42 years on, BMW gets the Le Mans crew back together

To celebrate the 80^th birthday of Prince Leopold von Bayern, BMW offered him a present. A drive at Le Mans Classic in the famous ‘Münchener Wirte’ liveried BMW M1. By reuniting him with Christian Danner and Peter Oberndorfer in the car, BMW brought back the original crew that drove Le Mans in that car in 1981.

It’s 1981. The famous Procar championship is finished by now. This one-make series with the BMW M1 was mostly disputed in the form of support races ahead of selected F1 races. The idea was to pitch the five fastest Formula 1 drivers from Friday’s free practice session against a field of wolves that was eager to show they were at least the equals of the F1 stars.

With a BMW M1 on offer for the series winner, this became a hotly contested series. Procar lasted just two seasons – 1979 and 1980 – but it was an instant classic.

Wirtshaus

After that, the BMW M1 went on to race in endurance series under Group 4 regulations at first, and later in even wilder turbo form as a Group 5. These were mostly privateer efforts, but in 1983 BMW went to Le Mans with a very Munich-tinted project. There was the livery of the car first, known as ‘Münchener Wirtshaus’ referring to the Munich values… and the typical brewery houses. It honoured different landmarks and traditions in Munich and was painted by Walter Maurer, who had also done the actual paintwork on many of the art cars.

Also, there was an all-Bavarian crew. First of all, in the form of Prince Leopold von Bayern, and next to that there were Christian Danner and Peter Oberndorfer. The car was presented in front of the Spatenhaus in front of the opera building, and quite famously, BMW recreated the presentation photos prior to the original crew setting off for Le Mans Classic. The extra forty years on the clock may be visible to the crew, but the smiles and enthusiasm are similar.

Group 4

We meet up with Christian Danner (65) and Prince Leopold von Bayern in the paddock in front of the car at Le Mans. “Can you believe it we got to come back to Le Mans with the original crew that drove 40 years ago? When does such a thing ever happen?” He positively beams.Danner these days is mostly doing commentary on F1 and some historic racing. He had a long career that brought him to F1 – even if it was at the back of the grid – and to the glorious DTM years with Alfa Romeo in the nineties. But in 1983, he was still very much making a name for himself. The ‘Wirtshaus’ M1, entered by Helmut Marko, was the fastest of the Group 4 qualifiers. “But unfortunately, we weren’t very lucky in the race,” Danner remembers. “Our car was out after 7 hours with engine damage.” Keep that part in mind.

“What a sound”

BMW Classic still has the original car, but for this occasion, a replica was rolled out, Prince Leopold von Bayern confirms. He is ‘his Highness’ to you and me, but as a lifelong racer in sports cars and DTM throughout the late seventies and deep into the nineties/nillies, he is best known as ‘Poldi’ to his peers. At 80, his love for racing remains undiminished. “Ah, the sound of this car is just glorious,” he smiles. Agreed, the Mulsanne straight must be close to heaven if you can push the Munich straight-six all the way to the limit.

“Nothing to prove”

How does it compare to 1983, we ask? “Of course, these days I have to take into account my responsibilities towards my children and grandchildren. That was different back then. So, nowadays, even if I know I can brake at the 200 metre-sign, I brake at 250 metres. No stress, I am just enjoying myself. I have nothing to prove anymore.” It is clear there is a big difference between the age he has in his head, and what it says on his passport.

Even with the laid-back attitude, classic racing remains a mechanical sport where anything can go wrong. As spectacularly proven by Peter Oberndorfer (67) who experienced a spectacular blow-out on the engine in his nighttime race on Saturday.

Burning some midnight oil

Seeing the impressive hole in the engine block, you would assume that would be the end of the weekend. But not so for the crew of BMW Group Classic. Under nothing more than a tent in the paddock behind the pits, they went to work and swapped the engine. Come Saturday morning, Christian Danner was able to go out again. Le Mans, it really is something else altogether.