SLIP SLIDING AWAY
Earlier this year, a roster of racers brought the grace of Torvill and Dean to the track at a brilliant new historic event
Zell am See is best known for Alpine winter sports, with its spectacular ski slopes on the Schmittenhöhe mountain, but on 19-20 January, motorsport returned to the lovely Austrian valley. Last year, Ferdinand Porsche and Vincenz Greger had the inspired idea of recreating an ice-racing event that dates back to 1937. Renamed the Prof Porsche Memorial in 1952, the frozen-lake challenge moved up a gear. As well as skijöring competitions, with VW Beetles towing skiers, the main race featured 356s, 550 Spyders and various specials, with star drivers entered including Richard von Frankenberg and Huschke von Hanstein. But the event was stopped in 1974, after a Unimog and its driver sank into the freezing waters while clearing snow off the lake.
The revival created a wave of interest, with enthusiastic support from manufacturers including Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen, which all have links with the famous design dynasty. The event attracted a fantastic range of machines, too, from Lotus Cortina to DTM racers, as well as several valuable Porsches.
The original event was run on the frozen lake, but climate change has made this impossible so
the local runway was flooded with water and, after it froze, the hard-working team laid out a figure-of-eight with perimeter snowbanks. As well as timed runs and demonstrations, Nordic skijöring was revived with classic entrants enlisted to tow intrepid skiers around the course.
In addition to his close involvement with the organisation, Ferdinand Porsche brought along the family’s 550 Spyder, chassis 18. Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand’s grandfather, requested that this early car be painted white and red to match the Austrian flag, and it was raced at Zell am See in period by Kurt Ahrens. Italian Ugo Gussalli brought along another 550 RS, chassis 31, which was famously fitted with a high aerodynamic wing by racer Michael May.
When Oliver Schmidt and Thomas König, the founders of the Prototyp Museum, heard of the plans, they were determined to take the famous ‘Fetzenflieger’ special as a tribute to hero constructor/racer Otto Mathé. After suffering a paralysed arm following a motorcycle accident, Austrian Mathé built a monoposto racing car using VW parts and a Porsche engine. The distinctive machine, which he often towed behind a Porsche 356, was a regular winner, including at Zell am See where Mathé set a record lap on the 4km course. He died in 1995, but as a tribute Schmidt
and König trailered his special the 1000-mile round trip from their wonderful museum.
Just one pre-war machine was entered, but what a car! Austrian historic-car specialist Egon Zweimüller was so excited by the event that he began preparing his glorious Alfa Romeo 8C-2900, chassis 412021, for the challenge. “It took us two days’ work to fit the 200 studs into each tyre,” says Zweimüller. “We also made a special radiator cover and sourced US military oil-warmers to pre-heat the engine and ’box.”
On the morning of the first day, the temperature dropped to -16ºc. “When we took the car cover off the Alfa, it was so frozen it kept the shape of the body,” recalls Zweimüller. “The track was pure ice and it was a real challenge to get any grip, but the detuned 308 engine has plenty of low-down torque. The 8C was sliding everywhere, but the Alfa wasn’t much slower than Mark Webber in a Porsche 356! It’s a great event and I’ll definitely be back.”
The 2.9 has close links with Porsche because the great Austrian was enlisted as a consultant to help design its independent suspension, and as payment he received several 8Cs to sell.
Rumours that Audi was bringing Hans-joachim Stuck to demonstrate an Auto Union C-type replica looked promising, but frustratingly the team decided it was too cold to run the Grand Prix sensation. “Next year we’d love to bring our Austro-daimler ADM-R ‘Bergmeister’ for him to drive,” says Zweimüller. The vintage Austrodaimler has a great history at snow and ice events with Stuck’s father sliding to victory.
Despite the disappointment of not seeing the V16 in action, Audi produced some of the most spectacular sights – none more so than Walter Röhrl drifting the Sport quattro S1 E2. The two-time World Rally Champion is also a brilliant skier, so had no problem with the slippery course. Other legends in action included rallycross ace Klaus-joachim ‘Jochi’ Kleint with the twin-engined, 652bhp 1987 Pikes Peak VW Golf, and Formula E racer Daniel Abt, who towed professional freestyle skier Bene Mayr behind the electric single-seater. “It was so much fun, I would love to do more laps,” says Mayr.
Czech rally driver Jan Kopecký landed overall victory in his works Škoda Fabia R5, but the most bizarre sight was the Red Bull NASCAR stock car slipping and sliding around the course, its deep burble resounding down the valley.
With its stunning location in the shadow of the Grossglockner, this inspired revival looks set to become a must-see. “It’s like Goodwood on ice,” enthused one of the 8000 spectators.