1970 Rebirth I

Now that I have participated in the Le Mans 1970 Rebirth II-V races I thought you might
like to read about the first Le mans 1970 Rebirth race too. I found an old article in Danish
about the race by Erik Mathiesen at Kofs.dk which I have tried to translate into English.
The people around Holger Thor Nielsen's circuit in Taps had an idea, a revival of the 24 Hours of
Le Mans 1970, but only as a 6 hours race and only with models of the cars which participated in
the real race. Luckily FLY have made a lot of those cars!
18 drivers in 9 teams was ready to race in this vintage-race saturday the 17th of October 2002.
The start-up line was:
Nr. 4 Lola T 70 MK III B, RC & Mugge from Randers
Nr. 5 Ferrari 512 S Coda Lunga, Ironside & Formanden, Kolding
Nr.12 Ferrari 512 S Coda Lunga, Mureren & DM-Rene, Kolding
Nr.15 Ferrari 512 S Coda Lunga, Gebrüder & Kriller, Kolding
Nr.17 Lola T 70 MK III B, SH & Torben PC, Randers
Nr.21 Porsche 917 K, NECKCHEESE ,Fyn & DMRU-Jan, Ikast
Nr.23 Porsche 917 K, Erik-Odder & HUGOHOO, Odder
Nr.27 Porsche 908/2 Flunder LH, Tobak & Peter Web, Kolding
Nr.29 Porsche 9062 Flunder, Panik & Holger Thor, Taps

After the breakfast it was now time to test the cars on the very detailed circuit that Holger has
build in a former garage, now a hobby room with circuit, bar and so on.
Holger welcomed all to "a totally un-serious arrangement" in Holgers on word, but with the
manuals for each team including the times for each race and which lane to drive in.
Each driver should drive 20 mins in each lane, track marshalls was those who should drive the
next heat, so you were ready and near the circuit.
All through the day it was possible to get something to eat in Holgers's private home, served by
his wife Hanne.
Only drivers and track marshalls were to be found around the circuit, but due to bar in the same
room, it was allowed for the rest of the drivers to visit the bar, and they did! The rest of the
time was spent in a spare room Holger had made and here the discussions fell on the race series
in the 1:1 world!
In the first heat Mureren quickly went into the lead and finished the heat there, RC took 2nd
place, Formanden took 3rd place and Kriller-Kolding was last.
In second heat Jan took the lead and won, Peter Web came 2nd, 3rd was SH and Erik-Odder
finished last even though the team raced in the car that won the race in 1970.
In third heat Panik lead the field thanks to the home track advantage, but even so it is not
often the former Blue Tel driver is being seen so fast. Panik won the race in front of Ironside,
Danmarksmesteren was 3rd and Mugge was 4th.
Fourth heat was won by Torben, PC was 2nd, Gebrüder was 3rd and Hugo finished last.
The teams could now see a preliminary result. The best team so far was no. 3 from the Danish
Championship driven just a week ago - Tobak Hans and his co-driver Peter Web who was very
fast on the track, so every thing looked good for the Kolding team. But Mureren & René was
breathing down their necks, together with Panik & Holger and Jan Juul & NEC. There was only a
couple of laps between the Top-4 teams, so every thing could happen.
Fifth heat was won by Tobak with Holger on 2nd place. 3rd was Formanden and last was RC.
Sixth heat was won by Mureren followed closely by Jan, SH and Kriller.
So it went on hour by hour with lots of fierce duels, Gebrüder and Kriller got car troubles and
Mugge made the days most spectacular stunt, first over one car and then upside down under
another car. All three teams lost time on this accident, but it was a good race. "It is always
nice to meet the different style of drivers, some driving for the victory and some just for the
fun of it!" René told the world press, when he was interviewed on TV for the Danish Champion-
ship. Other drivers just race with the knowledge that they won't get near the victory.
Lots of coffee, but no Danish pastry in the small town Taps, when the grocery had closed, but
it was a marvelous day with a ot of prizes to win, even to those who didn't do it so well in the
race, which Hugo Hue was pleased with. He won a car for the slowest lap time of the day!
But at the end of the day all got a nice diploma to remember the day by and prizes were giving
for:
Most laps - Tobak Hans, 402 laps
Fastest lap - Peter Web, 10,17 sec
Slowest lap - Hugo Hue, 17,85 sec
Best stunt - Mugge
Best sponsor - Blue Tel

The final result:
1st place - Tobak Hans & Peter Web, 800,5 laps for 6hrs
2nd place - SH & Torben PC, 788,9 laps
3rd place - Panik & Holger, 756,4 laps
4th place - Mureren & Rene Danmarksmester, 749,6 laps
5th place - NEC & Jan Juul, 720,3 laps
6th place - Ironside & Formanden, 704,6 laps
7th place - RC & Mugge, 664,7 laps
8th place - Erik-Odder & HUGOHOE, 662,1 laps
9th place - Gebrüder & Kriller, 607,7 laps