Bahlsen is first name on Czech list

TGP I Brno I Sept 28-29

Hubertus Bahlsen claimed a narrow victory in the penultimate round of the Thoroughbred Grand Prix World Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic. He nipped in front of fellow Swiss Fredy Kumschick on lap two and raced hard to keep his Arrows A4/5 ahead of the Williams FW07 all the way.

Behind the Swiss duo, Richard Eyre ran a solid third in his Williams FW08, albeit a little way back from the lead contest.

A fine class-winning fourth went to Steve Hartley (Arrows A6), who consistenty outpaced his class rival and championship contender Mike Wrigley (Tyrrell 012) throughout the weekend.

However, Wrigley’s calm run to second in Class D was a walk in the park compared to the stressful race for championship leader Rodrigo Gallego in his March 761. Peter Williams, making his series debut, qualified his 761 well clear of the Portuguese racer, but was out almost at the start after Dan Collins got his Lotus 91 out of shape off the line. Williams speared off to the left in the confusion and clouted the barriers.

Now Gallego had to contend with the challenge of John Crowson in his Ensign N175 and, after a race-long battle, Crowson took the class by less than a tenth of a second. Gallego took the defeat badly and climbed out of his car shouting injustices in his native tongue. However, he has a five-point lead over Wrigley heading into the Estoril finale.