At the second stop of the DTM Classic in the 2023 season, classic cars from Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes and Opel will be racing: Mücke will provide the highlight with the Ford Sierra RS500
Second guest appearance of the DTM Classic this year at the Lausitzring: from 18 to 20 August 2023, the touring car legends racing series – and thus classic touring cars from the 1980s and 1990s as well as some cars from the new DTM from 2000 onwards – will start for its championship rounds nine and ten. The range of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Opel cars spans from 1987 to 2007.
The legendary Ford Sierra RS500, which was already an absolute crowd favourite in the early 1990s and finished far ahead at the Norisring thanks to driver Ronny Scheer at the wheel, will also be in the running.
Now Scheer will be supported by local hero and ex-DTM driver Stefan Mücke from Berlin. “We are really looking forward to the event at the Lausitzring,” says Mücke, whose team also competes in GT4 Germany in addition to the DTM Classic.
Mücke: “The Sierra literally eats up the tyres “
“Ronny was very strong in Nuremberg and gave the fans good entertainment with thrilling duels,” says Mücke before the home race. “Now I’m also getting back into the cockpit myself. That will be great.”
The original DTM, which was held from 1988 to 1996, was never a guest at the Lausitzring. In 2000, the only German trioval was opened. Mücke was part of the DTM circus himself from 2002 to 2006, competing for Mercedes-AMG at the time. Now he tackles the 3.478-kilometre short circuit of the circuit with the around 450-hp Ford Sierra RS500 from 1990.
“The Sierra literally eats up the tyres because only relatively narrow tyres can be driven due to its design. Even with today’s modern tyres, you only have decent grip for about two laps, after which it becomes a ride on the cannonball,” Mücke knows. “A lot of power and little grip, that’s a big challenge for the driver to still be fast at the end. “
Altfrid Heger and Marc Hessel will also be doing the honours
Stefan Rupp is the favourite in his 2007 Audi A4 DTM. The driver from Landshut won both races at the Norisring. In Class 1, Rupp will be up against Peter Nickel, among others, who is bringing a lovingly built replica of the 1995 Opel Calibra to the Lausitz.
Class 2 will again be fiercely contested. Here, two contemporary witnesses from the “old” DTM will be on hand to give their touring cars a run for their money: Altfrid Heger in the 1990 Audi V8 DTM and Marc Hessel in the 1988 BMW 320is E30. Heger has some catching up to do in the MTM Audi, as the weekend was already over at the Norisring after an accident in the first corner of race one. Hessel, on the other hand, achieved strong results with fifth and fourth places.
Current TWL championship leader Yannik Dinger is also competing in class two. He scored points in eight of the ten races in the 2023 season with his bioethanol-fuelled 1991 BMW 328i E36. Second in the championship is Thomas Ardelt, who has been successful so far in Class 3 with his 87 BMW M3 E30.
When will the legendary cars be on display? The DTM Classic will start into the race weekend on Friday evening at 17:50 with free practice. Qualifying will decide the grid positions for race one on Saturday morning at 09:35. The starting lights switch to green at 16:40. In between, the protagonists will be guests at the autograph session in the DTM fan zone at 11:30 am. The second race starts on Sunday at 10:20 a.m.
