Nurburgring 24 Hours 2026: Seven iconic cars to watch apart from Max Verstappen

Dacia Logan at the Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Nurburgring 24 Hours

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Seven iconic cars to watch, from Schumacher tribute to Dacia 'shopping cart'

Max Verstappen is not the only star attraction

Originally written by Vincent Bruins. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 12 May 2026 10:55

F1 world champion Max Verstappen heads a bumper field of 161 cars for this weekend’s iconic Nurburgring 24 Hours race but he is not the only star attraction.

The 28-year-old Dutchman’s presence on the grid will mean interest is higher than ever for the brutal test of skill and endurance on the terrifying Nordschleife circuit.

The 2026 field for this great race (which takes place Thursday May 14-Sunday May 17) is divided into 23 different categories - the class you are placed in depends on the type of car and how your car performs. There are a staggering 36 possible classes to ensure that every crazy supercar you can imagine can race this weekend.

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In the past we have seen the Opel 'Foxtail' Manta with a fox tail on the roof, an Aston Martin which ran on hydrogen and the famous Glickenhaus GT prototypes. 2026 will also provide some very special cars for us to enjoy.

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Full schedule with session times for this weekend

Seven iconic cars to look out for at Nurburgring 24 hours

Naturally most eyes will be on Verstappen and his Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, but there other cars too which are considered fan favourites. We have picked out seven that you should absolutely look out for.

5000 likes on Facebook, and Z4 gets green light

At first glance, the BMW Z4 GT3 is not particularly special, but it is considered a classic. Ten years ago, the Z4 was replaced by the M6 GT3, and since then BMW has introduced the M6 GT3 Evo, M4 GT3, and the M4 GT3 Evo. The last time the Z4 competed in the Nurburgring 24 Hours was in 2019. On top of that, the P65B44 V8 is one of the best-sounding engines in the history of GT racing, a thing of beauty for all self-respecting petrolheads..

Saugmotoren Motorsport was already going to field a Z4 this year with Julian Reeh, Ralf Schall, Christian Scherer, and Henry Walkenhorst. However, an additional Z4 is now being added to the field thanks to a German driver and a Dutch team. Peter Posavac had posted on his Facebook that he would race the Z4 if he received 5,000 likes. The Facebook challenge was successful, and so Posavac will be joined by Michael Funke, Frank Nikolaus, and 1984 DTM champion Volker Strycek. The Z4 is run by Koopman Racing.

Michael Schumacher livery for charity

The McLaren 720S GT3 is not special because of the car itself, but because of the livery. Dörr Motorsport will be using this race to pay a very special tribute to F1 legend Michael Schumacher. The McLaren wears the same colours and, with Bitburger, the same main sponsor as the 1995 Benetton in which 'Schumi' secured his second of his seven F1 world titles. Among other items, racing overalls will be auctioned for the Keep Fighting Foundation, a charity inspired by Michael Schumacher to continue his charitable work. The McLaren will be driven by Ben Dörr, former F1 driver Timo Glock, factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer and two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider.

They pimped a Corsa

In SP 2T, one of the slower classes, we find an Opel Corsa, but under a different name - it is registered here as a Bitter. This German car manufacturer was founded in the 1970s by Erich Bitter and today we know it as a tuning company for Opel models. Markus Bitter, Erich's nephew, is currently the owner and is closely involved in the Corsa project. They just bought an Opel and tuned it up themselves. Bitter has a special relationship with the Nürburgring, as Erich raced there in the late 1960s with the Opel Rekord 1900. Niki Lauda also once got behind the wheel of the Rekord that was nicknamed 'Black Widow'.

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A classic Mercedes-Benz restomod

HWA won nearly twenty championships in the DTM before the GT3 era. Hans-Werner Aufrecht's company ran Mercedes-Benz's entire DTM operation from 2000. However, HWA has developed a Mercedes-Benz which harks back to the 1990s - a 'restomod' (restoration modification) of the 190E. Some 100 of the HWA EVO cars will be produced, and they each cost 700,000 Euro.

To promote the HWA EVO, a number of HWA EVO.R race cars have also been built for the Nurburgring 24 Hours this year. They are fielding three, each with its own retro livery. The drivers are well known and they include Luca Ludwig, an ADAC GT Masters champion and the son of the legendary Klaus Ludwig, as well as DTM champion Bruno Spengler, Markus Winkelhock, and Renger van der Zande.

Subaru factory team rides again

We rarely see Subaru in European motorsport, and when we do it is usually in rallies, but it has been fielding a factory team on the Nordschleife since 2008. This year, they will participate in the 24-hour race for the 17th time in the SP 4T class. The so-called Subaru WRX NBR Challenge 2026 features 6.5 percent more power compared to last year, and the car is used not only for racing but also as a test for production cars. Think of the development of an advanced ABS system or aerodynamic mirrors; racing at the limit helps with that.

Carlo van Dam, born in Vlaardingen, has been driving for Subaru since 2011. He is accompanied by three Japanese drivers: Takuto Iguchi, Rintaro Kubo, and Kota Sasaki.

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The April Fools' joke which got out of hand

On April 1, 2025, BMW shared a 3D model of a station wagon version of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Of course, it was meant as a joke, but it went viral on social media. Fans were so excited that BMW decided to build a real one. That is how the BMW M3 Touring 24H came into being. It is simply an M4 GT3 Evo with different bodywork at the rear.

The car run by Schubert Motorsport competes in the SP-X class alongside the HWA EVO.R. It is a class where cars that don't really fit anywhere else get dumped and will be driven by BMW factory drivers Jens Klingmann, Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, and Ugo de Wilde.

Dacia ‘shopping cart’ is popular with fans, but not with drivers

Since 2021, a Dacia Logan has been competing in the 24h Nürburgring. The Ollis Garage Racing car from the SP 3T class has become incredibly popular among fans, mainly because it looks like a goofy, sluggish grocery getter.

The Dacia, however, is anything but popular among the drivers in the fastest SP 9 class, due to the large speed difference compared to GT3 cars. In the middle of the night during the 2023 race, Laurin Heinrich crashed his Porsche into the Dacia at full speed when Maximilian Weissermel was behind the wheel. Last year, it was Martin Kaffka who crashed together with Aris Balanian's GT4 Aston Martin.

Oliver Kriese, the founder of Ollis Garage Racing, shares the Dacia this time with Alexander Becker, Christian Geilfus and Robert Neumann.

F1 2026 Regulations: Every new rule and car change explained

Written by

Vincent Bruins - Redacteur GPFans NL

Vincent Bruins (29) is een Nederlandse Formule 1-redacteur met vier jaar ervaring in de F1-journalistiek. Hij heeft meer dan tien jaar ervaring als redacteur en content creator in de GT-racerij. Hij duikt graag in de technische en sportieve reglementen. Zo weet Vincent alle ins en outs op het gebied van bijvoorbeeld de techniek van F1-bolides en straffen. Tevens schrijft hij bij GPFans columns.

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Max Verstappen Nürburgring Nurburgring Nordschleife 24 Hours of Nurburgring