Touring car legends at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Created on June 10, 2021

Text:

Tourenwagen Legenden / ZG

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class ITC (1996) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 EVO I (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 EVO I (1996) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class DTM (1994) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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BMW M3 E30 DTM (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz E 2.5-16 EVO I (1992) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Audi V8 (1990) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth (1986) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Opel Vectra B STW (1997) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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BMW M3 E30 (1987) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 EVO I (1991) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Alfa Romeo 156 (1997) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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BMW M3 E30 (1988) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 (1991) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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BMW 325i E30 (1987) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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BMW 325i E30 (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Safety Car (2006) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

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Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Klasse ITC (1996) - bei den Tourenwagen Legenden anlässlich des 24-Stunden-Rennens auf dem Nürburgring 2021

The first two rounds of this year's Touring Car Legends season took place on June 4 and 5 as part of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. The second German championship for historic touring cars alongside the "Touring Car Classics" is limited to the eighties and nineties of the last century and normally takes place in the supporting program of the current DTM.

In the opening race on Friday, former champion Klaus Ludwig left nothing to be desired. In his Mercedes C-Class AMG from the 1996 DTM/ITC season, the three-time DTM champion beat Thorsten Stadler in the sister car by a margin of 0.486 seconds. The podium was completed by Patrick Huisman in the Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II of last year's champion Gerbert Luttikhuis. The Dutchman was also the winner of Class 2 for Group H cars with a DTM background.

Mercedes-Benz E 2.5-16 EVO I (1992) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

Starting from pole position, Ludwig controlled the race right from the start. He only had to chase Stadler for one lap, who took first place for a short time after a skillful maneuver. "As always, the AMG-Mercedes was perfectly prepared. I got into the rhythm better and better. In the end, I had more fun lap after lap," said Ludwig after the race. A safety car phase in the final third of the race - due to a technical defect in Guido Momm's C-Class - brought the field back together. This gave Stadler another opportunity to study Ludwig's line closely. However, he was unable to launch a second attack. "Today I learned once again in an impressive way who Klaus Ludwig is," Stadler grinned after the race.

Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class ITC (1996) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

Huisman was also satisfied after the race. Starting from sixth on the grid, the Dutchman drove up to third place. "I've only driven the 190 once so far in Zandvoort in qualifying and behind the safety car. Now a full race distance - that was great," said the 54-year-old. "The car is so much fun, I really enjoyed every single lap."

Ex-DTM driver Klaus Niedzwiedz in the Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth narrowly missed out on the final podium place, but secured victory in Class 3 for Group A and Group N cars. The fastest super touring car (Class 4) was driven by Lars Jürgen Zander. In the Opel Vectra B STW, he finished eighth overall behind Josef Krings (Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16), Tim De Vos (Nissan Skyline GT-R R32) and Jannis Bernd (Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16).

The winner of the second race on Saturday was Thorsten Stadler. As in the first race, Stadler finished in second place behind Klaus Ludwig, benefiting from a time penalty that the three-time DTM champion was subsequently handed by race control for overtaking under a yellow flag. Behind the two C-Class drivers, Tim De Vos was delighted with third place in his Nissan Skyline GT-R.

Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R (1989) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

As a result of a technical defect on Ferdi Weischenberg's Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO I on lap four, a safety car phase followed by a race interruption shook up the field. Some drivers mistakenly headed for the pits under the red flag and had to restart from the back of the field. One of the beneficiaries of the situation was Belgian Tim De Vos, who drove his Calsonic Skyline to his second Class 2 victory. Swiss driver René Ruch finished second in his BMW M3 E30, while last year's TWL champion Gerbert Luttikhuis (Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II) had to settle for third place. In Class 3, Hans Robert Holzer came out on top with his BMW M3 E30. Marco Ayrton Damaschke (BMW 325i E30) took second place after 14 laps ahead of Klaus Niedzwiedz in a Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth.

BMW M3 E30 (1987) - at the Touring Car Legends on the occasion of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring 2021

After the first two races, Klaus Ludwig leads the overall standings of the touring car legends with 43 points. Holzer is in second place ahead of Niedzwiedz and De Vos. Damaschke follows in fifth place. Because he used his replacement car (T-Car) in race two, winner Stadler receives no points for the race and is currently only in eleventh place in the championship.

The next races were originally scheduled to take place in the run-up to the DTM race at the Norisring on June 19, but this was canceled at short notice. The next date for the touring car legends is expected to be on the weekend of July 23-25 at the Lausitzring, also as part of the DTM guest appearance.