Harald Grohs
Harald " nipple " Grohs ( born January 28, 1944 in Essen) is a German racing driver and team manager.
Racing career
Harald Grohs ' racing career began in 1973 when he drove his first race with a Porsche 911 T. He competed in ten races of the German Circuit Cup, of which he won four races. After this unusual success Grohs was allowed two racing contest on a BMW CSL for the Faltz team, which he won both. Because of this exceptional debut season in 1974 stopped him Heribert Küke, a freight forwarder and auto restorer from Grohs ' home a Renault R5 and the matching van for R5 Cup available. He reached the second place in the standings with six wins. Then he allowed Jochen Neerpasch, former BMW racing manager, two guest appearances in the American IMSA series. After the first race, a verbal contract for 1975 has been closed. In 1975, he won his first race in the German Racing Championship at the Nürburgring. At the next race, however his BMW overturned in the High Eight on the Nordschleife, Grohs, however, remained unharmed. At the end of the same year he won with Jody Scheckter in South Africa, the 9- hour race at Kyalami. This was his first international success.
His first season in the German Racing Championship 1977 was able to complete in a BMW 320 for the BMW Junior Team Grohs fifth Division 2.
From 1984, launched Grohs in the German Touring Car Championship in the newly founded. In a BMW 635 CSi by the team Vogelsang Valier he won the first race in Zolder. The second race was won by Grohs, but was disqualified after the race due to a too large valve lift. Despite four wins this season, he had to be in the overall standings the winless Volker Strycek and also defeated Olaf Manthey and was third. Also in 1985 Grohs was the third of the championship, this time with the team Obermaier Racing. In 1986, the manufacturer and Grohs drove a Ford Sierra XR4 Ti of HWRT. The season became the disaster; saw only in his last race of the season Grohs at all and took the checkered flag with space Twelve the only seven points. In 1987, Grohs back to BMW and immediately won the first race of the season. With the Valier -M3, he won two races and took fifth place in the championship. 1988 could only achieve results in the upper middle of the M3 of Valier. The DTM was dominated more and more by the works - private teams quickly lost ground. Only in Hockenheim and on the AVUS managed Grohs of the front runners. Over the next two seasons of relegation went on, so that Grohs after the 1990 season, the DTM left.
Grohs denied a total of more than 60 24 - hour race. He is still involved in motorsport. In May 2013 he took with Friedrich von Bohlen und Markus Oestreich for the team Schirra Motoring with a mini at the 24 -hour race at the Nürburgring. At the end of the race, the team was not classified.
Private
Harald Grohs is married since 2004 with his wife Angelika, the partner of 1985 fatally injured Stefan Bellof.