Aktuálně.cz: Brno Revival commemorated the anniversary of the race where famous specials from Czechoslovakia drove
Škoda built two cars, one with an atmospheric engine, the other doped with a supercharger. Even before the aforementioned race took place, the cars excelled at the Brno City Prize race held on September 25 of the same year. Jaroslav Netušil won his class and Václav Bobek finished second in the second car in his class. A year later, the car went to the legendary 24h Le Mans race, the crew again consisted of the tandem of Václav Bobek Sr. and Jaroslav Netušil. The first laps looked promising, but in the end Škoda Sport had to withdraw in the 13th lap due to technical problems.
At the start, Škoda Sport met another car from Czechoslovakia, Aero Minor Sport. "Then one car was alternately driven by Dutch drivers Maurice Gatsonides and Henk Hoogeven, he took absolute 21st place and won the 750cc class, the other car was driven by Jacques Poch with Edmond Mouch, but they retired after an hour of the race due to a right front wheel bearing failure," Jan Tuček, a leading Czech author of books on the automotive theme, talks about the sporty Minor. A year earlier, Minor Sport achieved a fantastic result, moreover with a Czech crew. In 1959, the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans was held for the seventeenth time, but for the first time after the war. Next to the Monte Carlo Rally, it was the most prestigious sporting event in the automotive world, which is still true today.
Even two freshly built prototypes from Czechoslovakia took part in the race. Jacques Poch, the French representative of the brands Aero Minor, Škoda, Tatra and Jawa, raced with the Czech Ivan Hodáč in one of the blue national French colors with the number 59. It was Poch who, in government circles, managed to secure the sending of Czechoslovak garrisons to France.
"He arranged for the best domestic drivers to be selected. Of course he made himself happy by also being able to race, even if he didn't do so well." writer and author of dozens of books on historic cars Jan Tuček describes the story of that time. Poch's Minor Sport covered 2031.438 km in 24 hours at an average of 84.643 km/h and finished 19th in the absolute standings, which was the last place in the classification - it meant that of the 49 cars that lined up at the start, they finished in 24 hours later the mentioned 19 reached. But the second crew did fantastically well. With the number 58 on the Czechoslovak cigar body in the white-blue-red national design, it was made up of Otto Krattner and František Sutnar and traveled 2391.932 km at an average speed of 99.664 km/h. They finished 15th and won their 750cc class, which in itself could be considered an enormous achievement. More importantly, however, Le Mans also counts the overall rating according to the performance index. The ratio between the distance traveled and the declared power is calculated and the Minor Sport was second, just behind the two-liter twelve-cylinder Ferrari 166. At the time, Aero was the only brand whose all entered cars finished the race. It was a real success.
This year's Brno Revival subtly recalled a seventy-year-old story. However, the memory does not remain. Both cars are set to take part in the Le Mans Classic race, which only cars that are approved by the organizers (and have raced in the past) can enter next July. Michal Velebný and Stanislav Kafka will alternate behind the wheel of Škoda Sport, Aero Minor Sport will be driven by members of the Le Mans Redux association, namely Michal Froněk, Zdeněk Kašpar, David Karásek. In July of next year, fans of Czechoslovak racing veterans will be treated to an exceptional event. This year's Brno Revival took place for the third time after the restoration, and 130 racing cars and more than 110 vintage motorcycles appeared at the start. What is unique about the event is the fact that machines are presented here that are not seen at regular veteran events. There was also the Formula 3 Drak by the Moravian designer Otto Buchberger or the Avia formula with Václav Lím behind the wheel. And also the Metalex formula and some beautiful Bugatti. It would be too long to list all the interesting machines, we recommend looking at the photos.
Next year, the event will be held on 20-21. June. "With each year, different machines come together, which is why each vintage is unique. We will look for themes for the anniversary, appeal to deserving competitors to participate and also attract unique machines from the collections. This year, among other things, saw the premiere of the Harley-Davidson category, after the war, WL motorcycles were tuned for racing and a large group of Harleyson's from all over Europe rode them." main organizer Karel Kupka summarizes the event. Although Karel Kupka is primarily a lover of vintage motorcycles, he also took to the track, which is called a roll, with his matte green Sénéchal machine, which he willingly took us for a ride.
"It is a sports cycle car produced between 1921 and 1925, then until 1929 by the Chenard-Walcker company. The company was founded by Robert Sénéchal, a car racer and aviation pioneer. He successfully participated with cars in endurance races 24 hours Bol d'Or. The company Balvín from Žižkov represented the brand here, and according to estimates, around sixty cars were sold here. Brno racer Bedřich Soffer raced successfully with the vehicles and won a lot of races before switching to cars from Zbrojovka in Brno." people are talking about the Karel Kupka car.
Brno Revival belongs to the Grand Prix championship of historic cars, it also includes unique ones historic vehicle race to the Zbraslav-Jíloviště hill. It takes place on 7-8. September.
author: Eva Srpová | current.cz
