The race was for pre 1965 race cars and 206 cars entered the race. Yep, you heard right. 206. The car marque list included; lightweight E-Type, Marcos, Porsche, Corvette, Lotus Elite and Elan, Copper S, Healey and many more. The race combined both the old and new GP tracks and Jon's co-driver was superstar Dutch driver Ton Voss.

After a trecherously wet Saturday qualifing, Ton Voss came in and stated "That's not racing out there, that's survival". Race day dried up a tad and despite a 10 minute pit stop on lap 9, after Crooke had a huge moment when he cooked the brakes and the pedal went to the floor, they finished well, only to be disqualified on some minor technicalities. Under weight by 70 kilos, oversized tyres, over-wide track and non-homoligated tyre compound and rollbar. BUT apart from that, the car was perfectly legal. Those FIA officials have no sense of humor.

Jon learnt the track before leaving Australia, by driving a HyperStimulator with Grand Prix Legends software. How does the track compare to the GP Legends software? Jon was instantly on the pace and said afterwards that, "The track is almost identical to the software and the fact that I could drive flat-out over blind crests knowing what was over the top was a huge advantage".

Below is an email that Jon sent to his son Dean, after going for a ride with a local race driver in an Turbo Audi TT on the Thursday prior to the race.
"We arrived at about 3pm and went straight to the track to do some laps in the hire car, but the track was closed to the public. A car magazine had hired it for private practice for a test session. We parked our car outside the gates, walked in and asked the drivers, as they went out for practice laps, if they could take me as a passenger. I got lucky and went for 1 lap in a Honda Integra and then 2 laps in a brand new Audi TT Coupe. The Audi driver was a racing driver and knew his way around. Like fast.
What's the track like? Well all I can say is "F___ ME". Never in my life have I been around a track like this. The MOTHER of all tracks. If you think the track is hard in GP Legends you ain't seen nothin'. Although the track in the software is similar, it's still a shock in the flesh. Much bushier and more up and down. Dean - you know the Fox Hole, the part of the track at the bottom of the hill after you go under the first bridge. The part where the car bottoms out. You took it flat out a couple of times at the PC show. Well, just imagine, as you approach the bottom of the hill, instead of the road flattening out as it turns left, instead it's like entering the banking at Calder Thunderdome. The track goes left and straight up. Its just a wall of bitumen in front of you. And you take it almost flat out. You have to take the line YOU were taking at the PC show. Stay hard right until the very last second, then turn. Very scary.
And the BIG jump is just like the sim, only steeper as you go up. And very fast just like the sim, but with armco on the outside of the next corner to hit, if you stuff it up. No big bank like in the software. You reckon it's scary in the sim, it scares the crap out of you in real life. The software is a help in knowing what to expect but there are a lot of small but important differences. To go fast around here is going to take a lot of laps. The track is extreamly hard on the brakes and two laps in the Audi and you could smell brake fluid big time. This is a man's track and very fast and dangerous. Lots of blind crests in the middle of very very fast corners where the car goes light and the car's suspension is in full droop as you turn. It makes Bathurst look like kids stuff. I will have to be very very careful. Dean, you would absolutely love a drive around this track. One day I hope it will happen for you!
It's 7.30pm and Charles will arrive at about midnight with the race car. Am I going to have fun or what."

The Bernax-Hyper Stimulator race transporter.

The Bernax motorhome. From left, Ton Voss (Co-driver), Charles Kohnen (Car owner), Steven Teear (Hyper), Martin (Mechanic), Anita (Martins wife) and Ton (the Transporter driver).

The 356 Porsche. 80hp of neck snapping power.

206 cars ready to go. Steve Teear moments before the start.

Half race distance and the Bernax-Hyper Stimulator race team waits for their world renown European co-driver Ton Voss to return from the wilderness of the Eiffel mountains. From left Steven Teear, Martin, Anita, Charles Kohnen and Jon Crooke.

UM-ARR, I've done a bad thing. Crooke points out a bit of damage. First time in a left hand drive car
and he momentarily forgot that there was 1.5 meters of car to his right. No damage to the Armco though.

The big jump at Flugplatz.

The (Fuchsrohre) fox hole.

Adenauer.

The Karussell.

The little jump at Brunnchen.

THE main straight at Dottinger-Hohe. Conrod Straight I hear you say. Chicken sh..t.