Report & Gallery: The Nürburgring Classic 2026

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on June 22, 2026

Around 23,000 visitors embraced the Nürburgring Classic 2026. We were present during the weekend to bring you the story mentioned below.

The public was treated to a literal journey through the history of motorsport, featuring single-seaters from the 1960s to the period around the year 2000, touring cars from seven decades ago to the DTM cars of the 1980s, as well as an array of GTs and sports cars from bygone eras. The public could enjoy the action on the track for three days, from early morning, with an endurance race for cars from the Historic Championship 81 on Saturday evening.

There was no shortage of single-seaters during this year’s edition. The lightest cars took to the starting grid in the Lurani Trophy for Formula Junior cars. Clive Richard engaged in a direct battle with Manfredo Rossi di Montelera in both races, both in a Lotus 22. However, Richard was the faster driver in both races. During the first race, the Briton finished with a comfortable lead, yet in race 2 he managed to claim the double victory by just a breath.

The early years of Formula 3 were reflected by the presence of the Historic F3 1000 cc European Trophy, where the so-called ‘Screamers’ with one-liter engines lined up at the start. In both races, Peter de la Roche faced no opposition whatsoever. After the lights turned green, the Briton vanished over the horizon with his Alexis Mk.17.

Historic Monoposto Racing from the Netherlands always guarantees a large field of historic Formula Ford cars, and this was also the case during this edition of the Nürburgring Classic. During the first race of the weekend, it was Leon den Hollander who, in his Van Diemen RF83, prevented Graham Fennymore from taking the win.

During the second race, the battle was once again between the Dutchman and the Brit, while David Schneider from Switzerland had also joined the fray, which continued right to the finish line. Fennymore finished first ahead of den Hollander by less than a split second of nine thousandths of a second.

The fastest and loudest single-seaters, and at the same time the very fastest participants of the event, were the lightning-fast cars of the BOSS GP Series. This series primarily features former GP2, Formula 2, and World Series cars, usually including a number of former Formula 1 cars.

This time, alongside the always super-fast Ingo Gerstl with his Toro Rosso STR1, a Williams FW25 was also on the starting grid, which only participated in the second race on Sunday. Gerstl won both races convincingly. The 20-year-old Juju Noda, daughter of former Formula 1 driver Hideki Noda, took the wins in the other classes.

There was no shortage of touring cars and GTs this weekend either. The Youngtimer Trophy from Germany always ensures well-filled starting grids divided into two divisions. During the first race of Youngtimer Trophy 1, Sebastian Glaser dictated the pace with his Ford Escort RS1800. Nothing seemed to stand in the way of the fast German, until bad luck struck in the closing stages. As a result, the victory was handed to Sven Fisch with his Opel Kadett C Coupe.

However, that he was one of the fastest drivers on the track became apparent during the second race on Sunday, which he also won convincingly.In the Youngtimer Trophy 2, it is primarily Porsche 911s that dominate, and this was also the case this weekend. The first race on Saturday went convincingly to Daniel Schrey’s Porsche 935 K1. On Sunday, however, it was Michael Funke who set the pace and drove his 911 RSR to victory.

Another crowd-puller are the former DTM and STW touring cars from the popular Tourenwagen Golden Era. Over forty iconic cars from the eighties and nineties entertained the crowd. Veteran Kris Nissen showed on two occasions what kind of racing talent the former Danish veteran possessed. He won the first race in a controlled manner, and the second in a dominant way.

The Historic Championship ’65 had two races on the schedule during the weekend. As is often the case in this interesting championship, the battle for the win frequently unfolds between the entered historic sports cars, and this time was no exception. Oliver Hartmann fought a lap-long duel with Georg Hallau during both races, which ultimately turned out in Hartmann’s favor with his Elva Mk.8.

On Saturday evening, the 90-minute endurance race of the Historic Championship ’81 was on the program, featuring a wide variety of historic racing cars. However, none of the forty-four entered cars had an answer to the dominance of Sebastian Glaser and Michael Kammermann with their fire-breathing BMW 3.0 CSL. The German-Swiss combination crossed the finish line first after an hour and a half of racing, shortly before dusk, with a lead of over two minutes.

The Nürburgring Classic proved once again that this event has rightfully taken a prominent place on the European historic motorsport calendar. We are already eagerly looking forward to the 2027 edition, which will simultaneously celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nürburgring.