Good prospects for the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix (August 12 - 14): Entries are in full swing, and new, exciting entries are currently trickling in to the organizers on a daily basis. The largest classic racing festival in continental Europe will once again live up to its excellent reputation this year and promises an emotional weekend dominated by historic racing. Excursions into Formula 1 history can be experienced live on the track, as can the spectacular sports cars of earlier times at Le Mans and the World Sports Car Championship.

One race in particular is always in the spotlight, and this year's event will once again be an atmospheric highlight: In the heats of the two-seater race cars and GTs up to 1960/61, the focus is on the sports cars of the 1950s. Here, birdcage Maserati meets Porsche 356 and 904, "gullwing" Mercedes 300 SL meets Lotus, Lola and Ferrari - a showcase of some of the most beautiful racing cars of all time. For many spectators, the races of the DTM Classic Cup, which is a guest at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix for the first time, will be just as emotionally charged. The series will give fans a reunion with the cars and drivers of the historic DTM, which will also feature many prominent faces in the cockpits. Tickets for the weekend are available from 29 euros (day ticket Friday) on the event's website. Admission is free for children and young people up to 17 years of age when accompanied by an adult.

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Especially when it comes to the evening race on Saturday evening for the two-seater race cars and GT up to 1960/61, the grandstands at the Nürburgring are traditionally well filled. After all, the picture-perfect sports cars that fought for victories and seconds in the 60s and 70s in the great classics such as Le Mans and the Targa Florio can be seen here - and not infrequently also made history in the Eifel. The race is filled to capacity and will once again be a summit meeting of racing icons. Particularly exciting: despite all the differences in performance, there are many groups of comparably strong cars dueling it out in lively "races within the race": Three Porsche 904s, three Maserati A6 GCSs, three Lotus XIs and three Lola MKIs, for example, will be competing against each other. And spectators are spoilt for choice as to whether the rare Maserati T61 ("Birdcage") or the legendary Mercedes 300 SL with its gullwing doors are more beautiful and spectacular. Especially since the beauty competition is fierce: In the new "young" class up to 1971, for example, a two-liter Ferrari Dino 206 will be competing, which was once successful in the major endurance races. The defile of legends will be greeted in the evening with a fireworks display at the finish line, which will be the crowning finale of the packed race day. 

Legends wherever you look: The stars of the DTM from "back then" on the grid
The stars of another, no less popular motorsport era will do the honors in the DTM Classic Cup: Here, the models of the highest German touring car class that caused a sensation in the 1980s and 1990s will start. And for the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix, many a star from back then (and some well-known drivers from today) have announced their participation. Leopold Prince of Bavaria, Altfrid Heger, Kris Nissen, Marc Hessel and Kris Nissen will do the honors. This weekend they will once again pilot the legendary BMW M3 and Ford Sierra from the DTM. But also Audi A4 STW, Opel Vectra STW or supposed exotics like the Volvo 850 TS are at the start. From the ITC and the "new" DTM will be the mighty 2.5-liter Opel Calibra V6 4x4 (with Stefan Mücke, a top sports car driver, at the wheel) and Opel Astra V8 Coupé: Not a few fans at the Nürburgring will feel nostalgic, because of course all these vehicles and drivers are well remembered from numerous guest appearances on the Eifel race track. Together with the evening race of the sports car classics and the popular DRM revival race, the DTM Classic Cup forms the program on Saturday evening, where the motorsport highlights are virtually chasing each other.

Almost 100-year-old racing cars on the track
Despite all the fascination for the performance of the racing cars of yesteryear, visitors should not miss the trip to the paddock. Because there is not only the chance to get an autograph or a selfie from the star of days gone by. Here, the teams and vehicles can also be experienced up close, and there is always the opportunity for a "petrol talk". This already begins in the historic paddock, where the oldest vehicles of the weekend are housed. The pit area from the founding days of the Nürburgring is the world's only surviving paddock from the 1920s and forms the befitting original backdrop for the participant vehicles of the "Vintage Sports Car Trophy". The pre-war racing cars that start here no longer race, but they show what they are made of in regularity tests on the Grand Prix circuit and in excursions. Among them are vehicles as diverse as the mighty supercharged Mercedes-Benz SSK or the agile BMW 328. The oldest vehicles of the weekend so far will be the almost 100-year-old Salmson Rally Grand Prix and a Riley Brooklands 9 (both built in 1929). But the "younger" pre-war history also has fascinating vehicles to offer: Michal Velebny, for example, is bringing an extraordinary Skoda Sport from 1949 to the Nürburgring. Right next to the pre-war racing cars, there will be an excursion into the world of rallying: the starters of the "Slowly Sideways" syndicate will be accommodated here with their historic rally cars. They offer a great introduction to the Grand Prix paddock. Because there, in the tent of media partner Motor Klassik, there will be an exhibition on the subject of "50 years of the World Rally Championship". The other partners of the event also invite visitors to stroll through the paddock (in addition to taking a look at the vehicles of the various series and races). At TÜV Rheinland, there will be exciting technical presentations over the weekend. Continental presents a new racing tire for historic vehicles. Cobrasitz24 presents a great chair in exclusive design for the AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix. Owners of historic vehicles of the Czech brand will meet at Skoda, inviting them to talk shop at the "Open Door". So this year, too, there will simply be something to discover and marvel at for visitors at every turn.