By Marcel Hundscheid
The 40th anniversary edition of the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring will be held from 10th – 12th August 2012. During the three-day event it is possible to see the most beautiful, rarest and most fascinating race cars in the history of motorsports.
The 2012 Oldtimer Grand Prix will revive the glory days of Formula One, sports prototypes as well as touring cars and GTs. In keeping with tradition, on Friday, there’s the AvD Historic Marathon held on the legendary Nordschleife.
Besides the action on the track there are several paddock and marquee club meetings as well as a Vintage Car Forum and a vintage car auction by Coys of Kensington.
The original track, also referred to as the Green Hell, was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the beautiful Eifel region. In 1984 a Grand Prix track was built in accordance with the demands of F1 drivers. Nowadays the Grand Prix track is used for the F1 Grand Prix and several other international events. The Nordschleife however is still used for the famous 24 hours as well as the VLN events and is open to the public.
One of the highlights of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2012 weekend are the races of the British Grand Prix Masters, featuring Formula One cars between 1968 and 1978. The series are open to 3-litre F1 cars built between 1968 and 1978. Fans of historic sports cars will be treated with a large field of former Le Mans Type Group 4 Prototypes, built between the mid-60s up to 1974, such as the Lola T70, Ferrari 512 and Chevrons. GT and two seat race cars will see action in a race open to cars built until 1960/61. For the delight of the spectators, the round of this race will start on Saturday with the demonstration of a classic Le Mans start. The FIA Lurani Trophy will see a full field of historic single seaters from 1957 on.
New during this edition of the Oldtimer Grand Prix is a special kind of touring car race. The AvD Touring Car Trophy will see touring cars built until 1965, divided into two classes (up to 1600 cc / more than 1600 cc). Each group will contest a single race on Saturday allowing the best 25 cars from each round into a joint final race on Sunday. Enjoyed by the vast crowd is the participation of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft or German Racing Championship featuring German-built vehicles from the seventies. A presentation run including former DTM and STW cars is planned on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Munich-based BMW brand will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sporty M with a special invitation race that will see up to 50 BMW M cars on the track, including the BMW M1, M3, 2002 en 320 Group 5. On Saturday there is a special Jaguar E-Type race, reviving the tradition of British Sports cars.
Ticket sales for this unique event have started online. There is free access for children and young people until 17 years of age and accompanied by an adult (excluded Historic Paddock Club). All tickets include access to the open grandstands and to the paddocks. (Friday 18,00 Euro, Saturday and Sunday both 38,00 Euro, Weekend from Friday-Sunday 58,00 Euro).
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.avd.de/ogpracing.
[Source: Marcel Hundscheid]
