| Introduction: After Ford had stopped (in 1974) using the Capri in Touring Car Racing they decided that in 1978 it was time for a comeback. This time not as a pure factory car, but in co-operation with Zakspeed. A turbo Escort from Zakspeed had already won in 1975 with Hans Heyer to control the German racing championship - much like the 1974 Capri. Zakspeed built the car from scratch with little or no help from Ford. The rather remarkable construction lends the rather apt name " miracle car " to the vehicle. The regulations of the Group 5 championship are rather free. Only the engine must originate from a production car. With the turbo Capri it was based on the British 1,3l Kent engine, which had already been used in the British Capri Series (there with 55bhp). The engine is overbored to 1427cc and thoroughly strengthened, equipped with 4 valves per cylinder and turbocharged. This produced in 1978 380bhp at 9000rpm. The DRM is separated into two divisions: upto 2000ccm (division II) and over 2000ccm (division I). with turbo-vehicles restricted to a capacity of 1.4, which resulted in a theoretical 1997,8ccm for the Capri. |
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1978 |
In the last third of the 1978 championship the Zakspeed turbo Capri is used for the first time. Exactly: on the 29th of July on the Hockenheim ring. Hans Heyer takes pole position by 4 seconds on the second place Harald Ertl. An extremely good start ?? well almost. In the 5th lap the Capris motor explodes directly before the Zakspeed courtesy-box. Also in the next two laps something similar happens to the other Zakspeed Capri: these failures were traced to a defect in the engine manufacture. In the last race of the season, at the Nuerburgring it finally holds and everything comes together. The first victory for the turbo Capri. |
| Division II: Driver: Hans Heyer (Mampe Capri); 4 starts; 4 poles; 1 victory; Champion: Harald Ertl (BMW 320 turbo / division II) |
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This vehicle was driven in 1979 or 1980 by Harald Ertl. Later it was used by a private driver for hill-climbing. Today it is in the Rosso Bianco museum Aschaffenburg. |
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1979 |
As well as Hans Heyer the Reigning Champion Harald Ertl joins the team. Two Top drivers in a team? The magazine Auto Engine & Sport organises a track day with the two turbo Capris. Result: Each driver has identical equipment. For a photo shot both Capris drive side by side quite close to each other on the Hockenheim straight. A well-known daily paper fabricates a story claiming there was a collision at 250km/h. This caused a large rift between Heyer and Ertl. At the first race in Zolder there is a Capri double victory, three further will follow. The BMWs 320 are easily beaten. In the division II the Capris won 8 out of 11, distributed between Heyer and Ertl. In the division I, where the Porsche 935 driven by Klaus Ludwig is unbeatable.It was decided to test the waters and see what the Capri could really do! A slightly oversize 1500 cc was entered at the penultimate race at the small Hockenheim ring. Hans Heyer starts the Capri in the division I race and fights against the 800PS Porsche. It cannot prevent Ludwig's victory. But Heyer comes in third only 2,4sec behind Ludwig. Ludwig thus won the the Division 1 championship, winning 10 out of 11 races but this coninced Ford to enter the Division 1 in 1980. | ||||
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Final status 1979: |
Statistics: |
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| 1. | Klaus Ludwig | Porsche 935 (Div. I) | Driver
division II: Hans Heyer (Mampe Capri); Harald Ertl (Sachs Capri); additionally
sporadically: Dieter Quester, Siegfried Mueller, Toine Hezemans, Klaus Niedzwiedz,
Hans pay-hit a corner
11 races, 8 victories (Heyer 6, Ertl 2) |
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| 2. | Hans Heyer | Capri (Div. II) | |||
| 3. | Manfred Anglesquat | BMW 320 turbo (Div. II) | |||
| 10. | Harald Ertl | Capri (Div. II) | |||
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1980 |
Fords and Zakspeed prepare the Capri against the Porsche. A Capri for the division I is built. A larger version of the 1400 engine was built giving 1745cc and 600bhp at 9000 rpm it was hoped this would be able to compete against the 800 bhp Porsche. The Capri does win owing to the fact that it is far lighter (830kg compared to 1025kg) and a better aerodynamic package. This helped enormously the braking and corning abilities. In addition there was a dispute over rear wings, the Capris extended all the way out to the back edge of the rear wheel arch extensions and was banned by the German authorities. This probably cost Klaus Ludwig the championship as he was stripped of the points he had won in the first sverall championship rounds. So to compensate for a smaller rear wing Zakspeed developed ground effect. To the rear an extending diffuser slot at the Capris floorpan produces a negative pressure, which in turn presses the vehicle to the soil ( quite revolutionary at the time !! ). The Div. I Porsche and Capri both have similar performances approx. 330km/h top speed and both accelerate from 60 to 200km/h in approx.. 6,3sec. In the meantime the Div 2 Capris cars have about 450PS . In both divisions the Capris is often victorious, in the end it was not enough however. Hans Heyer changed to Lancia at the start of the season, scores constantly and becomes Champion. | ||||
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Final status 1980: |
Statistics: |
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| 1. | Hans Heyer | Lancia Montecarlo (Div. II) | Driver
division I: Klaus Ludwig (Kraus Wuerth Capri)
Driver division II: Klaus Niedzwiedz (D&W Capri); Harald Ertl (Sachs Capri); Among other things Hans pay-hit a corner (D&W Capri). 13 races, 5 victories Div. I, 7 victories Div. II |
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| 2. | Manfred Anglesquat | Porsche 935 (Div. I) | |||
| 3. | Klaus Ludwig | Capri (Div. I) | |||
| 5. | Klaus Niedzwiedz | Capri (Div. II) | |||
| 7. | Harald Ertl | Capri (Div. II) | |||
| 9. | Hans pay-hit a corner | Capri (Div. II) | |||
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With this turbo Capri Klaus Ludwig got the 1981 Championship. The car is located today in the auto technique museum in Sinsheim. |
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1981 |
Klaus Ludwig strikes back. The 1981 season is dominated quite easily by him. This time with a division II Capri, whose engine was now at over 500PS, still from 1,4l capacity. In Div. II the opponents are the still the BMW 320s and Lancia Montecarlos. In Div. I the new BMW M1 with Hans's stucco associates seeks to control the Capris and Porsches. While Ludwig in the Div. II 10 wins out of 13 races and Manfred Anglesquat in the Div. I is victorious six times . Anglesquat achieved with the Div. I Capri on the Nuerburgring north loop a lap time of 7.18,4 mins. This is almost the formula 1 record time 7,06.4 mins of 1975 (Clay Regazzoni). However at the end of the year Anglesqats finishes just behind Porsche driver Bob Wollek. Ludwig becomes quite easily the Champion of 1981 in Div 2. The Capri is selected as the car of the year in 1981. Zakspeed is asked to construct a Ford Mustang to compete in the American IMSA series. This is based on the Ford Capri and turns out to be very similar. | |||||
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Final status 1981: |
Statistics: |
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| 1. | Klaus Ludwig | Capri (Div. II) |
215 |
Driver
division I: Manfred anglesquat (Nigrin Capri)
Driver division II:; Klaus Ludwig (Wuerth Capri); Klaus Niedzwiedz (D&W Capri); J. Hamelmann (Pentosin Capri) 13 races, 6 victories Div. I, 10 victories Div. II |
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| 2. | Bob Wollek | Kremer Porsche 935 (Div. I) |
179 |
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| 3. | Manfred Anglesquat | Capri (Div. I) |
174 |
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| 4. | Hans Heyer | Lancia Montecarlo (Div. II) |
171 |
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| 6. | J. Hamelmann | Capri (Div. II) |
100 |
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| 9. | Klaus Niedzwiedz | Capri (Div. II) |
88 |
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The car to the left is the D&W Capri of Driver Klaus Niedzwiedz. The car to the right is sponsored by Mampe |
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1982
1983
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Starting
from 1982 the international German racing championship is compressed into
one division. For a transitional period the old Group 5 cars were allowed
to run with two new groups, Group 6 and Group C. This results in a rather
multicoloured mixture. This comprised of, Porsche 935, open Porsche 936,
open URD, BMW M1, the Ford C100 and another C100 co-developed by Zakspeed.
Klaus Niedzwiedz still drives a Capri and later on in the season drives
the D&W/Pentosin Capri. It wins twice and finishes third in the
championship. Occasionally Klaus Ludwig drives one of the Hunter Master
guest sponsored Capris.
1983 Joerg van Ommen drives yet another Zakspeed turbo Capri and finishes 10th in the overall championship. Just a quick footnote, to mention that the Capri turbo engine was used for a short time in F1. It was used in the unsuccessful Zakspeed formula 1 team Monoposto. |
As a footnote, I am always on the lookout for information for these fantastic cars. So if you have any pictures, articles ( newspaper or magazine ), technical info or the best of all a video !!! I would be extremely grateful if you would contact me at;
November 14, 2001
