Post by Beekster on Jul 27, 2021 8:42:37 GMT -6
So, this is an event that certain members of the local section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America have been attending for years, through several different event sponsors and sanctioning bodies. SVRA, the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association, is the current sanctioning body and the event was held last weekend. Portland International Raceway is a great track to drive (I've turned a few hot laps there myself) and has great spectator views. The vintage races showcase all the kind of things you would expect: Old sports cars and club racers from everywhere, sedan racers, open wheel stuff, Big-bore machines like Corvettes and Lolas, and so on. This year, the weekend also hosted a points event for the West Coast Championship for the Trans-Am series. Many of the participants are relatively local, so we see many of the cars year after year. This one was new this year, out of Seattle:
Yes, that is a real Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2 race car from the German DTM series, circa 1991-93. It's possibly the only actual DTM car in North America; of the 500 street versions made only two have made it here since the 25 year rule made them legal to import for street use. Last one sold went for about a quarter million dollars. The race car here was campaigned by MS Racing, and driven by Jorg Van Ommen and Jochen Mass and has Mass' signature on the dash. It ran well on Saturday, and started second in Sunday morning's 70 minute all-class enduro. It retired after only ten minutes, unfortunately. I later asked the owner/driver what the prognosis was: "It ran beautifully until it began running crappy, then quit, so I parked it. There are no holes anywhere, nothing is leaking, so we think it's electrical. We're done for the day, but when it cools down we'll try to get it started and see what happens. We'll get it sorted."
Being a Seattle car next year, I expect to see it back at PIR for years to come. I had a US-spec 190E 2.3-16 back in the late 1990s until it was asked to give its life for mine one awful afternoon. A superb road and track car for the era, no question. The racer has the later, slightly larger-displacement engine with much higher compression, bigger injectors, and an intake tract about twice the size of my older street version.
Yes, that is a real Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2 race car from the German DTM series, circa 1991-93. It's possibly the only actual DTM car in North America; of the 500 street versions made only two have made it here since the 25 year rule made them legal to import for street use. Last one sold went for about a quarter million dollars. The race car here was campaigned by MS Racing, and driven by Jorg Van Ommen and Jochen Mass and has Mass' signature on the dash. It ran well on Saturday, and started second in Sunday morning's 70 minute all-class enduro. It retired after only ten minutes, unfortunately. I later asked the owner/driver what the prognosis was: "It ran beautifully until it began running crappy, then quit, so I parked it. There are no holes anywhere, nothing is leaking, so we think it's electrical. We're done for the day, but when it cools down we'll try to get it started and see what happens. We'll get it sorted."
Being a Seattle car next year, I expect to see it back at PIR for years to come. I had a US-spec 190E 2.3-16 back in the late 1990s until it was asked to give its life for mine one awful afternoon. A superb road and track car for the era, no question. The racer has the later, slightly larger-displacement engine with much higher compression, bigger injectors, and an intake tract about twice the size of my older street version.
