see and be seen

class=”sc-97fd9fa8-0 jNFKxv”>

This idea has matured for a long time. Why Frozen St. You’re not sweeping the ice on Lake Moritz in a vintage car, not on horseback? As early as 1985, car-mad Brits used the traditional horse racing track to drift in their classic Bentleys. Marco Makaus, the former godfather of Mille Miglia and the great seigneur of the Italian auto scene, developed the idea even before the pandemic: the last weekend of the winter of February, St. Moritz created the special classic event “The Ice” for the second time at GR. It’s the equivalent of stylish classic car summer activities at Villa d’Este on Lake Como or Pebble Beach, California.

st. With Moritz, it’s not about fast times, hot drifts, or spectacular performances on an icy surface. Instead, the event sees itself as a rolling Concours d’Elégance with an audience factor. You know each other – and show yourself. Some even wore period clothes suitable for the vehicle. Rare classic vehicles from all over the world competed in beauty contests in price categories such as Open Wheels, 100 Years of Le Mans, Concept Cars or Barchettas. The jury lined up at a fermé park where he improvised on the ice – behind a barrier, but photogenic for paying spectators. But instead of sitting flat on their tires, vintage cars were given a run: each category of vehicle was taken to the slick surface by the adorable VW Beetle with the “Ice Control” sign on its roof and paraded in more or less spectacular fashion. ice course for several laps.

Crawler driven Porsche 356

The Engadine mountain landscape was still a picture-book winter, but the temperatures were already spring-like. A gorgeous caterpillar-driven Porsche 356 that went on a charity tour for the kids had no problems with melting snow and mud on the track. On the other hand, the situation was more difficult for the driver of the single-seater Maserati 420M/58 Eldorado, created in 1958 for the second edition of the “500 Miglia di Monza” (500 miles from Monza). The crew of the bright orange Lincoln Boana Indianapolis with its impressive triple exhaust system on the side also had to contend with the underground. Even the lowly Bertone work Lancia Stratos Zero, equipped with summer tires only, got stuck in the mud. Designer and builder Nuccio Bertone (1914-1997) could never have imagined that his show car would have to tackle the snow and ice track. It was never intended for more than one show at the Geneva Motor Show.

As a reward for the effort, the jury chose the copper-colored wedge as the best car at the Concours d’Elégance, and it also won a class title. The rest brought other cars from Italy – only one Bentley S1 Continental Coupé has managed to slip between Maseratis and Ferraris in the Queens on Wheels luxury car category. The presence of the automakers also shows how established “The Ice” has been on the scene just two years later. Maserati, Ferrari and Mercedes discovered the event themselves. Mercedes classic department, St. He brought four museum exhibits to Moritz. And a famous brand ambassador: Karl Wendlinger (54), F1 driver for Swiss Sauber team from the very beginning.

Crossing the ice on the Mercedes C111 prototype

The Austrian drove us over the frozen lake in his Mercedes experimental vehicle, the C111 II, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970. The orange wedge is one of 16 that still exists. A 200 hp 3.5-liter V8 powers it. Wendlinger’s attempts to drag the car around the icy oval are only partially successful. The ground is very muddy and less experienced drivers whose precious cars are curled up very tightly around us. Enough time to talk about Wendlinger’s career. What was the situation like in Monaco in 1994, after the training accident in his Sauber car, when Wendlinger crashed into a container at 180 km/h and was then in a coma for almost three weeks? “My first memory when I wake up in the hospital: How did I get here? And why does my knee hurt so much? Later, my mother told me what had happened.” Almost three months later he was training again for his return to F1. “It was tough. The first time I got back on the road, I drove my private car in slow motion. Everyone honked behind me and winked because I was disrupting traffic. Then I couldn’t have gone any faster.”

“I had to realize that I was too slow”

But Wendlinger worked stubbornly on his return. In December 1994, despite the headache, he went to his cockpit for 1995. The benchmark was teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen. “He wasn’t driving at the border, so I got pretty close to him. First of all, I was faster than the other applicants.» So Peter Sauber gave Wendlinger a chance and the cockpit for 1995. “But after the first four races I had to realize that I was too slow. That’s what happened in F1.” Still baffled to this day. “Something must have happened in my head that I couldn’t explain in the two winter months before the first races. The doctors said I could lead a normal life, but my head injuries were probably too severe for the challenges of F1.

Today, Wendlinger leads a normal life, working as a Mercedes-AMG driving instructor and the father of two grown children “fortunately, he has nothing to do with motorsport”. He still watches F1 on TV, often rides a race bike, and reads a lot “not just about sports.” On the other hand, he never quarreled with fate and was jealous of the success of his colleagues: “I could not change.” Now he has even more time to enjoy crazy classic events like “The Ice”. Even if the mud slows it down.

Source: Blick