History

The Jägermeister Racing web site goes online.

Jägermeister left motorsport after this season. There was growing political pressure for alcohol sponsorships in conjunction with sport not to be tolerated any longer (which had an equal impact on advertising in football).

The DTM experienced a revival and Jägermeister wanted to be there, after having taken another break in 1999. An Opel works car, a 480 hp Astra V8 Coupé, rolled onto the tracks in Jägermeister livery. The Frenchman Éric Hélary sat at the wheel, a top-class man who, among other things, had been overall winner of the 24-hour Le Mans in 1993. Hélary held his position in the leading pack, was always among the first ten in these exceptionally hard-fought races, and finished the DTM Championship ranked 9th.

After the “death” of the DTM, Jägermeister took a break in 1997. By now the Super Touring Car Championship (STW Pokal) had developed well, although the STW cars were technically considerably less spectacular than the former DTM racers. Jägermeister now became involved again. Christian Menzel and Poldi von Bayern drove two Jägermeister BMW Threes (320i).

The involvement with Alfa Romeo was continued. Again with Bartels. The ITC expanded to a sort of world championship – with races in Brazil and Japan. Costs increased enormously. At the end of the season it was clear: both the DTM and the ITC championships died – due to their own megalomania. The last DTM champion for the time being was Manual Reuter in an Opel. A footnote from the Jägermeister team’s viewpoint: at the start of the season, Jägermeister received an offer to sponsor the Reuter Opel Calibra with the Jöst team. For the same amount of money as for Alfa Romeo. A decision was taken to continue to work with Alfa. A gross mistake – as became apparent. Reuter won the championship in the Opel, whereas the Jägermeister Alfa Romeo stumbled from one failure to another.

Alfa Romeo caused a furore in the DTM. Jägermeister’s car was entered by the Euro Team (Milan). Not only in the DTM, but also in the ITC (International Touring Car Championship). Michael Bartels delivered top-class performances and also gained two victories.

The Schübel Team entered an Alfa Romeo in the DTM. It was driven by Michael Bartels. He proved his ability (and even stood on the podium in the finale in Hockenheim) and received a works contract from Alfa Romeo for 1994.

DTM and Linder: that’s how it continued for Jägermeister. Armin Hahne now drove a new Type E36 325 i BMW coupé. It was the only car of this type in the field, based on a new six-cylinder model, but too fault-prone. BMW itself had withdrawn its works car. The previous year’s BMW M3s were driven by private drivers. Hahne saw the chequered flag only twice, far behind.

The German Touring Car Championship was a favourite with the public. There were exceptionally exciting battles in the densely crowded field. One just had to be there! Jägermeister signed a contract with BMW Motorsport. The Linder Team became the partner. The driver was Armin Hahne, an absolutely top-flight driver. But in this high-class field, even he failed to gain a place on the podium. This was also connected with the fact that the Schnitzer, Bigazzi and Fina teams were always the first to receive the more highly developed components from BMW. The season ended with a highlight nevertheless. The motorcycle champion Wayne Gardner (Australia) made his motorsport debut in a second Jägermeister Linder BMW. He was the spectators’ darling in Hockenheim and on the Nürburgring because of his courageous, gung-ho driving style. No wonder he was eliminated twice in four races due to accidents.

Opel entered the DTM. Peter Oberndorfer drove an Omega 3000, but the car supported by the Opel works was unable to keep up with the leaders. A sixth place (in Singen) was the best result. Astonishingly this Opel was enormously popular with the spectators. An “underdog” that attracted a lot of sympathy. Wolfgang Kaufmann drove a Dallara Opel 391 brought to the starting grid by the Schübel Team in Formula 3 racing cars. Kaufmann won in Hockenheim and Wunstorf, but in Diepholz he suffered a spectacular rollover and had to take a break.

There was a hard-fought duel throughout the entire season between Otto Rensing (Ralt VW) and Michael Schumacher (Reynard Opel) in the German Championship for Formula 3 racing cars. The title was not decided until the last but one very dramatic race on the Nürburgring: Schumacher won just ahead of Rensing. A very unusual racing car also made headlines: the “Trabbi” (Trabant). After German Reunification in 1989, Jägermeister sponsored three 601 RS Trabants for Heiko Gaida, Jens Gaida and Kai Kögler in der GDR Championship for Touring Cars up to 600 cm3. Kai Kögler secured the title. The last starts of a Jägermeister Porsche 962 with Team Brun in World Championship races. Otto Rensing was given an opportunity in the Sports Prototypes. The result: 13th place (together with Bernard Santal) in the 1000-km race on the “Ring”.

Progress with the Brun-Porsche 962 continued. Oscar Larrauri and Franz Konrad gained sixth place in the Sports Prototypes World Championship Race on the Nürburgring. Larrauri/Ratzenberger finished fourth in Spa. Franz Konrad in the Porsche 962 was second in the Supercup Race in Diepholz. An orange-coloured Formula 1 Eurobrun ER189 turned up in Hockenheim. However, with Gregor Foitek at the wheel, it already failed in the qualifying stage of the German Grand Prix.

Jägermeister continues its association with Team Brun. Uwe Schäfer drove the Porsche 962 in the Supercup. Larrauri/Reuter/Brun finished fourth in the Spa 1000-km Championship race.

Oscar Larrauri drove the Jägermeister Porsche 962 in the Supercup. He also took second place (taking turns with Jochen Mass) in the World Championship race on the Norisring. Susanne Kottulinsky in an Audi 200 Quattro was on the starting grid in the German Rally Championship, gained class wins in the Sachs Winter Rally and in the Hesse Rally, and was ranked sixth in the final assessment of the “DM”.

A very big success: Team Brun won the Sports Car World Championship as a team in this year. Thierry Boutsen/Frank Jelinski in a Jägermeister Porsche 962 won the Spa 1000-km, the decisive race in the World Championship. Mario Ketterer in a Renault Alpine V6 Turbo was at the start of the European Cup. Various drivers sat behind the wheel of the Jägermeister Porsche in the Supercup: they included Drake Olson (USA), Derek Bell (England), Thierry Boutsen (Belgium) and Oscar Larrauri (Argentina).

Hans-Joachim Stuck was for a long time the driver most often associated with the Jägermeister team. In a Porsche 956, he competed for Team Brun in the 1985 German Sports Car Championship, finishing second behind Jochen Mass (also in a Porsche 956). Stuck’s wins included on the Nürburgring, in Wunstorf, on the Österreichring and in Erding. Stefan Bellof in a Jägermeister Porsche 956 won again on the Norisring. Gerhard Berger drove a 956 for the first time, and finished in sixth place (together with Walter Brun) in the 1000-km race in Hockenheim. Stefan Bellof suffered a fatal accident in Spa. In a Brun Porsche 956.

The Swiss racing driver Walter Brun was already a Jägermeister driver at the start of the nineteen-seventies in a Schnitzer 3-litre BMW coupé. He was now also team boss, and took over the GS team in Freiburg. Jägermeister signed a contract with him. This very successful collaboration lasted until late 1990. And that was how 1984 began 1984: The German Formula 1 superstar Stefan Bellof drove a Brun-Porsche 956 in Jägermeister colours. Bellof was victorious on the Norisring and also in the Supersprint on the Nürburgring, and became the German racing champion. The Bellof/Stuck team in a Porsche 956 was unbeatable in the Imola 1000-km, a world championship race. Stuck drove a BMW 635 CSi in the German Production Car Championship (DPM), renamed the DTM in the following year. The 635-BMW also appeared in the European Touring Car Championship and in the European Hillclimb Championship.

The Ford prototype (now called the C1/4 1.8 tc) also remained without a chance, although the naturally-aspirated engine had been replaced by a turbocharged unit in the meantime. The faults and failures continued. It was not the driver’s fault. Klaus Ludwig – as everyone in the scene knows – is one of the world’s best sports car drivers. The Wolber team in Freiburg entered a Lola in the Formula Ford Cup. An attractive amazon sat in the cockpit: Beate Nodes.

A new category made its debut: the super-powerful, pancake-flat Group C sports car. Previous Group 5 cars remained entitled to start in Group C. Ford sent a car in Jägermeister colours to the grid: the C 100 3.9 V8. It had a V8 Cosworth engine, well-known from Formula 1, bored out to 3.9 litres. The Ford was driven by a star: Klaus Ludwig. The car had a nice appearance, but was disappointing. Ludwig changed to a Super Capri in the third race. The C 100 did not return to the Norisring until midsummer. The car was unconvincing, but nevertheless it won the sports car race in the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. Eckhard Schimpf/Mario Ketterer/Toni Fischhaber finished fourth overall in the 1000-km race on the Nürburgring (World Championship race), and second in the class (Group 5). Kurt König made a Jägermeister BMW M1 pretty well “fly”.

The Kremer team brought the Frenchman Bob Wollek back for the Jägermeister car; first in a Porsche 935 K3, then in the further development, the K4. Wollek started each race from the front row, and also won twice (on the Nürburgring and in Mainz-Finthen), but otherwise finished in second place behind Klaus Ludwig in the Zakspeed Super-Capri in all the other races, and was thus also “only” second in the German Motorsport Championship. On the other hand, however, Wollek won the “Geldrennen” on the Norisring. Mario Ketterer drove a Ford Escort RS 2000 for the HWRT team (Wolf).

The Kremer team from Cologne partnered Jägermeister again (following 1975). The plan was for Axel Plankenhorn to continue the Porsche 935’s phenomenal series of wins (by Klaus Ludwig) in the previous year. These (excessively) high expectations were not fulfilled. Plankenhorn was replaced in June. Superstars including Rolf Stommelen and Jochen Mass now tried to drive the Kremer car to victory again. John Fitzptarick finished second in Spa and in Salzburg, and finally won in Zolder and in Hockenheim. Two BMW works drivers who were still driving for Jägermeister in the previous year were fatally injured in Formula 2. Markus Höttinger in Hockenheim and Hans-Georg Bürger in Zandvoort.

The BMW works driver Markus Höttinger was seconded by the Munich company to the GS team in Friburg, where he drove a sensational car in the DRM: a right-hand drive 320-Group 5 with a top-secret turbo-engine that soon became world-famous. It was the same turbo that later became the Formula 1 engine. Eckhard Schimpf drove a second Jägermeister 320-BMW in the GS team. BMW’s racing manager Dieter Stappert donated a works engine to this car for the 1000-km race on the Nürburgring and ensured that a BMW works driver, Hans-Georg Bürger, also sat alongside Schimpf in the cockpit. The Schimpf/Bürger team won the two-litre category in this world championship race, and gained sixth place in the overall classification. Höttinger made his Formula 2 debut in a March BMW in Jägermeister colours. Helmut Kelleners drove a BMW 320 (Group 2) for the Swiss Eggenberger team. Kelleners/Müller were winners in the Touring Car Grand Prix on the Nürburgring. Likewise in Zandvoort.

The Porsche-works driver Manfred Schurti was signed up again for the Max-Moritz team, and finished in first place in the Norisring race in Nürnberg. Together with Jacky Ickx, Schurti was placed second in the 1000-km race on the Nürburgring. Willi Bergmeister ended the season as runner-up champion in the European Touring Car Championship in a VW-Scirocco. Toni Fischhaber, a former Porsche works driver and several times European Hill-climb Champion, was on the starting grid for the Jägermeister team in a Porsche RSR/935 (with a naturally-aspirated engine). Fritz Beyerlein drove a Fiat 128 in the ONS Rundstreckenpokal.

Stuck drove a BMW 320-Group 5 in the DRM and won twice on the Nürburgring. Harald Grohs was at the wheel of a second Jägermeister-BMW 320 (belonging to the Faltz team) and excelled with a furious driving style and giant leaps on the Nürburgring North Loop. Manfred Schurti (Liechtenstein) proved his worth for the first time for the Max-Moritz team in the DRM and simultaneously secured himself a place at the start in Zolder with a Porsche 935-Turbo. Ronni Peterson/Helmut Kellners won the Silverstone World Championship race in a BMW 320. Jochen Mass was victorious in the Eifel race in a March-BMW. Willi Bergmeister shone (as previously in 1976) in a VW-Scirocco in the Touring Cars Race.

Stuck again and again! The “Hockenheim King” had four wins at Hockenheim in a March-BMW. Also in Misano/Italy. Willi Bartels clinched the European Hill-climb Championship in a Porsche Carrera RSR. Jägermeister sponsored the Max-Moritz Team in Reutlingen with two Porsche 934-Turbos for Helmut Kelleners and Reinhardt Stenzel. Three Jägermeister cars were among the first ten in the famous 1000-km race on the Nürburgring. Derek Bell/Helmut Kelleners/Reinhardt Stenzel finished third, Eckhard Schimpf/Edgar Dören (in a Porsche Carrera RSR) were seventh (and simultaneously category winners) and Bell/Stenzel/Steckkönig brought another 934 Turbo to 10th place. A new VW-Golf driven by Springer/Mehmel was at the start of the Monte Carlo Rally (ranked 35th in the overall classification).

Stuck drove a March-BMW again, and gained another win in Hockenheim, also on the Nürburgring. Helmut Kelleners was at the start in the DRM in a Porsche Carrera RSR belonging to the Kremer Team, Cologne. Willi Bergmeister, the reigning Bergmeister (hill-climb champion) (nice word repetition!), drove everything into the ground in his NSU TT. Ernst Maring from Braunschweig won the German Championship for Formula 3 racing cars in his self-designed Maco.

Hans-Joachim Stuck became a Jägermeister driver. He laid the foundation for his reputation in Formula 2 as “King of Hockenheim”, where he won three races. He also won in Barcelona and in Enna (Sicily) and became runner-up World Champion with his March-BMW. He also had a Jägermeister Formula 1 start in the German Grand Prix. Stuck finished in 7th place. Jägermeister bought a Porsche Carrera RSR for Eckhard Schimpf. Manfred Trint was also involved in Formula Super V. Helmut Kelleners drove a BMW in the DRM. It was also the first time a woman was at the starting line for Jägermeister: Inez Muhle from Hamburg. She drove in Formula V 1300 and remained a member of the “Stag’s Head” team for several years (later also in a VW Polo).

Niki Lauda began in an Alpina-BMW coupé and won the Nürburgring 24-hour race with co-driver Hans-Peter Joisten. The pair finished third in the Touring Car Grand Prix on the Nürburgring. Joisten was then fatally injured in the Jägermeister Alpina in the Spa 24-hour race. Vic Elford won the Hockenheim Interseries in a 1200 hp Porsche 917-Spider. Tommy Brorsson drove a Kaimann in the Formula Super V. Graham Hill wanted to continue on the starting grid for Jägermeister, but no longer in Formula 2. Hill really wanted to entice Jägermeister into Formula 1, but the company rejected it then (and in future years) because Formula 1 competitions were mainly in countries that were not yet markets for Jägermeister at that time. There were also still hardly any TV broadcasts of Formula 1 then – apart from the German Grand Prix. Three Jägermeister teams were at the start of the Monte Carlo Rally: Kleint/Zwiers, Schimpf/Zauner (both in Kleint Team RS Ford-Capris) and Stiller/Wagner (BMW 2002).

Eckhard Schimpf/Ernst-Johann Zauner, both from Braunschweig, were at the start of the Monte Carlo Rally with a private, standard production model Porsche 914/6. The car also carried, for the first time, Jägermeister logos and the famous stag’s head – as well as other advertising messages. The founding of a “Jägermeister Racing Team” was agreed during a subsequent discussion with Jägermeister boss Günter Mast. Racing colour: orange. Mast’s instruction: “Always sign a contract with an outstandingly good driver, a star if possible, then gather a pack of other drivers around him.” The first year’s star was Graham Hill, World Champion in 1962 and 1968. He drove an orange-coloured Brabham BT 38 in Formula 2, and his wins included the Lotteria Grand Prix in Monza. That year’s “pack” included Nico Koob from Luxemburg (Brabham), Dieter Bohnhorst from Braunschweig (Porsche 914/6), Rainer Maschke (Alfa Romeo) and the Australian Frank Gardner, who brought colour to the German Racing Championship (DRM) with a Camaro. The Mast-Jägermeister company also bought its own Porsche 914/6, which was driven by Eckhard Schimpf in 1972 and 1973. Schimpf also “managed” all of the new sponsor’s motorsports activities. He was equivalent to “Jägermeister’s man on the racetracks”. Until 2000.