CAFÉ RACER 76: Winter Ice Trophy 2013; Vintage Car Racing

The Winter Ice Trophy 2013 was held 24-27 January on a 2.5km circuit in the skiing town of Altenmarkt, Austria.

The Historic Ice Trophy has been held annually since 2005, open to classic cars and recent classics up to and including model year 1993. The six-hour race, which was held for the second time as part of the Historic Ice Trophy event, saw more than 20 vehicles/teams competing with up to four drivers per car. There’s nothing else like it in Europe in this form and it presents an exacting challenge for professionals and aspiring amateurs alike.

BMW Group Classic took part in the 9th annual Historic Ice Trophy with a well-known driver line-up and an illustrious 1969 BMW 2002 Ti works rally car, earning a place on the podium by finishing 2nd in the ‘Up to 1972′ class.

Consistency enabled the BMW team to secure a place in the top 10 overall as well, with the driving skill and class of the Cecotto father-and-son line-up proving decisive. Johnny Cecotto Snr – a multiple motorcycle world champion and BMW touring car champion – and his son, successful GP2 driver Johnny Cecotto Jr, soon got to grips with the conditions and guided the 1969 works rally car around the ice-covered course with great élan. “It was a new and extremely exciting experience for me to drive in this ice race,” explained 23-year-old Cecotto Jr during the podium ceremony. The third member of the driver team was Florian Moser, a history expert at BMW Group Classic.

The BMW 2002 TI can look back on an eventful history. The 190-hp rally car competed most notably in the European Rally Championship in 1970 and 1971, with Finn Rauno Aaltonen and Poland’s Sobieslaw Zasada in the driver’s seat. “Sobi” piloted the BMW 2002 TI to victory in the 1971 Rally Poland and BMW also won the 1971 European Rally Championship with Zasada at the wheel. That title win crowned the company’s rally racing campaign – one that had started in the late 1960s under the watch of then BMW racing department boss Helmut Bein – in impressive, victorious style.

Winter Ice Trophy 2013 – Photo Gallery