Czech memories come alive at Most

The Sutnar/Krattner Memorial on the Most circuit in the Czech Republic is showing ambitions. The event has the ambition to grow into a Czech ‘Le Mans Classic’ style event.

With WTCR touring cars taking up most of the attention on the weekend of October 9^-10th, Sunday brought a completely different atmosphere, with the addition of classic race cars.

The Sutnar/Krattner Memorial, held on the Most circuit in the Czech Republic, celebrates the first participation of a Czech crew at the Le Mans 24 Hours. František Sutnar and Otto Krattner had just a small Aero Minor Sport 750 at their disposal, but they achieved a remarkable result with the small two-stroke twin-cylinder, finishing 15th overall. With the benefit of recalculation with the coefficient Le Mans applied to draw up final standings, they even achieved a great second place (and first in their class). The Sutnar/Krattner team covered a total of 2391.9 km at an average speed of 99.6 kph. An impressive performance.

Le Mans and other specialities

This historic achievement was commemorated on Sunday in Most by the Le Mans Redux association, represented by Michal Fronek. Not only did several Aero Minor Sport appear on the track, but other star cars also joined in: for example, the Tatra 607, practically the only F1 monoposto made in Czechoslovakia. Also present: the Tatra 605, which was built in the second half of the 1950s at the Tatra Kopřivnice plant as a training car for aspiring competition drivers. Arnošt Nezmeškal from the National Technical Museum also brought a Jawa Minor car to show.

Fangio Talbot Lago

The highlight was the introduction of two racing Talbots from the Kudela family collections. The most recent addition to the unique collection deserves mention – Talbot Lago T26 GP with chassis number 110057, one of six examples produced. It was raced, for example, by multiple world champion Juan Manuel Fangio (at the Le Mans 24h in 1950). It is certainly one of the rarest racing cars in domestic collections.

Prost GP

Another special birthday was celebrated in style in Most as well. This year marks the 20^th year a Czech driver took part in a Formula 1 race, a first for the East-European country. That was the Italian Grand Prix 1991. The driver was Tomáš Enge, the car was the Prost AP04. Enge, who only drove three GPs, built a very successful career in sports cars after that. That driver, Tomas Enge, drove the car equipped with a Ferrari 3.0 litre V10 engine of about 825 hp and chassis number 3 again to celebrate that anniversary. His drive once more proved that there is simply no substitute for an atmospheric V10.

Thanks to Auctomobile for the help with this story