Nail-biting duel for victory

“Celebrity alert” at the fifth Uniroyal Fun Cup race at the Hockenheimring:

Hanover/Hockenheim, July 2007. An event marked by two firsts: for the first time in the Fun Cup series’ ten-year history, the racing cars competed at the Hockenheimring. And the main race, which took place over five hours and celebrated the 75^th anniversary of the Hockenheimring, also marked the first occasion that a driver from the premiere league of motor sport had sat behind the wheel of a Fun Cup car. However, the German Formula 1 newcomer Adrian Sutil (Spyker F1 Team) wasn’t the only celebrity competitor amongst the 34 teams from Germany and Belgium. While the numerous stars of film and television stirred up a great deal of interest in the pit lane, title defender Stoll Motorsport won an exciting Fun Cup duel against Team ContiMotorpresse with a slim lead of only 38 seconds.

Here you can download the press release as a word-file (149 KB).

“Let’s see who’s quicker, me or my manager. After all, he’s also entered a few races in this time,” said Adrian Sutil as he challenged his manager, Manfred Zimmermann, to a duel even before the Fun Cup training session had begun. Zimmermann, himself a former Formula 3 driver, immediately accepted the challenge from the 24 year old Formula 1 driver. However, the race on the shortened Grand Prix track at the Hockenheimring was not all about competition, there was also a strong focus on teamwork in the Fun Cup cockpit. The Hockenheimring VIP team headed by Adrian Sutil was bolstered by actor Arthur Brauss (“Grossstadtrevier”, “Tatort”, “Der Alte”), ice‑hockey player Felix Petermann (defender for Adler Mannheim) and the brothers Manfred “Manni” and Uwe Ludolf from the TV docu-soap “Die Ludolfs – 4 Brüder auf’m Schrottplatz”.

Formula 1 manager Zimmerman could also count on celebrity help in the Fun Cup duel against his racing protégé. Ex-Viva presenter Mola Adebisi – also an experienced racing driver (including the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring) – joined the futurecom VIP team alongside Zimmermann. Additional “hard-hitting” support was provided by the multiple German judo champion and actor Claude-Oliver Rudolph (James Bond “The Word Is Not Enough”), who drove the white celebrity number 25 car alongside futurecom director Michael Ecker and Roman Rummenigge (son of ex-footballer and Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge).

The large celebrity influx to the Formula 1 racing track in Baden was too great for just two Fun Cup racing cars. A third VIP car entered the five-hour Fun Cup marathon under the race number 351. Irish singer Johnny Logan (two-time winner at the Eurovision Song Contest) shared the Fun Cup cockpit with Ralph Bohnhorst, Gerd Siegmund, Ralph Bombis, and Jan and Rolf Ulak.

After the free training session, the typical Fun Cup draw for starting places was the first crucial factor in the “Celebrity Fun Cup Duel” between F1 driver Sutil and his manager Zimmermann. At the paddock party, the Ludolf brothers drew the start numbers and determined the grid positions for the race on Saturday. During this draw, Fun Cup debutants Uwe and Manni Ludolf received enthusiastic support from their brother Peter “the Brain” Ludolf. Although he did not enter a Fun Cup cockpit himself, he entertained the many onlookers with a heated commentary and proved to have a lucky touch for some. As a result, Adrian Sutil’s team was placed second last on the grid while his manager celebrated pole position: “The last time I was on pole was in 1985!” The futurecom VIP team was followed by the previous year’s German champions Stoll Motorsport in position two and then the Belgian Dubois Racing team. The bad luck experienced by the VIP car of Spyker F1 driver Sutil in P33 was exceeded only by Gummi Grassau Racing. After a well-earned triumph at the 35 hour race in Spa, the highlight of the Fun Cup season, the team from Neumünster drew last pace in Hockenheim.

On the day of the race, the celebrities could finally engage in a real duel. Adrian Sutil and Manfred Zimmermann both started for their teams and raced in the first stint. The excitement at heading the field led Formula 1 manager Zimmerman to jump the gun during the rolling Fun Cup start. On the second lap the manager from Cologne had to pull into the pits – not to sit out his stop and go penalty, but for an unscheduled pit stop due to a broken steering wheel hub. Using a well-practiced routine, the Fun Cup mechanics soon replaced the entire steering wheel. However, the race could only continue for number 45 after it had once again stopped to sit out the time penalty.

Meanwhile, an exciting duel had developed for the lead between Impuls 2 and Dubois Racing. Thanks to series of quicker lap times, the blue Fun Cup car with white racing stripes managed to overtake the experienced Belgian team on the sixth lap. “We may have been in first place for a while, but things quickly went downhill,” said Impuls 2 driver Franz-Xavier Bleicher about the following half hour of racing. A broken shift linkage forced Impuls 2 to take an unexpected pit stop and the car was soon lagging behind.

While all this was happening, Adrian Sutil had torn through the starting field. After eight laps, the celebrity driver and passionate piano player had fought his way forward from a starting position in place 33 to place 10. “The Fun Cup is one big party and extremely good fun,” said the 24 year old, who is more used to starting Formula 1 races in a Spyker F1 with over 700 bhp.

Gummi Grassau’s starting driver, André Reinke, also did extremely well in the early part of the race. The black Fun Cup car with the number 167 rocketed from last position (35) to place 23 during the first lap. “Unfortunately, this blistering pace soon came to an end. Our engine was running hot after only four laps and we soon had to call it a day. Which wasn’t particularly good for our championship ambitions,” said a disappointed Reinke after the car withdrew due to engine damage on the tenth lap.

Through a display of talented driving, the team ContiMotorpresse (car 174) was also steadily making its way forward. The trio of Hermann Rottwilm, Horst Wippersteg and Sebastian Schneider demonstrated the same level of high performance that had been evident at the 25 hour race in Spa-Francorchamps. “Consistent lap times and a clever strategy helped us gain positions at Spa. The car is once again performing excellently here in Hockenheim and we know how to handle the understeer that is typical of this circuit,” said team boss Hermann Rottwilm before the race, aware that a podium place was a distinct possibility at the GP circuit.

The appearance of dark rain clouds and incipient drizzle after two hours forced the drivers of these rear-wheel-drive cars to resort to some elaborate drifts. The shower was soon over though, and the sun broke through again.

For the sportsline team, the race ended early on lap 43. “I just span off at the entry to the start/finish straight,” explained Hannes Heinzelmann after his accident. Once again, the sturdy Fun Cup design demonstrated just how safe these racing cars are. “Everything was fine and the marshals were with me in an instant,” said Heinzelmann as he thanked the safety officers at the Hockenheimring.

Prior to the accident, the car from sportsline racing had been involved in a close duel with the number 62, even exchanging paint at one point. “We had to pull into the pits with a twisted steering knuckle,” said an annoyed Herbert Nissel, Impuls chairman, about the loss of four racing laps. Despite this unanticipated interruption and a further stop/go penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, the duo of Herbert Nissel and Jürgen Oberhofer later crossed the finish line to take sixth place in the German rankings.

At the halfway point in the race, Fun Cup founder Franz Dubois was posting times as regular as clockwork at the head of the field in his white and blue car bearing the number 46. Within the German rankings, an exciting fight had developed for the lead between Stoll Motorsport and ContiMotorpresse. After 75 laps, the ContiMotorpresse car had taken second place overall behind Dubois Racing and was first in the German ranking, closely followed by the quartet of Raubach, Witzel, Kampmann and Kröll from Stoll Motorsport who had by no means thrown in the towel.

In one final burst of speed, the silver racer bearing number 173 slipped past team ContiMotorpresse, winning with a narrow margin of 38 seconds after 148 laps and a total of five hours’ racing. As in Spa, the ContiMotorpresse team had performed extremely well to take second place. “The championship still remains within our reach,” said ContiMotorpresse team manager Rottwilm about his successful Fun Cup strategy. The team from Joyce 84 completed the podium positions. Father and son Gilles and Bruno Debrus enthusiastically celebrated their third place in the German ranking. This was the first ever Fun Cup podium place for the Belgian pair.

Using the tactic “drive steadily and arrive home safely”, the S.A.M. Racing team from Bad Homburg finished in position 13 from a start in P32. Jürgen-Alexander Horn, Stevie Burkhardt and Mike Conrad drove the bright yellow car bearing number 18 over the finish line without a single scratch.

Formula 1 manager Manfred Zimmerman and the futurecom VIP team (P17) were victorious in the celebrity duel against Adrian Sutil and his Hockenheim VIP team in place 22, finishing with a lead of ten laps. “I had a few issues with the engine misfiring during my turn, but it was still excellent fun,” said the Formula 1 driver, satisfied with his Fun Cup debut.

In the overall rankings, Dubois Racing defended its first place though to the chequered flag, finishing with a one lap lead over German title defender Stoll Motorsport. This means that the 2006 Fun Cup champion once again leads the German rankings in 2007 following the fifth race in Hockenheim. The next Fun Cup race will take place on 21 September 2007 at the Nürburgring.

The Uniroyal Fun Cup is a brand cup held in Germany, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, England and Spain. In Germany the 760-kg, 130-HP racing cars can be driven by anybody. The plastic vehicle body – a VW Beetle look-alike – conceals inexpensive mass-produced components contained in a specially designed tube-type chassis frame. A completely new vehicle costs around 34,000 euros. Interested parties should check out www.funcup.eu.

Starting in 1895, the Belgian rubber goods manufacturer Englebert produced tyres for Continental AG and other companies. After merging with US Rubber in 1958, the company changed its name to Uniroyal Englebert. Uniroyal, the inventor of the rain tyre, has been a European brand of the Hanover-based Continental AG since 1979.

The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive supplier of tyres, brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics and technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation realised sales of EUR14.9 billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of around 89,000.

The Continental tyre divisions are an official sponsor of the UEFA Euro 2008™, taking place in Austria and Switzerland during June 2008. For further information, please visit our websites www.ContiSoccerWorld.com, www.ContiFanWorld.com, www.conti-online.com.