Rolf Stommelen getting ready to party, USGP at the Glen, 1978. Check this which I just found. Man, oh man: In 1976 Stommelen had the honor to drive the maiden race of the Porsche 936 at the 300 km Nürburgring race. With a black body and without the air-intake, the 936 of this race became known as the black widow. He qualified second, between the factory Renault Alpine A442 of Patrick Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jabouille on first and third. The Renault team was eager to win at Porsches home soil. On the racing day in hard rain, Stommelen managed to overtake the Renault in front right after the start. Now in the lead, he rushed towards the Nordkehre, braked and let deliberately room for the Renaults in pursuit to overtake. The Renaults, wanting to take back the lead after 2 of 300 km, rushed past Stommelen into the water puddles and crashed into the catch-fences in tandem, with Stommelen taking back the lead again. This led to the saying On the Nordschleife, you can never brake later than Rolf Stommelen!. After the sixth lap, the throttle cable of the 936 stuck in the open position. But instead of giving up, Stommelen continued the race by turning off the master switch at the bends to brake, and turning on the master switch again after the bends to accelerate throughout the rest of the race, mastering an unbelievable second place at the end of the race.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 07:02:00 +0000
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