Monza 4 hours ETC

Alain Peltier and Jean-Louis Lafosse won the first round of this year’s European Touring Car Championship at Monza in their 3.5-litre BMW CSL. In the absence of the works teams from Munich and Cologne, it was left to privately entered BMWs to fill the first four places, the Peltier/Lafosse car entered by La Precision Liegoise winning by just over a minute after four hours. The only Ford to offer any serious challenge was the Capri that Toine Hezemans shared with Hans Akersloot. It was lying fourth until delayed after ninety minutes by this pit-stop to replace a broken wheel-bearing. The Zakspeed Escort of Hans Heyer and Hartmut Kautz dominated the two-litre category from start to finish and eventually finished fifth in the overall order, only three laps behind the outright winner.