First published on curbs-magazin.com
Originally published on curbs-magazin.com – now part of slickpix.de.
„A team for Cologne“
There are such wonderful, typical Cologne sayings that can be – and this is a special feature – both meaningful and meaningless at the same time. It's truly „the fine art“ of Cologne idioms that they touch upon things in such a way that they – often somehow – get going, without the details necessarily being fully thought through in every individual case, or without one or the other – „God forbid“ – actually feeling truly obliged afterward to, for example, properly finish something.
This can usually start again with the saying „Dat is doch alles ja keen Problem“ („That's no problem at all“), move on to „People know each other, they help each other.“ – the only question then is for what purpose and for whom – „I know someone who knows someone who can get it.“ and often ends with „Dat sacht mir jetz nix.“ („That doesn't mean anything to me now.“). Even if someone had committed to something beforehand, they didn't want to have been the one afterward. The following story includes a bit of everything. Heinz Stüber, one of the main people involved in the preparation, in the project management, and one of the three drivers, remembers, not without adding certain „cherry on top" details.
The idea, which was already more than fixed, was born in December 1990 during a dinner at the annual closing party of the Sportfahrergemeinschaft Köln (Cologne Sports Car Club) at the Merkur Hotel in Cologne. The „famous“ date „11.11., 11:11 AM“, when the carnival season is officially opened every year in Cologne on Altermarkt, had just passed. This is a time when every Cologne resident puts all their antennas up, is receptive, and is definitely up for any fun – „Praised be that which is crazy,“ two or three Kölsch are then perfectly sufficient.
„Never before has a city presented itself at the 24h Nürburgring like this.“
Armin Lorenzen, formerly a successful driver in the Renault 5 Cup during the same era as Christian Danner, introduced Heinz Stüber at the Merkur Hotel. Stüber was, at that time, successfully competing in the Nürburgring endurance cup with a Group H VW Golf I and was also constantly on the road as an insurance expert. Jürgen Faith, owner of an advertising agency, was also present. Lorenzen presented a sketch on a piece of paper of a racing touring car in the Cologne city colors of red and white, with the Nürburgring 24 Hours race in mind. „That would really be something to get off the ground,“ Lorenzen emphasized. „What do you think of it?“ Another Kölsch was ordered – the other two were also enthusiastic. „Never before,“ Heinz Stüber clarified, „had a city presented itself at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.“
Initially, the three were not at all sure if this could really be implemented, but Cologne is also a city „where mer stolz drop sin“ (a city „that everyone is proud of“). A certain participatory effect in this sense could be cautiously factored in, and Carnival was just around the corner anyway. So, they chose the Press and Information Office of the City of Cologne as the first point of contact for the project, where Henning von Borstell, as head, was in charge at the time. They didn't have high hopes, but then von Borstell thought it over and finally said, „Yes, we've sponsored a hot air balloon before – I'm offering you DM 5,000, end of story.“
A start had been made, but the trees clearly didn't grow to the sky – „only 5,000?“ The promotional drum had to be beaten even harder. In the meantime, Jürgen Faith had prepared a very appealing press kit, after studying which Peter Geishecker, also a true Kölsch native, former president of the Sportfahrer Gemeinschaft Köln and at the time race director of the 24h Nürburgring, pledged his full support for the project within his means: „Boys, this is a good idea, you'll also get starting number Eleven...“ – the Eleven, of course!
„Persistence Across Diverse Foyer“
„Next, in our further acquisition efforts, we tackled a real behemoth; we were now forced to make significant progress in financing,“ Heinz Stüber recounts. „So we approached Reiner Mühlhausen, who was then the manager of the Maritim Hotel Cologne. It wasn't easy at all, but our persistence through various gatekeepers ultimately paid off surprisingly well. For a considerable sum, we were able to sell the rear two car sides as sponsorship space for the Maritim Hotel Cologne!“
The team's motivation increased significantly – „Et Team för Kölle“ („A Team for Cologne“) – they were on the right track with preparations, and acceptance of the initiative grew. Event manager Horst Müller, brother-in-law of the then business partner Heinz Stübers, offered his event services and provided various Cologne dialect artists, such as Peter Horn (ex-lead singer of „Höhner“), Marita Köllner („Et fussich Julche“), „3 Söck,“ a Michael Jackson impersonator, and a Marilyn Monroe look-alike. He also agreed to cover the costs for their performances at the team presentation later held at the Cologne Maritim Hotel.
„Because the City of Cologne's Press and Information Office was involved,“ Heinz Stüber continued, „we also got the Office for Economic Development on board – for the car roof – as well as Cologne Bonn Airport for the hood. And due to this interest and the willingness of many Cologne-based companies to participate, a Cologne brewery also didn't skimp, contributing not only a considerable sponsorship but also a significant delivery of ‚Cologne water‘ to keep the team's spirits high. However, the latter later had consequences...“
„Then we could barely get him out of the racing seat again...“ And not least, the famous folk actor and head of the theater of the same name in Cologne, Willy Millowitsch, allowed his likeness to be plastered on the car. „It couldn't get any more “Kölsch„ than that,“ Stüber recounts. "But in his case, it wasn't about money; it was an honor for us to be allowed to advertise for him. There was also a special photo session at Cologne Cathedral with Willy Millowitsch, where the then 82-year-old gentleman was quite enthusiastic and insisted on taking a seat behind the wheel. And then we could barely get him out of the racing seat again..."
It was always clear from the outset that the race car used in the 24-hour race had to be based on a Cologne product. That automatically meant Ford. „We even asked Ford sports director Lothar Pinske for support, but he couldn't offer us anything at the time,“ Heinz Stüber recalls. „Armin Lorenzen then ‚highly recommended‘ a Ford tuner from Rommerskirchen near Cologne for building a Ford Sierra Cosworth Group A, as he was ‚absolutely convinced‘ of his tuning skills.“ He was the one who ultimately built the car...
„Due to numerous publications in daily and trade press, we were also repeatedly and quite surprisingly approached by drivers we didn't personally know at the time,“ Stüber continued, „such as by World and European swimming champion Rainer Henkel, who also tried his hand in the Porsche Carrera Cup back then. At the big party celebrating the team's presentation at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, he approached us and said he had a sponsor, so there would be no problem with him becoming the third driver in the car. It became a problem – he didn't have a sponsor. ‚But I did take care of the PR,‘ he then declared. But we didn't want to let any celebrities drive without money either.“
„The brakes were a catastrophe!“
The team went in search of a third driver „who would also fit into the team and, if possible, would embrace a bit of Rhenish craziness. Unfortunately, Edgar Dören had to cancel the very same race due to other commitments. We were then delighted to find Michael Hess, junior manager of KRAFFT Walzen in Düren and at the time also successfully competing with a Ford Sierra Cosworth in the DTC, as a very suitable third man for the cockpit.“
Just as the tests of the Sierra Cosworth Group A were scheduled on various European race tracks, Heinz Stüber was sidelined for weeks with chickenpox; Armin Lorenzen and Michael Hess drove them alone. „So my surprise was unpleasantly large when I drove the car for the first time during practice for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring,“ says Stüber. „Armin Lorenzen warned me, ‚Be careful, the car is a beast, the turbo kicks in suddenly,‘ but that wasn't it at all – the brakes were a disaster! The brake force distributor and brake force regulator were completely undersized – as it turned out after the race –, they didn't build up optimal brake pressure – and then the Nordschleife...“
For this, the starting lineup team put on a show with clowns, the Cologne Crocodiles, pretty cheerleaders, and a Michael Jackson impersonator, unlike anything the Nürburgring had ever seen. In the 24-hour race, Armin Lorenzen/Michael Hess/Heinz Stüber then managed as best they could with the basically useless brakes. When they were already in a promising position on Sunday morning, a defective turbocharger had to be replaced. Despite everything, they finished second in their class and a very respectable 30th overall. „However, our tuner had already drunk himself to capacity in the ‚Dom-Kölsch‘ bus in the paddock after only two hours of racing, so he was no longer usable from then on,“ reports Heinz Stüber. „Even Peter Geishecker came to us after the race and congratulated us: „What you offered was super great, but please do me a favor: next time, get someone else to work on your car...!“ "
„OF THE TOTAL SPONSORSHIP MONEY, WHICH WAS CLOSE TO SIX FIGURES, NOT A SINGLE DM REMAINED“
Then came the settlement of everything, and from then on, Armin Lorenzen took care of absolutely nothing. „Jürgen Faith and I had to deal with everything ourselves,“ said Stüber, „and thankfully, we could confirm that nothing was left unpaid. But that shouldn't have happened either, because strangely, not a single Deutsche Mark was left from the almost six-figure sponsorship money – and that with such a bad car...“ And all three had actually sworn never to organize anything with the tuner from Rommerskirchen again. „But six weeks later, at the next VLN race at the Nürburgring, where I was competing again in the Group H Golf, ‚our Cossie‘ suddenly appeared two starting rows ahead of me in its original outfit – with Armin Lorenzen at the wheel!“ Heinz Stüber added. „During the race, I was 50 meters behind him, in the slipstream of a competitor in my class driving directly in front of me, when Lorenzen suddenly spun in the ‚Herbert Müller Memorial Corner‘ and presented his broadside across the direction of travel – the two of us just barely managed to get past him on the grass. Otherwise, ‚Et Team för Kölle‘ could have had a nasty ending...“