Maurer MM83 car-by-car histories
Alain Ferté in his Maurer MM83 at Thruxton in 1983. Copyright Michael C. Brown 2010. Used with permission.
Despite the advanced Paul Brown design and the talent of Stephan Bellof, the Maurer MM83 achieved few results in F2, and the team was wound down after the end of the season.
Designed by Paul Brown and built by Paul Owens' team in Manchester, the Maurer MM83 was heavily influenced by F1 practice, using pullrod front suspension and extensive amounts of carbon fibre. The MM82 had been overweight, a problem blamed in part on its F1-based Maurer-modified Hewland gearbox, but the MM83 was right down on the weight limit. The spring locking device used on the MM82 had been replaced with a dual springing system, which worked well in tests but required time-consuming set up work at each circuit.
Maurer ran two separate teams in 1983: team leader Stephan Bellof and the highly-regarded Alain Ferté were run by Ian Harrison from Maurer's German factory, while two further cars were run by Paul Owens in England for Kenny Acheson and Pierre Petit. Bertram Schafer continued to run his two Maurers MM82s, one for Frank Jelinski. All the MM83s started the season with Heidegger engines and Bridgestone tyres, but there was a massive falling out between Willy Maurer and Max Heidegger in the paddock at Hockenheim, as police swooped in to reclaim Heidegger's engines. Three ex-works rebuilt BMW engines arrived from Heini Mader in time for Bellof and Ferté to practice. Then at Pau, Pierre Petit jumped camp from Owens to the German team. As the season continued, the Honda-engined Ralt RH6/83s started to dominate, winning the last six races of the season, and it was often Bellof who was closest to them in practice. Ferté won on the road at Pau but both Maurers were disqualified for running underweight. Bellof was disqualified again at Misano because the Maurer was observed to be running too low.
Acheson moved into F1 with RAM in July, so Owens withdrew his team. Maurer then dropped the deal with Owens in July and said he wouldn't be building new cars for 1984 due to the uncertainty around the replacement of F2 with F3000. The team then skipped the last race due to Bellof's commitments elsewhere and the Maurer name abruptly disappeared from F2.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
New for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1983, and used as the test car. Presumably the car used in the first test sessions in South Africa and at Paul Ricard. Raced by Stephan Bellof at Silverstone in March as his intended MM83-06 car was not ready in time. The T-car was "written off" by Alain Ferté at Vallelunga in May but was back in service in time for Donington Park in late June.
Subsequent history unknown but see the Manfred Anspann car and the Gebhardt Motorsport car.
Driven by: Stefan Bellof and Alain Ferté. First race: Silverstone (R1), 20 Mar 1983. Only one recorded race.
New for Alain Ferté to drive for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1983. Presumably the same #5 car he drove up to Donington Park in June, his last race of the season. Ferté then ran into sponorship problems, and Maurer discontinued his drive. Frank Jelinski then drove the ex-Ferté car at Zolder in August. In 2010, this car was acquired by Simon Gardiner (Adelaide, Australia). The history he has for the car shows it as Ferté's car in 1983, then to Werner Wenk in Switzerland, then Josef Sacher in 1987, then Helmut Reuscher in Germany who restored it in 1998, then Heinz Rosin in Lage. Records show that Werner Wenk had a Maurer at an event at Dijon in April 1987 and at the Ecce Homo event at Šternberk in June 1989.
Driven by: Alain Ferté and Frank Jelinski. First race: Silverstone (R1), 20 Mar 1983. Total of 9 recorded races.
Bernard Tilanus in the new DAW Maurer MM83 at the Aldo Scribante circuit in January 1983. Copyright David Pearson (motoprint.co.za) 2024. Used with permission.
New to the DAW Supplies team in South Africa and fitted with a Mazda engine for Bernard Tilanus to drive in the 1983 Formula South Africa season. Tilanus was dropped from the DAW team in March 1983, and Trevor van Rooyen continued as DAW's sole driver using the ex-Tilanus MM83. DAW then acquired a second MM83 for the 1984 season. The older car was then partly dismantled and its rear end was used to rebuild DAW's Tiga SC83 Group C Jr sports car. This Tiga was raced by Van Rooyen and Peter Morrison in the Kyalami 1000km in November 1984 but lost a wheel and crashed. The Maurer was reconstituted for 1985, when DAW ran both their MM83s, this car being the No 4 entry for Graham Duxbury and Matt Keyser at least once. At the end of 1985, both of DAW's MM83s were sold to a central European owner. At some point it was acquired by Edi Taveri (Switzerland) who ran it in events still in DAW livery and still with its Mazda engine. He used the car at Dijon in June 1998. He later used the car in historic racing in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019. Taveri died at the end of December 2022. Acquired by Bruno Flückiger and Daniel Mauerhofer in 2024.
Driven by: Bernard Tilanus, Trevor van Rooyen, Graham Duxbury and Matt Keyser. First race: Aldo Scribante (R1), 15 Jan 1983. Total of 18 recorded races.
New for Pierre Petit to drive for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1983, run at first for him by Paul Owens but later transferred to the works team. Presumably the same car he drove all season. Petit was withdrawn from the Misano event because of Bellof's disqualification due to the car running too low. He also missed the last race of the season after the team decided to skip it. Subsequent history unknown, but this car is believed to have been in a collection of Maurers in Switzerland for some years, alongside MM83-06. More recently, it has reported to be owned by Stefen Trautwein in Germany.
In October 2024, the Petit-liveried MM83 was at BBS Motorsport in Haslach, on loan from Stefen Trautwein and his son Yannik.Driven by: Pierre Petit. First race: Silverstone (R1), 20 Mar 1983. Total of 10 recorded races.
Kenny Acheson in his Maurer MM83 at Thruxton in April 1983. Copyright Alan Brown 2024. Used with permission.
New for Kenny Acheson to drive for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1983, run for him by Paul Owens. Presumably the same #5 car he drove up to Donington Park in June, his last race of the season. Acheson was then given the RAM F1 drive, so Owens decided to withdraw from the F2 series. The Maurer was put up for sale and DAW chief mechanic Brian Kruger recalls that it was the second MM83 acquired by DAW for 1984.
See the DAW Supplies 1984 car.
Driven by: Kenneth Acheson. First race: Silverstone (R1), 20 Mar 1983. Total of 8 recorded races.
Stefan Bellof's Maurer MM83 at Thruxton in April 1983. Copyright Alan Brown 2024. Used with permission.
New for Stephan Bellof to drive for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1983, but could not be completed in time for the Silverstone race, where Bellof drove the T-car instead. Presumably the car he drove for the rest of the season. Bellof skipped the Vallelunga and Mugello races due to clashing commitments. Subsequent history unknown, but this could be the car used in hillclimbs for many years by Horst Fendrich. This car is also believed to have been in a collection of Maurers in Switzerland for some years, alongside MM83-04. More recently, was reported to be owned by Stefen Trautwein in Germany.
Driven by: Stefan Bellof. First race: Thruxton (R2), 4 Apr 1983. Total of 7 recorded races.
Maurer MM83s in 1983
The identities of the MM83s above are based on Adam Ferrington's observations of the cars for the F1 Register at Thruxton and Donington Park. The car sold new to DAW in South Africa is now known to have been MM83-03. The Maurer team went to South Africa for the MM83's first test and were said to be backing DAW's entry. The first two cars were therefore intended for the two Maurer works drivers, with MM83-03 then built for DAW, and later cars built as required for additional customers, with the final car, MM83-06, being built as late as possible before the opening F2 race for the team No 1, Bellof.
Maurer MM83s in 1984
When the 1983 season ended, there were four Maurer MM83s in Germany (Ferté's MM83-02, Petit's MM83-04, Bellof's MM83-06 and probably the repaired T-car MM83-01), one with Paul Owens in Manchester (Acheson's MM83-05), and one with DAW in South Africa (MM83-03). It is thought that Acheson's MM83-05 joined the DAW team in South Africa alongside the team's original car. The car acquired by Tony Martin in South Africa could have come from Germany, but given Martin's long-standing relationship with Owens, it is also possible that it was a seventh MM83 built for him by Owens.
Also in 1984, Gebhardt Motorsport ran a sportscar-bodied, BMW-engined Maurer MM83 for Jan Thoelke in Interserie. There are suggestions that this car was MM83-01. The car is now in Australia where it is said to be MM83-01 and also said to be one of the South African cars, but it first appeared as a sports car when all three South African were still competing in South Africa.
Much later, in 2011, three MM83s were together in Stefen Trautwein's collection held at Schnitzer Classic at Schiltach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. These are reported to have been MM83-01, the former sports car, MM83-04 and MM83-06. By 2023, MM83-01 had left for Australia, but MM83-04 and MM83-06 were both still in the collection.
Trevor van Rooyen in the DAW Maurer MM83 at Welkom in 1984. Copyright David Pearson (motoprint.co.za) 2024. Used with permission.
DAW Supplies acquired a second Maurer MM83 for the 1984 season. This car was reported to have been significantly strengthened, compared with the pre-season version that DAW had acquired a year earlier. DAW chief mechanic Brian Kruger recalls that it was the ex-Kenny Acheson car. It was raced by Trevor van Rooyen through the 1984 season.
At the end of 1985, both of DAW's MM83s are reported to have been sold to Switzerland.
Driven by: Trevor van Rooyen. First race: Kyalami (R1), 28 Jan 1984. Total of 28 recorded races.
Graham Duxbury in Tony Martin's Maurer MM83 at Kyalami in July 1984. Copyright David Pearson (motoprint.co.za) 2024. Used with permission.
Brian Ferris in his Maurer MM83 at Kyalami in 1985. Copyright David Pearson (motoprint.co.za) 2024. Used with permission.
Tony Martin raced a Maurer MM83 for Ian Martin Racing (South Coast Motors) in 1984. This car has been described as his MM82 updated, but it had the distinctive pullrod front suspension of an MM83, not the rocker-arm suspension of an MM82. Martin's primary focus in 1984 was racing in IMSA, so the Maurer was raced by Graham Duxbury and Ben Morgenrood when Martin was unavailable. The car went to Brian Ferris for 1985, who also entered it as an MM83. Subsequent history unknown but it is said to have been exported to the UK.
Driven by: Tony Martin, Graham Duxbury, Ben Morgenrood and Brian Ferris. First race: Kyalami (R1), 28 Jan 1984. Total of 17 recorded races.
Manfred Anspann (München, Bavaria, Germany) raced a Maurer MM83 in German national events in 1984. He was a non-qualifier at the Hockenheim F2 race in April, appeared at the Wallberg hillclimb on 19 May, then entered it for the Pries von Rosenbrauerie at Kaufbeuren on 3 June. He later raced it in three Interserie races that season, at Erding, Most and Siegerland. It is believed to be the car later driven for Gebhardt Motorsport by Jan Thoelke and Jürgen Weiler, but this is still to be confirmed.
Driven by: Manfred Anspann. First race: Erding (R4), 8 Jul 1984. Total of 3 recorded races.
In October 1984, Gebhardt Motorsport entered a "Maurer BMW Can-Am MM83" for Jan Thoelke at the Nürburgring Interserie. Jürgen Weiler then drove a MM83 for Gebhardt Motorsport in Interserie in 1985 that photographs show was the Thoelke car. Then in 1986, Gebhardt Racing Cars (Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) entered a car for Günther Gebhardt to drive which was described as a "Maurer Ford Cosworth Can-Am" and was entered in Class I, not Class II as it would have been if it had a F2 engine. He drove it at the Österreichring on 13 July, and at Siegerland on 31 August. He drove it again in 1987 at Hockenheim in March, the Österreichring in July, Wunstorf on 2 August, Most on 16 August, Siegerland on 23 August and Österreichring again in October. This was then the "Maurer Gebhardt" and "Maurer Manzel" raced by Horst Spiegelhalder (Titisee-Neustadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Photographs show it in identical bodywork, and with pushrod front suspension. In 1991, Thomas Stingelin (Wohlenschwil, Aargau, Switzerland) raced a "Maurer-BMW Can-Am" in Interserie events, entered by Ecurie Basilisk. Photographs again suggest that this was the same car. The MM83 is then said to have been owned by Bernard Wissler (Germany) from 1990 to 2005. In October 2005 it was sold to the Lennon Brothers in Queensland, Australia. Sold to to Chris Farrell (Queensland) in 2023.
Driven by: Jan Thoelke, Jurgen Weiler, Günter Gebhardt, Horst Spiegelhalder and Thomas Stingelin. First race: Nürburgring (R7), 7 Oct 1984. Total of 27 recorded races.
Maurer MM83s in 1985
DAW continued to run both of the team's MM83s in 1985, and both were entered right up to the Killarney race in mid-September 1985. Tony Martin's MM83 went to Brian Ferris for 1985, but his last known entry was at Kyalami in April 1985. Meanwhile in Europe, Gebhardt Motorsport ran a sportscar-bodied, BMW-engined Maurer MM83 in Interserie in 1985. That accounts for four of the six (or seven) MM83s.
Maurer MM83s from 1986 onwards
None of the three South African MM83s appeared in the country again in 1986. The two DAW cars were packed up and shipped to Switzerland. The fate of the Martin/Ferris car is less clear, with reports saying that it ended up in Britain.
In Europe, Gebhardt Motorsport were still running an MM83-based sports car. Two or three more MM83s appeared over the next 10 or so years: Horst Spiegelhalder with what may have been the Gebhardt sports car; Horst Fendrich with a BMW-engined F2-spec car identified as MM83-06; and Edi Taveri with his Mazda-engined MM83-03 from South Africa.
Horst Fendrich in his Maurer MM83 at Oberjoch in 1987. Copyright kh-saarland.de (kh-saarland.de) 2024. Used with permission.
Horst Fendrich (Zotzenbach, Hesse, Germany) drove a Maurer MM83 in European hillclimbs in 1987 and 1988. His first known drive in the car was at the Ecce Homo event at Šternberk in June 1987. His car was identified by the euromontagna.com website as chassis MM83-06. He drove a sports car in 1989 and 1990, but drove a Maurer again at Alzy in August 1990 and in 1991, and then throughout the 1992 season and for the first part of 1993. This latter Maurer was identified as chassis MM86-006, and photographs suggest it was the MM83 updated. An article by Roman Krejčí on vrchy.com in 2004, after Fendrich suffered an accident, said that he still owned the Maurer.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Ian Hebblethwaite for information on the South African MM83s, to Adam Ferrington for the original chassis number observations, to Martin Krejci for his knowledge of Maurers in sports car racing, to Bryan Miller for the history of "MM83-01" in Australia, to Paul Owens for his recollections of this period, to Wisu Willimann for information on the cars arrival in Switzerland, and to Kevan McLurg, Chris Townsend and Michael Ferner for their help on this topic.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
These histories last updated on .