Five big names that have made motorsport history on the Nürburgring will compete in the two races of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup on the Eifel circuit on 07 and 08 August.
Sabine Schmitz (Germany), Uwe Alzen (Germany), Altfrid Heger (Germany), Olaf Manthey (Germany) and Hans-Joachim Stuck (Austria) have clinched a total of eleven victories in the 24-hour race on the Nordschleife between them. Now the legends of the “Green Hell” are tackling the challenge of competing with the 20 regular drivers of the innovative one-make cup, in which the identical vehicles are powered by bio natural gas and thus achieve an 80-per cent reduction of CO2, on the short version of the Nürburgring.
“The Nordschleife legends perfectly fit together with the Scirocco R-Cup’s visit to the Eifel circuit,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “The five drivers have gone down in the history of the Nürburgring. Since the Scirocco Cup will contest two rounds there on the weekend for the first time this season the fans will have the chance to watch them in action on Saturday as well as on Sunday.”
Sabine Schmitz is the first woman to compete in the Legends classification of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup. The 41-year-old who did her very first laps on the Nordschleife in her mother’s passenger car is the only woman to have won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. She achieved this feat not just once but twice, in 1996 and 1997.
Uwe Alzen and Olaf Manthey were successful in the endurance classic in recent years. The former DTM racer Alzen won the current edition of the 24-hour race. In 2005 he set a Nordschleife lap record of 8m 09.499s in the legendary Porsche “Turbinchen” (“little turbine”) of his brother Jürgen. Olaf Manthey, who clinched 28 wins as a racer in the Endurance Championship Nürburgring (VLN), triumphed as a team principal four times in a row, from 2006 to 2009.
Altfrid Heger has special ties to the Nürburgring as well as to Volkswagen. The native of Essen, who currently competes in the FIA GT1 World Championship, contested his first ever car races in 1980 – in a Golf GTI on the notorious Nordschleife. In 1990 Heger won in the 24-hour race which he contested in a Volkswagen Scirocco in 2008 and 2009. Last but not least: motorsport legend Hans-Joachim Stuck won the inaugural round of the legendary one-day race in 1970; in 1998 the former Formula 1 driver and Sports Car World Champion claimed the so far only victory of a diesel-powered vehicle. In 2004 the 1990 DTM Champion achieved his third triumph in the 24-hour race.
- Volkswagen Motorsport
