The 53. Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix 7-9 August 2026 ^Featured

Written by Guus Docen

Stimulated by the beautiful summer weather, around 43,000 spectators made their way to the venerable Nürburgring in the Eifel region for the 53. Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix. They were offered a full program and virtually non-stop action on the Nürburgring's Grand Prix circuit. The 2026 edition celebrated the 40th birthday of the iconic BMW M3, highlighted by special track demonstrations and double victories for the BMW M1 Procar. The weekend featured pre-war racing cars, historic Formula 1 machines, DRM Group 5 monsters, two-liter supertouring cars. But the highlight of this event is once again the 65-minute Saturday evening race from 8:45 to 9:50 pm featuring two-seater racing and GT cars built before 1965, which, with a magnificent sunset, offered a perfect endurance racing experience that lasted well into twilight. Count Hubertus Dönhoff, whose initiative led to the creation of the Oldtimer Grand Prix in the 1970s, once again organized this highlight of the racing program.

Two-seater Sports Cars and GTs evening race
The evening race for two-seater racing cars and GTs up to 1965 once again created a special atmosphere. The starting field also offered exceptional diversity of cars, several Lotus Elans, Porsches 356, Triumphs TR4, a Porsche 550 A Spyder, a Maserati 300S, a Porsche 904, an Aston Martin DB4 GT, a Lister Jaguar, a Bizzarrini, an Iso Grifo and very special Lotus 19 with a 12 cylinder Ferrari engine driven by the Danes Otto Reedtz-Thott, Jakob Holstein and Englishman Will Nuthall. This team had another car in the race, a Lotus 15 S3. The race started at 8.45 pm and continued until after sunset. As last year the Danes Palle Birkelund Petersen and Alexander Weiss secured pole position in the darkgreen Ginetta G4 R. In 2025, the Danes had converted their pole position into a victory, and they managed to do so again this year. The major opponent Oliver Hartmann (Elva Mk8) who qualified second didn’t start the race because of a major technical problem. Starting from pole, the Danish team left the chasing pack no chance, ultimately winning by almost 30 seconds ahead of the Danish-British trio of Jakob Holstein, Otto Reedtz-Thott, and Will Nuthall (Lotus 15 S3). There was a second race on Sunday-afternoon of 65 minutes, last night winners Petersen and Weiss again took the lead but in lap three the exhaust silencer got loose and caused a light fire to the body so the car was stopped next to the track. Winners on Sunday were the Swiss team Haas/Jörg in another Ginetta G4R. Second was Paul Friedrichs and Simon Hadfield in the Aston Martin DB4GT.
Historic Grand Prix Cars
On Saturday the Historic Grand Prix Car Association had their races for the championships, the front-engined cars in the afternoon and the rear-engined cars in the late morning. The race of the front-engined cars was won by Joaquin Folch (Lotus 16 365) followed by Rod Jolley in the Lister Jaguar Monza. The morning race (rear-engined cars) was won by Mark Shaw in the light blue Brabham BT4 and second finished Rüdiger Friederichs (Cooper T53). On Sunday all cars had their 25 minutes race together which meant 31 cars on the grid. Overall winner was Rüdiger Friederichs (Cooper T53) and 18.5 seconds later finished Tim Child (Brabham BT3/4) in second place.
The Historic Championships ’65 and ‘81
Considered by many visitors as the most interesting and exciting races were the German Historic Championships. The Historic Championship ’65 started the racing program on Saturday morning with 40 historic sports cars, touring cars, and GTs. There was a fierce battle between Oliver Hartmann (Elva Mk. 8), Valentin Schuhmann (Elva Mk.7S) and Georg Hallau (Lotus 23B). The latter claimed victory. Even more exciting was the second race on Sunday morning. Valentin Schuhmann's Elva Mk7S and Markus Jörg's Lotus 23B engaged in an excellent battle after leader from the start Oliver Hartmann had a major mechanical problem in lap 7 and had to withdraw. Ultimately Schuhmann won the race by 0.153 seconds on Jörg. Pole-sitter Halau lost the third position in lap 12 to Paul Friedrichs in the Aston Martin DP214. The Historic Championship ’81 had a 90-minutes race Saturday afternoon with 55 cars on the grid.From pole started Andre Kunkel in the Porsche 911 3.0 RSR but already at the second corner Andy Newall ((Chevron B6) passed him and dominated the rest of the race. Belgium Marc Devis finished second in a Lola T70 Mk3B Spyder and third position was for Andre Kunkel.
DRM (German Racing Championship)
The German Racing Championship, also known as DRM, showed some 35 cars on the track for two races. The two Ford Capri Turbo group 5s are the public favorite cars, there were two of these Capris entered for this event. The Zakspeed Capri drove to pole during the qualification on Friday but sadly a technical issue forced the team to withdraw from both races. The other Group 5 Capri (Ronny Scheer) took the lead in race 1 but also got technical problems. Winner of race one was Michael Kammermann in the loud BMW M1. For the second race both Capri’s were absent so the battle was between the BMW’s M1 of Michael Kammermann and Roger Waber. Again Kammermann kept the lead, Waber finished second on 2.6 seconds. Michael Sadurski (Opel Ascona 400) finished in third position again.
Super Touring Revival
Following its debut last year the Super Touring Revival , boasted a mere lineup of just 16 cars.One of Germany's most distinguished touring car and sports car drivers Uwe Alzen chose the OGP for his comeback after a nearly four-year racing hiatus and promptly won the first race in the 1998 Opel Vectra STW. Bruce Miles from New Zealand crossed the finish line five seconds later in a BMW E36 320 STW. For the second race there was a driver swap for the Opel Vectra and the BMW E36 320. Gerd Füller drove the Vectra from pole position followed closely by Australian Steven Richards. It was a very exciting battle between both drivers until the end of the race with just a gap of 0.425 seconds in favor of Füller.
Touring Cars Golden Era
The Touring Cars Golden Era field brought together numerous stars and vehicles from different eras. Of the 46 entries former DTM champion Roland Asch and his son Sebastian set their Ford Sierra RS500 on pole position. The first race started on Saturday evening at 19.30 h. and Roland Asch took the lead but already in lap the race was red-flapped as a major crash happened between a BMW and a Ford Sierra. When the track was cleared the organization decided to have a new start with now Sebastian Asch in the lead claiming the victory after eleven laps. Ronny Scheer finished second in the blue Nissan Skyline. The second race on Sunday afternoon wasn’t so succesfull for father and son Asch as they lost the lead in lap 3 and had to withdraw with technical problems. Kris Nissen (BMW M3 E30) kept the lead and finished 0.308 seconds ahead of Erik Qvick in a BMW M3 E36 and Tim Kuijl in a similar BMW.
Vintage Sports Car Trophy
The Vintage Sports Cars were all located in the historic paddock. There were around fifty cars of various marques. Lightweight British sports cars from brands like MG, Riley, and Alvis but also several Bugattis and four Alfa Romeos. The oldest vehicle was a very special and important Mercedes-Benz type 680 S Rennsport, a car with a notorious racing history. The car ended up in the USA and eventually came in the possession of German prewar Mercedes-Benz collector Thomas Kern. Kern bought it as a regular S-Class. A thorough inspection by Mercedes-Benz experts and the combination of engine-number and chassis-number let no doubt that this was the winning car of the very first Nürburgring race in 1927 driven by the legendary Rudolf Caracciola. The original racing bodywork, which had been lost over the decades, was recreated. "These are driving cars, not static exhibits," explained Thomas Kern. Indeed he drove the Rennsport Mercedes around the track as if it was a trackday car!
For the true vintage-car enthusiast, it would be a positive development to optimize the program with more genuine classic races. It would be great to have the Formula 2, Formula 3 or Formula Juniors back on the grid. The Dragstar demonstration is a thrill-seeker but out of place at this event. The fact that even more visitors attended this event then last year is a compliment to the organization. The Oldtimer Grand Prix will be supported by the BELMOT insurance company until 2029.