The 21st ADAC Hockenheim Historic will take place from May 8 to 10. Twelve racing series with more than 500 vehicles will be competing on Germany's most famous race track. Be there when the sound of the engines revive bygone days of motorsport!
The ADAC Hockenheim Historic - The Jim Clark Revival stands for emotion and variety. More than 500 racing cars from almost a century make the hearts of every motorsport fan beat faster. Whether formula cars, sports cars or touring cars - there is something for everyone at the ADAC Hockenheim Historic.
Legendary touring cars of all vintages at the start
Touring car racing series have always enjoyed a very special aura in Germany and especially at the Hockenheimring. No wonder that the cars with roofs are also particularly well represented at the ADAC Hockenheim Historic. The "Touring Cars Golden Era" and the "DRM Revival" feature a broad potpourri of touring and production cars from the 70s, 80s and 90s and are becoming increasingly popular with fans and participants. The entry list for the "Touring Car Golden Era" includes big names such as Roland Asch, Kurt Thiim, Kris Nissen, Peter Mücke and Volker Strycek as well as no fewer than 99 vehicles!
And that's not even counting a special category of touring car racing that will be held under the umbrella of the "Golden Era" from this season: the "CLASS ONE Revival - powered by BMW Classic Group and CARBON". The new category is reserved for original DTM cars from 1993 to 2020 and highlights a unique era of German and international touring car racing.
From the 1993 season, Class 1 replaced the unpopular handicap regulations (today it would be called "Balance of Performance") of the early DTM years. This had brought with it a wonderful variety of vehicles, but also endless discussions about fair or unfair classifications. The Class 1 principle was simple: 2.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 engines, which had to be based on a production block from the relevant automotive group, free drive concept, six-speed gearbox, defined silhouette and aerodynamics, otherwise plenty of leeway for the engineers, and off they went.
The result was probably the most spectacular racing touring cars of all time: Alfa Romeo and Opel sent four-wheel drive cars into the race, Mercedes countered with the rear-wheel drive C-Class. It was the beginning of a fascinating technology arms race, which, however, subsequently took on dimensions that were no longer sustainable, especially in terms of costs, and led to the end of the "old" Class 1 at the end of 1996. The rebirth of the DTM in 2000 was based on technically simpler, cost-effective and yet spectacular V8 cars. From 2019, efficient four-cylinder turbos were used - but only for two seasons, after which the Class 1 era ended for good.
However, the memories, especially of the first Class 1 from 1993 to 1996, are still very vivid even among the younger generation of race fans. "The Class 1 era was a special time for everyone who experienced it - for us drivers as well as for the technicians and the fans," recalls the last champion of those wild years, Manuel Reuter. With his legendary Cliff-Opel Calibra V6 4x4, the Mainz-born driver secured the 1996 ITC title at the overseas finals in Brazil and Japan.
The Hockenheimring, emphasizes Reuter, has always been a special racing venue: "The atmosphere was unique, the sold-out Motodrom, the seas of flags, the fanfare. Back then, we raced twice a year in Hockenheim. And whether it was a small circuit or the Grand Prix track with the long forest straights, on which we were already reaching speeds of more than 300 km/h back then - the atmosphere was always gigantic!"
Although Reuter himself will not be at the start of the "CLASS ONE Revival - powered by BMW Classic Group and CARBON" as part of the ADAC Hockenheim Historic, one of his company cars from back then will be represented in the form of the '94 Calibra driven by Opel racing legend Volker Strycek. The entry list, limited to 20 race cars, includes delicacies from 27 years of Class 1, including a real rarity: the Class 1 Audi 80, which the Ingolstadt team had already developed in 1993 but never fielded. Several ex-DTM stars will also get behind the wheel. Nico Müller will drive his Audi RS5 DTM from 2020 on Saturday, Stefan Mücke a Mercedes C-Class from the new DTM and veteran Armin Hahne the Linder BMW E36 from the 1993 season.
Three days of concentrated action on the track
Of course, it is not just the Class 1 cars from 1993 to 2020 that will attract fans to the Hockenheimring in droves. In total, a dozen racing series will be competing at the event in memory of Jim Clark, who was killed in an accident at the Hockenheimring in 1968. Monoposto fans will get their money's worth with the "Historic Racecar Association", the "Lurani Trophy" and "DMV Formula Vau" as well as the "BOSS GP". Sports car fans will enjoy the "Velom Sportscar Supercup by Interwetten SCC", the "Gebhardt Ginetta Nordic Championship" and the "Golden Ära Classic Cup", which is dedicated to the Porsche brand. The "Raceclub Germany" presents a magnificent collection of historic formula and sports cars. And at the Raceclub Germany Specials, "Team FNT", among others, will provide goosebump moments at the Motodrom with selected performance vehicles, including Formula 1 cars from Toyota from the 2000s.
Away from the 4.5-kilometre-long traditional circuit on the outskirts of Heidelberg, various attractions such as the open paddock, the ADAC Experience World including a large brand club area, exhibitions, dealer and catering stands await race visitors. And all this at the usual low prices: Admission on Friday costs 17 euros, the day tickets for Saturday and Sunday 39 and 34 euros respectively and the weekend ticket 54 euros. Including grandstand seating and paddock, of course. Schoolchildren and students pay half price, while children under 14 and wheelchair users are admitted free of charge. For the first time, tickets for the Grid Walk before the first race of the "Boss GP" on Saturday are also available for 20 euros.
More information and tickets can be found on the ADAC Hockenheim Historic website.
