!" "the BMW 320 program could have been to become the 1.5-liter engine that was Why did BMW up and quit racing at the devastatingly successful." instrumental in taking to end of 1986? Marketing, marketing, mar- the 1983 World ~rivin~championship keting. Competition fell under Luxury's with the F1 BT52-BMW. punch, leaving a world of enthusiasts wait- "Nowww," says Hobbs, referring to the ing for the rematch. MI2113 powerplant, "we've got this The decision put Hobbs very brusquely engine which has virtually no throttle lag out of a ride. "I had signed a three-year at aaallIl11, and also develops about niiiine deal with them," he says, "and just did : hundred horsepower! It was John Watson one! It was irritating and unsatisfactory and myself and Davy Jones and John from my point of view, and it left a lot of Andretti, so we had senior and junior people at BMW North America frustrated." teams for 1986." In the fray, David had lost a choice seat This new GTP 85G car was first raced in in Rick Hendrick's GTP car, 1985's Daytona Finale, where Hobbs quali- though there would still be other rides. "I fied second despite the car having been drove at Le Mans another couple of times," I practically taped together to make the he says, "and did a few races in a Porsche." show--er, test. That the 85G expired after 30 His final professional drive was July 22, q laps is trivial. While alive, it ran like stink 1990 at Dijon, France, sharing a Reinholt 8 Says McCoy, "We built the car and Joest factory Porsche 962C with fellow called it 'Donald' because it was ugly. The Englishman -starting 8th, 2 next three cars were Huey, Dewey and finishing 8th. Louie." Adds Hobbs, "The thing kept Team Sauber Mercedes logged 1-2 on - catching on fire and blowing up and God that hot day in Burgundy, its second-place knows what else." C11 driven by and one Prototype power ' For McCoy, his toughest assignment , who at 21 was the It wasn't the end of the road for Hobbs with the revamped 86G was "to take the same age as David Wishart Hobbs had and BMW, however. With Neerpasch out at 1.5-liter motor and make it a 2-liter again, been when he was getting his own career Motorsport and Dieter Stappert in, BMW then wean it off what I call 'rocket fuel' to underway in England. moved into IMSA's prototype class with make it run on leaded racing gas." When I ask about his racing back then- the March M1C in 1981. Its , fabri- At the start of 1986, the BMW-McLaren not the politics, but the peoplehe says, "I cated in Bicester, England, handled quite factory team was back in IMSA in earnest, had all the best, really." well under Hobbs and Hans Stuck, but the running a two-car team of still-problematic And what has become of that stellar MlC's otherwise reliable M88 inline six March-. The "Kid Team" of Davy cast of players? We know where Hobbs is, proved inadequate in a field of stronger Jones and got pole with it at forever being David. Carla Harman mar- American V8s. Watkins Glen in August and scored the car's ried and works in philanthropy. Paul "BMW North America," says Hobbs, only race win, while second qualifier Hobbs Rosche, finally retiring from BMW after 42 "was half-hearted about the whole thing had his 86G cook after ten laps. years, drives a 328 Bimmer at vintage anyway. We were clearly out-powered, so Earlier in year at Portland, Hobbs says, events. Jim Patterson is gone. A1 Holbert Jim Patterson made the decision to go back the Seniors had been "winning easily" died in a plane crash. Peter Gregg killed to the four-cylinder turbo and put that in it." when "poor old John Watson, when we did himself. Ronnie Peterson lost his life on Wiley McCoy, with Rosche flying in the driver change, got all tangled up in the the first lap at Monza in 1978. Jochen from Munich to confer, performed the bloody seat belt and we lost that one. Then Neerpasch staunchly survives. John decidedly technical surgery at McLaren we went to Sears Point and were just kick- Bishop has become Commissioner of Engines in Livonia. "We raced it two or ing butt hugely when Lyn St. James comes Grand-Am racing. Wiley McCoy, still in three times with the turbo," McCoy recalls, swannnnning down the road after about a Livonia, is president of McLaren "but it was still a slug. The chassis went on 15-lap stop and takes John right out!" Performance Technologies, while Roger to become March's GTP product they sold At Elkhart Lake, the Hobbs/Watson Bailey directs the LRL's Infiniti Pro Series. to everybody, and we ended up using that 86G was about to lap the A1 HolbertIDerek Reminiscing about his decade with tub in '85 and '86 when we came back." Bell running second when, IMSA, Bailey speaks for so many when he Meanwhile, Hobbs crowned his racing says Hobbs, "Our f--king engine just says, "Tell you what, none of the years was career by earning 1983's Trans-Am charnpi- stopped! Some piddly wire in the ECU had as much fun as the years we had with onship in a . He could broken and it went full rich. Little chicken- Hobbs." drive them all, and win. shit stuff like that." You can bet on it. 0

102 AUGUST 2005 Bimmer