The appearance at Mugello was in preparation for an assault on the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours where Quester and Pironi were joined by Marcel Mignot. Famously, chassis 4301021 appeared at la Sarthe in a sensational ‘Carte de France ‘Art Car livery. Having qualified 25th, Quester, Pironi and Mignot went on to finish 14th overall and fourth in an IMSA class dominated by much more powerful Porsche 935 turbos.

Having failed to start the final Procar race of 1980 at Imola (owing to an electrical misfire during the warm up lap), Quester contested the DRM season finale at Hockenheim but did not finish despite having been classified 16th.

Chassis 4301021 was subsequently returned to BMW who then sold it (now in the traditional M1 Procar colour scheme of white with a Motorsport tricolour) to Alf Gebhardt in Oklahoma.

The car was delivered to Gebhardt at Daytona where, alongside Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Brun, he finished the 24 hour race sixth overall and won the GTO class. Gebhardt contested another trio of IMSA events that season (the Sebring 12 Hours, Riverside 6 Hours and Laguna Seca 100 miles) but 4301021 failed to make the finish on all three occasions.

Gebhardt subsequently sold the car to a boss of one his co-drivers and the car reputedly raced on,

More recently, 4301021 has been restored to its 1980 Le Mans configuration.

Notable History

Dieter Quester (Tom Walkinshaw Racing)

Green, red & white Gusser beer livery

12/05/1979 PRO Zolder (D. Quester) 5th oa (#50)
26/05/1979 PRO Monaco (D. Quester) DNF (#50)
03/06/1979 IND Donington (D. Quester) 7th oa (#50)
30/06/1979 PRO Dijon (D. Quester) 14th oa (#50)
13/07/1979 PRO Silverstone (D. Quester) 6th oa (#50)
28/07/1979 PRO Hockenheim (D. Quester) DNF (#50)
12/08/1979 PRO Zeltweg (D. Quester) 11th oa (#50)
26/08/1979 PRO Zandvoort (D. Quester) 7th oa (#50)
09/09/1979 PRO Monza (D. Quester) 7th oa (#50)

Team Castrol Austria

13/04/1980 WSC Mugello 6 Hours (D. Quester / D. Pironi) 6th oa, 1st S2.0+ class (#43)
26/04/1980 PRO Donington (D. Quester) DNF (#77)
11/05/1980 PRO Avus (D. Quester) 10th oa (#77)
17/05/1980 PRO Monaco (D. Quester) DNF (#77)

White & Blue French map livery

15/06/1980 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (D. Quester / D. Pironi / M. Mignot) 14th oa, 4th IMSA class (#83)

Green, yellow & white Gusser beer livery

22/06/1980 PRO Norisring (D. Quester) 6th oa (#77)
12/07/1980 PRO Brands Hatch (D. Quester) 11th oa (#77)
09/08/1980 PRO Hockenheim (D. Quester) DNF (#77)
16/08/1980 PRO Zeltweg (D. Quester) 5th oa (#77)
14/09/1980 PRO Imola (D. Quester) DNS (#77)
28/09/1980 DRM Hockenheim (D. Quester) DNF (#28)

White with BMW Motorsport tricolour

Sold to Alf Gebhardt (Bavarian Motors International), Tulsa, Oklahoma

01/02/1981 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (H.J. Stuck / A. Gebhardt / W. Brun) 6th oa, 1st GTO class (#14)
21/03/1981 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (A. Gebhardt / M. Surer) DNF (#14)
26/04/1981 IMS Riverside 6 Hours (A. Gebhardt / B. Beilcke / M. Freberg) DNF (#14)
03/05/1981 IMS Laguna Seca 100 mile (A. Gebhardt) DNF (#14)

Sold and subsequently restored

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed