First 77MM demo announced – Mighty M1 Procars to pound round Goodwood

The Procar demonstration at the 77^th Members’ Meeting in April will be a highlight of the weekend.

Rarely seen in action since they raced in 1979 and 1980 the mighty BMW M1 machines will be a spectacular sight, and sound, on the high-speed sweeping curves of the Goodwood Motor Circuit. 

“The Procar race was usually better than the Grand Prix itself. I loved racing those cars, it was the best thing ever, incredibly competitive and those straight-six engines made a wonderful noise.” So says former Grand Prix driver Hans Stuck, who won the Procar privateer class in both 1979 and 1980.

The series, which ran for just two years, saw the top F1 stars of the day competing in identical BMW M1 coupes. These ultimate one-make support races were the brainchild of BMW Motorsport boss Jochen Neerpasch who needed to build 400 cars to get them homologated as Group 4 racers. Bernie Ecclestone agreed to run the races on Grand Prix weekends, with huge cash prizes tempting all the top drivers to take part.

“It was wild, we all really went for it,” says Stuck. “And there were bonus points if you didn't damage the car. Close racing, good money, great entertainment for the fans. A shame this kind of thing doesn't happen anymore.”

Powered by BMW's M88 straight-six, 3.5-litre engine, and developed by the brilliant Paul Rosche, most of the cars were built by Ron Dennis and his Project 4 Formula 2 team. The inaugural championship, in '79, was won by Niki Lauda. “They were nice cars, easy to drive, and powerful," said Lauda. "Most drivers were switching cars during the season, but I raced my own Marlboro Project 4 car all year run by Ron Dennis who had a very profitable contract to build the cars for BMW.”

Like many others on the F1 grid, Lauda joined in, not just because of the generous prize money, but because it was such a closely fought, feisty and exuberant championship. Ferrari and Renault, however, forbade their drivers from taking part due to the Procars being run on Goodyears rather than the Michelins the two teams were using in the Grands Prix. The F1 drivers weren’t initially keen to race, but the promise of cash in hand – Max Mosely was photographed paying Niki Lauda behind the pits at Zandvoort at one point – was a welcome exchange. No surprise when you received $9,000 for putting it on pole and then $6,000, $4,000, $3,000 etc. If you damaged the cars that would be deducted. Carlos Reuteman was famous for being in the middle of a shunt, but emerging without a scratch. The role call was impressive, though, with seven past or future world champions and 35 drivers who started at least one Grand Prix all taking part over the two-year lifespan. Alongside them were BMW proteges, youngsters on the edge of F1, one-make specialists and touring car stars.

BMW's development driver Marc Surer set up the cars, declaring them to be well suited to the skills of an F1 star. “You had to be very precise with the Procar," added Surer. "But F1 drivers were used to the nervousness of the handling as it was closer to a single seater than a touring car. They were at their best with very little rear wing although that made a powerful mid-engined car like the M1 even more nervous."

The Procar high-speed demo at Members’ Meeting in April is not to be missed.

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