ADAC DTM Classic/Touring Car Legends: Eagerly awaited return to the Norisring, Formula 1 and DTM star Christian Danner repeats guest appearance in Nuremberg
In October 2021, when the race took place with a slight delay due to Corona, former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner triumphed once before with a classic C-Class from Mercedes-Benz at the Norisring. And this year, too, the Munich driver and vehicle owner Thorsten Stadler want to compete together. At the DTM Classic/Touring Car Legends event, for the first time under the ADAC banner, the reunited duo want to shine once again on Nuremberg’s street circuit. This time, however, the TV expert and two-time title winner in classic touring car racing in 2017 and 2018 will not start with the C-Class driven by Ellen Lohr in the DTM in 1994, but with the two-year-older latest model of the Dane Kurt Thiim.
The headlines:
Good ground: Nine years ago, Thorsten Stadler celebrated his debut at the Norisring Race Classics in 2014 with the restored 1994 C-Class.
Good memories: six years ago, Stadler celebrated the first victory with Ellen Lohr’s ex-chassis, also at the Norisring.
Good prerequisites: With the latest version driven by Kurt Thiim in 1996, Stadler and Christian Danner want to repeat the success of 2021.
Nuremberg/Hann.Münden. The tension ahead of this year’s DTM weekend at the Norisring could hardly be greater. Because for the first time, the ADAC is organizing the highlight of every racing season. But not only that. With the program item DTM Classic/Touring Car Legends, the racing history book of the German Touring Car Championship returns. In addition to the spectacular appearance at the Norisring, the favorite models from the eighties and nineties are also represented at the Lausitzring as part of the new DTM.
Last but not least, Thorsten Stadler and Christian Danner agreed. The two already formed a team at the Norisring in October 2021 when they shared the AMG-Mercedes-Benz C-Class driven by Ellen Lohr in the DTM in 1994 and thus rushed to victory ahead of Stefan Rupp (Alfa Romeo 155 V6 ti). Almost two years later, they are now switching to the two-year-old last stand racing car, which the Dane Kurt Thiim drove in the 1996 International Touringcar Championship, ITC for short – also at the Norisring, by the way. „If the somewhat sensitive and now 28-year-old high-performance technology holds up,“ Thorsten Stadler predicts, „we have a realistic chance of winning.“ Most recently, the company owner of tst sport + technik in Hann.Münden went together with the three-time DTM title winner Klaus Ludwig and later with Kris Nissen at the start.
Ludwig, who in 1994 as a teammate of Ellen Lohr made his third and final championship in the Touring Car Bundesliga, also wants to fight for victory on the street circuit in the heart of Nuremberg. The Rhinelander will share a 1992 AMG-Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo 2 with vehicle owner Ekkehard “Ekki” Ludewigs. Like the C-Class, the fast four-cylinder is being prepared for use by Thorsten Stadler and Christian Danner by tst sport + technik in Hann.Münden and is being looked after on site. The same applies to the third Daimler in the team, the 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo 1 in the original Kärcher design, which Thorsten Stadler and a local hero from Schwabach near Nuremberg will drive. In 1988, 35 years ago, Gerhard Müller took part in Günther Tauber’s racing team with the red Herpa-BMW M3 in the entire DTM season, which he finished 27th overall at the time. With the rear-wheel drive in the sign of the star, he is preparing to tie in with the good old days.
How will the two races at the foot of the mighty stone grandstand end? A report that will be published on YouTube afterwards will answer this question for all those who stayed at home. So you can be curious, and in many ways.
Responsible for the content: netzwerkeins GmbH, Carsten Krome
Now on offer @racecarsdirect.com: Mercedes-Benz DTM racing cars from 1989 to 1996 for sale.
Whatever you desire: tst sport + technik offers both (silver) collector’s items and thoroughbred DTM racing touring cars with history.