Procar Season Review – Part One

The second Touring Car series in Germany had a difficult season. After a hard season in 2006 with only 8 cars the German sports television DSF didn’t want to broadcast the races any longer, leaving the organisation and competitors without a television station. But things were to change in 2007.

A few big German Touring Car teams, like Engstler Motorsport and Kissling Motorsport, were on the grid for the fight over the 2007 title. Due to the new regulations that only allows S2000 cars build before 2005 to race, more and more cars joined the series over the course of the year.

In this article you can read the first part of our review of the 2007 Procar season.

Engstler dominates first meeting in Oschersleben
Franz Engstler was the man to beat at the first meeting in Oschersleben. He was the pole sitter and won both races with respectively 26 seconds and 22 seconds advantage over his competitors. The only man who was able to be a threat to Engstler was Philip Geipel. In his Toyota Corolla S2000 from Geipel Motorsports he was able to compete at the same level in race one, but after having problems with his tyres he had to drive very slow and finished in second position.

There was no luck for Geipel in race two either. After a good start he retired with a oil pressure problem. Engstlers teammate Andrej Romanov showed the crowd how fast the BMW 320i of Engstler Motorsport really was, by claiming second place in race 2. Peter Rikli scored his firt podium place at Oschersleben, by driving his own Honda Accord to third place in both races.

Stahl and de Villota surprise at the season highlight
The second round on the old Nürburgring Nordschleife was the season highlight in the procar season 2007. With over 25km length per lap there was only one race which was won by Franz Engstler.Guest driver Sebastian Stahl, stepbrother from Michael and Ralf Schumacher, took second place, driving in a second Toyota Corolla from Geipel Motorsport. Maria de Villota Comba drove to third plcae in her Chevrolet Lacetti. It was the first start at the legendary track for the spanish lady from Maurer Motorsport.

For a long time it was Rainer Bastuck who seemed to have third place in his hands, but he had to retire in his Opel Astra GTC S2000 with an engine problem in lap 3 from 4. Peter Rikli in his Honda was again driving a good race, but he got gearbox problems causing him to retire in the last lap. Philip Geipel didn’t manage to get to the checkered flag either.

First defeat for Engstler at Round 3 at Oschersleben
The results of the fourth race gave the same winner as the previous three races. Franz Engstler crossed the line first again, in front of the strong Maria de Villota Comba in 2nd and the reigning 2006 RTCC champion Vladimir Labazov.

However, after dominating four races, Franz Engstler was beaten by the young Russian driver of the russian Avtodom Racing Team. Labazov won the fifth race in his BMW 320i. A thrilling duel between de Vilotta Comba and Geipel in the second race ended with a collision and a frustrating 9th position for de Vilotta Comba and a 6th place for Geipel after he received a 30 second penalty for his role in the incident. Franz Engstler and his teammate Andrej Romanov took advantage and finished in 2nd and 3rd position.

Rainer Bastuck scores his first podium finish
Who else than Franz Engstler won both dramatic races at Assen. Changing weather conditions in the two races couldn’t stop the former 2005 and 2006 ATCC champion in his BMW. Vladimir Labazov was on the wrong tyres in the first race, but he was able to fight against Engstler in the second race of the day, eventhough he finished in 2nd place.

It had been a frustrating season so far for the Kissling Motorsport team. But their hard work on the set-up of the Opel Astra GTC S2000 between the round at Oschersleben and the event at Assen paid of. Rainer Bastuck surprised at Assen with a 2nd place in race one and a 3rd place in race two. De Villota Comba did a good job with a 3rd place in the first and a 6th place in the second race at Assen too and scored important points for the championship. Philip Geipel had a catastrophic weekend in which he coulnd’t finish either of the two races after engine problems.