A major highlight of the collection is the radically streamlined Porsche RSR 3.0. Schimpf himself sat behind its wheel more than eighty times. It landed at the airport in Frankfurt just a few weeks ago. \u201cWe went through a poker game followed by an odyssey,\u201d he says, describing the efforts to acquire the RSR. Schimpf\u2019s m\u00e9tier is language. He was not a professional racer. He had to balance his duties as team manager and his participation in races with his career as a journalist for the local newspaper, the Braunschweiger Zeitung<\/em>. A tolerant publisher and his passion for writing enabled him to split his time between the racetrack and the editorial office. He was successful in both milieus. In fact, he went on to spend a great many years in the chief editorial team of the respected daily.<\/p>\n The Porsche 911 RSR 3.0 has landed<\/strong><\/p>\n He launched his hunt for the hunters (J\u00e4ger means \u201chunter\u201d in German) in 2007, and at first the quest seemed uncomplicated. Schimpf clearly recalls how he and John Byrne, the man who bought the RSR back in the early 1980s, sat on the terrace of the Hyatt Hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea for four hours over cake and ice cream. \u201cJohn told me I\u2019d get my car back.\u201d Schimpf was relieved. \u201cBut then a very wealthy Chinese fellow entered the picture, who also wanted to buy it.\u201d And the poker game began. \u201cI left the negotiations to Oliver, because I was just too emotional about it,\u201d says Schimpf. So Oliver flew to San Francisco three or four times to visit John Byrne and his family. And finally the decision was made. \u201cI gave my word, and that\u2019s what counts,\u201d said Byrne.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From hill-climbing to the Formula One<\/strong><\/p>\n And thus a crucial part of the \u201cOrange Reunion\u201d mission was accomplished. The phone rang in Braunschweig. \u201cIt was a very intense moment for me,\u201d Schimpf recalls as he unrolls an old racing poster from the 1970s lying amidst original stickers and drivers\u2019 licenses in the black building. \u201cThat car was part of my life.\u201d As if trying to avoid any appearance of sentimentality, he quickly adds, \u201cI don\u2019t want to reduce my life to racing, but it really was an intense time.\u201d<\/p>\n From 1972 to 2000, J\u00e4germeister Racing fielded an impressive array of drivers, a Who\u2019s Who of racing greats. It started with Graham Hill, a two-time world champion. He was followed by Vic Elford, Niki Lauda, Hans-Joachim Stuck of course, Stefan Bellof, Ronnie Peterson, Jochen Mass, and Jacky Ickx. Well over one hundred drivers. From hill-climbing to the Formula One, Schimpf\u2019s team entered all the popular classes. With Schimpf in the thick of things, financed by his cousin G\u00fcnter Mast, who owned the J\u00e4germeister distillery famous for its herbal schnapps.<\/p>\n \u201cI was never paid for my work as team manager,\u201d he says in describing the family arrangement. \u201cI had the opportunity to race and be involved, and that was enough for me.\u201d And then this man with wavy white hair makes a paradoxical statement: \u201cI was a race-car driver without ambition.\u201d Schimpf tends to speak quietly, especially if the topic is important to him. Such as now. He quickly realized that he didn\u2019t quite have what it takes to make a great race-car driver. Presumably, that no-holds-barred, death-defying drive, with a touch of madness. \u201cBut I loved the atmosphere, and I was involved. I entered the same races as the top drivers — and I wasn\u2019t all that bad,\u201d he says, shifting from a modest to a more objective assessment. He often won hill-climbing races in particular, and also finished very high in circuit races. He had real talent, that much is certain.<\/p>\n Eckhard Schimpf entered 84 races in his orange RSR — and took 39 victories<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI enjoyed being a race-car driver. I enjoyed being part of the team,\u201d he says. His eyes are shining, and his words are coming quickly now, with melody and rhythm. The man of language has merged with the man of the track. The drivers were a close-knit community. They would get together in the evening before each race. \u201cThere were sixteen or eighteen of us; we\u2019d all go out to eat, and race the next day.\u201d The pleasure seems as real now as then. \u201cYou only know what these moments are like if you\u2019ve been behind the wheel yourself.\u201d And then the actual race when the cars thunder toward the first curve. \u201cThat\u2019s something no one on the sidelines can imagine.\u201d His words come quickly. \u201cThe top drivers are all around you; you look over and see Stuck, or Lauda, or Wollek, or Stommelen — fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1982, Schimpf decided to end his part-time racing career. He hung up his racing overalls. He had always been aware of the danger involved, but \u201chad never really thought about it\u201d until one moment during the 1,000-kilometer race on the Nordschleife of the N\u00fcrburgring. He had a good position in the race, but a glance at the jump after Pflanzgarten suddenly gave him pause. \u201cWhat am I doing? If something breaks here, I\u2019m toast.\u201d<\/p>\n And he made his decision that instant. His performance had nothing to do with it. That day, in his last serious race, he took fourth place. He finished the race, drove home to Braunschweig, and said to his wife Heidi — probably very quietly — \u201cThat\u2019s enough.\u201d The farewell was surprisingly easy. \u201cI also realized that I had reached my physical limits.\u201d<\/p>\n Life experience<\/strong><\/p>\n Fast-forward to the present. Here in Oschersleben, reality clicks into place — quite literally. Wearing a helmet and racing suit, Schimpf climbs into the RSR and runs through the gears. Every movement is polished. His son had warned him about the car. \u201cHe told me it\u2019s virtually undrivable. That it\u2019s quite tricky to shift, nothing is precise anymore, you can hardly find the slots.\u201d Schimpf smiles contentedly, and his voice becomes quiet. \u201cBut I was immediately one with the car again.\u201d A reunion with an old friend.<\/p>\n He drives out onto the track, which consists of fourteen curves stretched over a little more than three and a half kilometers. \u201cEverything was immediately familiar,\u201d he says afterward. \u201cI got into the car, shifted through the gears \u2013 and they all clicked perfectly into place.\u201d In some deep corner of his mind he had stored the knowledge of the RSR\u2019s little idiosyncrasies, invisible but immediately accessible. Life experience. A few familiar signs are still visible. Like the marking with yellow tape on the steering wheel. It shows when the wheels point straight ahead. The 330 horsepower bellow \u2013 the stag lives on.<\/p>\n [Source: Porsche AG; photos: Theodor Barth]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Edwin Baaske | Photos by Theodor Barth Eckhard Schimpf has brought together the most important cars from J\u00e4germeister Racing — the team that sent greats like Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Stefan Bellof, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jochen Mass, and Jacky Ickx to the start from 1972 to 2000. He recently acquired a highlight from the United States: the legendary Porsche 911 Carrera RSR built in 1974. A faraway look comes into his eyes, memories flood back, and a broad smile appears […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":720307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,255,16906],"tags":[17152,429,89,18837,22692,2039],"class_list":["post-495574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-news","category-porsche","tag-car-culture","tag-news","tag-porsche","tag-porsche-911","tag-porsche-911-f-series","tag-carrera-rsr"],"yoast_head":"\n
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