Together with the DTM, the "Touring Car Classics" also concluded its championship on the weekend of October 13/14, 2018 in Hockenheim. With 38 cars, the field was almost twice as full as that of the DTM. And with Klaus Ludwig, Jörg van Ommen, Kurt Thiim, Roland Asch, Harald Grohs, Frank Schmickler and Marc Hessel, there were also seven professionals in the cars who had already competed at the same venue 30 years ago.
Four of them are even among the "top five" (over 1000 DTM points) - only Bernd Schneider was missing. Klaus Ludwig has collected the most points so far with over 1800 and the most victories have been scored by the absent Bernd Schneider.
The old champions can still do it
Klaus Ludwig did not give Bernd Mayländer and Stefan Rupp the slightest chance of winning the race.
Ludwig took over the C-Class Benz in third place at the pit stop and quickly took the lead.
In the first phase of the race, van Omen was able to maintain the lead just ahead of Stefan Rupp. Several lead changes between the two followed in the subsequent laps. But then van Omen had to let Stefan Rupp go and dropped back place by place until he finally had to park the battered Mercedes at the entrance to the pit lane.
But in the end, the 69-year-old Ludwig came out on top, far ahead of Bernd Mayländer, who only just managed to keep the aggressive wasp in the form of Stefan Rupp's Alfa-Romeo 155 at bay.
Professional classification goes to Harald Grohs
In the end, 74-year-old Harald Grohs won the professional classification in his ex-BMW M3 DTM from 1987 ahead of Klaus Ludwig, who only took part in four of the seven races, with Marc Hessel in third place.
For a 74-year-old, "Nippel" is still going very fast and is still giving many a younger participant a run for their money, overtaking around 15 cars in his turn. If you know that Harald's career began back in 1973 in a Porsche 911T and that he later caused a sensation in the R5 Cup and took part in over 60 24-hour races, you are looking at a man with plenty of gasoline in his blood.
It has to be said that all of the professionals took part in the championship purely for the joy of driving and for no fee at all ....Chapeau!
Two Mercedes ahead of BMW and Alfa
The two Mercedes C-Class cars driven by Thorsten Stadler and Jörg Hatscher won the overall classification.
Ralph Bahr's black BMW, also driven by Harald Grohs, followed in third place. Stefan Rupp's Alfa finished fourth in the championship with three zeros.
Lots of interest
As everywhere else, these cars attracted a great deal of public interest here in Hockenheim. In the paddock, large crowds formed around the racing cars from early in the morning until late at night. Whenever an engine was started, they stood in front of the cars with their ears covered, mouths open and goose bumps, enjoying the great sound. Motorsport has tradition and it should always show this.
Even though Mercedes is now leaving the current DTM after 30 years, the cars with the star will continue to be seen and heard again and again in the future thanks to the "Touring Car Classics". In this way, the tradition will be preserved and all the young fans can be shown how good it used to be.
As track spokesman Rainer Braun so aptly put it? Mercedes has gone and Mercedes is staying, at least at the "Touring Car Classics".
The complete class list and further information on the Touring Car Classics can also be found on the racing series website .
