“Starting in the back can be beneficial” said Happe right before putting on the helmet and jumping into the car before the race was started yesterday. He will actually be right in the end, without knowing yet – that his car will actually face a problem down the line.

“And when I put down the throttle, there was nothing but noise”

After the start, we immedialty saw the field running away from Happe, which in his words after the race, was a “calculated move”, as he knew that people would get themself into trouble along the way. Charging down the main straight, Guy Don, not an unknown driver to Happe, made a move into a gap, that bystanders described as “two cars battling, with not much room inside”, where he met the rear wheel of Aditya Surve, british-indian driver on his debut.

While Surve could recover his car from that slight tap, he would later face a blowing tyre, which might’ve cost him a place. Guy Don on the other hand started violently spinning, ending his momentum between the powerline and a tree. His car, slightly bruised up, still managed to keep driving.

With that, the race was on and shortly after, right before Pulnoy, the heart of Happe was beating a fast pace – Approaching the sharp turn after the long and fast turns, Evadne Cleo, who had crashed right before and spun Aditya Surves Bugatti T51A around, came right through the bushes, driving into the path, that Happe considered his line. Mere centimeters were missing for a horrible crash, that could’ve left 3 cars, including Happe who is pressured to make a good result that day, destroyed.

What followed was a below decent pace for Happe, trying to ease the car into the race, not taking any chances, when it happened:

“I was driving the car quite normally through the city of Seichamps, when my engine started to make very weird noises. I was almost sure, that the race for over for me, but my car was accelerating in 3rd gear no problem, so i kept it up, until i was out of Seichamps in 2nd gear. And when I put down the throttle, there was nothing but noise. We lost 2nd gear and a trip to the pits confirmed the worst of it: While we changed to another set of smooth tyres, the mechanic was shaking his head, making me understand, that he can’t fix the issue. We had to survive the race without 2nd gear, which put me in a tough place.”

While the time tables show a definitive loss in time in the first laps, Happe started to regain normal times closer to the end of the race. When Happe ran several laps without his 2nd gear, he saw the green Bugatti of Surve being in the pits, thinking he won the jackpot:

“The Bugatti T51A of Surve was faster all weekend, so there was no chance of catching up with him, especially not with our gear issues. Seeing him in the pits set the stage for me – i had to stay alive and make the best out of it, not knowing my exact place in the race at that point, but i knew i was fighting Aditya.”

And so the run began, for the last 25 minutes, where Aditya Surve was slowly catching the german driver. Closer to the finish, we already knew: Happe would stay P4 if the car doesn’t break down! With a good amount of distance between the 2 drivers, Happe went over the line as 4th place, making the result a symbol of hope for the future of Happe.

“We extend our contract for now, but we want results”

Feldmühle, the sponsor of Happes journey in the T51A for his start in 1934 until now was unsure, wether they would fund the racing endavour of the german driver any further after he had his crash at Pau, that left him in P11. With the weekend coming closer and Happe not having the pace for the track at Nancy Seichamps, the gossip around him leaving the championship got louder and Feldmühle didn’t do anything to silence the noise around the paddock.

“We are of course pleased with the new strength, that our driver has found and we will continue to support Siegfried Happe for another race. But keep in mind, while we extend our contract for now, we want results under our car, otherwise we will move on.”

~General director of Feldmühle, Friedrich Gottstein

Happe himself seems quite calm about the whole situation, assuring, that good results will eventually come – we will see what the training for the next race has in store for us!