It’s impossible to describe the Touring Car Golden Era without resorting to superlatives. This racing series is a potpourri of original touring cars with racing pedigree. The main contingent is vehicles that competed in the German Racing Championship DRM which ran from 1971 to 1985.
In the mid-1980s, the DRM merged with the DTM. For cost reasons, this spun off into the two-litre Super Touring Car Championship STW (1993-1999) and the World Touring Car Championship WTCC (2000-2006). Over the course of three decades and more, these series delivered thrilling wheel-to-wheel duels between well-matched powerful cars that demanded a high level of skill from their drivers.
Back then, only one thing counted, namely the qualities of the driver. Accordingly, they are still acclaimed today as the undisputed heroes of motor racing. At the Red Bull Ring Classics, the stars of yesteryear such as Kris Nissen, Altfrid Heger, Roland Asch and Prinz Leopold von Bayern will be climbing into the cockpits of original racing cars, and you can be there to see all the action live.
Hard Facts Tourenwagen Golden Era:
- Founded in 2015 as Tourenwagen Classics
- Two 25-minute sprint races are staged each weekend
- The FIA Annex K category will be contested as a championship for the first time in 2024
No fewer than 110 teams have registered for the Touring Car Golden Era, and at least 40 spectacular cars will be on show at the Red Bull Ring. The three high-flyers of the Group 5 Ford Capri in will no doubt be attracting special attention.
Here are just a few of the BMW cars from the exciting line-up:
- Kris Nissen, BMW M3 E30 DTM Schnitzer Motorsport
- Olaf Manthey, BMW M3 E30 Group A
- Ralph Bahr, BMW E36 STW
- Harald Grohs, BMW E30 Group A
- Herbert & Nico Wittmann, BMW M3 DTM
