After the spectacular appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK 2018 and a guest start at the FIA Hillclimb Masters in October 2018, the “Never-Forget-Tribute-To-Georg-Plasa-KW-Team” participates in the 24th Glasbach race in Thuringia / Germany (June 14th to June 16th).
The BMW 320 (E36) Coupé, developed and built by the Upper Bavarian racing driver Georg Plasa, with its 550 hp JUDD KV675 V8 engine, will again be driven by Georg Plasa’s companion and friend Jörg Weidinger.
After Jörg Weidinger’s daring exploit at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in summer 2018, we received countless requests from German racing organisers to start with Georg’s BMW in front of a home crowd,” explains team owner and KW automotive CEO Klaus Wohlfarth.
The team agreed that they would not be racing with BMW E36 Judd V8 in races or on tracks where Georg Plasa was driving his BMW.
“We just want to prevent any comparisons between George’s times and Jörg’s time being drawn. The start in Thuringia is a sporting homage to the fans of Georg.”
Even years after the fatal accident of Georg Plasa, his sporting spirit is still present in the European Hill Climbing Scene. The Bavarian and member of the Motorsportclub Tegernsee lived for Hill Climb Racing and was someone who was much more involved in the concerns and needs of the racing community than those of himself or his team.
In addition, he was a real pioneer in motorsports, especially for the often grassroots racing called Hill Climb Racing Scene. Already at the end of the nineties, the native of Munich began to raise the development of Hill Climb Racing Cars in the Touring Car class to a technical level that previously many considered impossible.
Many companions of Georg Plasa, such as his former racing mechanics like Andreas Weber or Martin Burmeister, are active in their free time in the “Never-Forget-Tribute-To-Georg-Plasa-KW-Team”.
The chassis engineer and racing driver Jörg Weidinger, who works for a car manufacturer in Munich, also starts again as a driver: “It’s always very emotional for our entire team. After all, we also had a friendship with Georg that was not just about motorsport.
For the first time in front of a home crowd again
Currently, the starter list limited to 160 participants already includes more than 120 nominations with numerous well-known drivers such as the multiple overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nürburgring Nordschleife record holder (5:19,546 min; Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo) Timo Bernhard with a Porsche 911 GT 3 R (Group R-GT FIA) will drive.
Also in attendance are Reto Meisel from Switzerland in the Mercedes-Benz SLK 340 (Group E2-SH), Jan Milon from the Czech Republic with his McLaren650S GT3 (Group R-GT), Canio Marchione from Luxembourg with his BMW 320 STW (Group E1-FIA), Holger Hovemann in the Opel Kadett GT / R V8 (group E1-FIA), Andreas Kokor with his Ford Escort and many more heroes of Hill Climb Racing.
In addition to the driver’s celebrities, the 5.5-kilometer-long track is already a highlight. The racers must overcome over 260 vertical meters and 35 bends. Extreme concentration and the best material are required, as run-off zones such as on modern racetracks do not exist in Hill Climb Racing.
For the start at the Glasbachrennen, the entire BMW 320 Judd was subjected to a rigorous check. For example, after the outage in Gubbio, Italy in fall 2018, a new bell housing for the clutch had to be made.
“As our production is currently running at full capacity, our neighbor Ockert CNC-Manufacturing jumped into the breach at short notice and produced us the bell housing. We would also like to say a big thank you to the old partners and sponsors of Georg Plasa who, despite of their tight schedule in the middle of the motorsport season, still found time to check various components. John Judd even squeezed our engine in between and we thank one or the other LMP team for giving us a priority, “said team manager Oliver Scherbaum. “At Drexler, the lock was checked at short notice and Avon Tires produced for us once again according to Georg specifications tyres for the Glasbachrennen.”
Photo KW, Frozenspeed, Paddy McGrath Speedhunters
