Mega Gallery & Report: The Epic 2024 Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix

By Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica

The Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring is back with a vengeance, featuring full starting fields, iconic cars and summer weather conditions that attracted 42,000 spectators to the Eifel. Motorsport Retro was on site, and have a wrap-up and photo gallery for you to enjoy.

The 2024 edition of the meeting included Revival Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, Historic Championship ’65, Historic Championship ’81, Historic Championship CanAm & Sportscars, Historic Grand Prix Car Association, Formula Vee, and historic F3 cars from the Graf Berge von Trips Trophy.

The historic touring cars of the Tourenwagen Golden Era were a highlight and with former DTM aces such as Kris Nissen, Roland Asch and Kurt Thiim, both competitions featured thrilling races and plenty of history. The drivers fought literally for every inch of the Nürburgring. So hard that damage even occurred during the second race.

During the first race it was Sebastian Asch, son of Roland Asch, Kris Nissen and Yannick Trautwein who got the crowd on the benches. After a cat-and-mouse battle that lasted until the finish line, Asch was flagged first with a lead of only 0.7 of a second.

During the second race it was Nissen, Roland Asch and Trautwein who battled each other. Asch took the lead but Nissen fought his way back, as did Trautwein, who claimed second place behind the Dane. In the heat of the battle, Nissen hit a backmarker and as a result he had to finish the race with a damaged front. Drive through penalties for not taking the right starting position put an end to Asch and Trautwein’s race. Nissen eventually drove his battered M3 to victory.

Another crowd-puller are the Group 4 and 5 DRM monsters with a starting field of around 50 cars. Zakspeed Ford Capris, Porsche 935s, BMW M1s and lots of other stunning cars entertained the crowd on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Stefan Mücke dominated the first race with his Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo Gr.5. Dennis Bush could only try to follow the powerful Capri in his Porsche 934/5.

During the second race on Sunday it was the Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo Gr.5 of Ronny Scheer, followed by the impressive BMW M1 Procar of Michael Kammermann from Switzerland.

Three iconic Shadow CanAm racers, run by ERA Motorsport, rocked the Nürburgring in the Historic Championship CanAm & Sportscars. It was an unique event as those cars had their first race since the end of the CanAm championship during the 70s. At the Goodwood Members Meeting and Goodwood Festival of Speed they performed demo runs. But at the Nürburgring it was a totally different story, as they entered their first races on European soil.

They achieved the fastest lap in their grid and during both races beat some of the fastest sports cars and prototypes ever made. In our next story on Motorsport Retro we will feature a special about the three Shadows cars that made their unique appearance in Germany.

Both races were initially dominated by the Shadows of Kyle Tilley and Kirt Bennett, which were significantly faster sports cars from the modern era. The first race was won by Marco Fink in his PRC BMW, ahead of the impressive Shadows of Kurt Bennett and Kyle Tilley. Although both Shadows also initially led the second race, Marco Fink also won there.

The organisation secured the Graf Berge von Trips Pokal for enthusiasts of historic Formula 3 cars. Valerio Leone won the first race on Saturday, Alexander Weiss climbed to the top step of the podium on Sunday.

In the traditional evening race for two-seater sports cars and GTs on Saturday, Palle Birkelund Pedersen competed in his small but very fast Ginetta G4R against Oliver Hartmann’s Elva Mk.7S for the lead. After an hour long cat and mouse game, Hartmann crossed the finish line first.

On Sunday afternoon the same cars and drivers had their one-hour race in daylight conditions. Just as on Saturday, the battle for victory was between Hartmann and Birkelund-Pedersen. Initially the Danish driver outpaced the Elva, but Hartmann came back, took control of the race and grabbed his second victory of the weekend.

Three races were scheduled for the historic grand prix cars from the Historic Grand Prix Car Association. On Saturday the grid was divided into a separate race for front and rear engined cars. Mark Shaw dominated Saturday’s front-engine car race and drove straight to victory. Rudi Friedrichs did the same in the race for rear-engined grand prix cars and claimed victory in a Cooper T53.

In Sunday’s race, both categories were combined into a single grid. Friedrichs was again unbeatable and grabbed his second victory of the weekend. Mark Daniell won the front engined category.

Two 30-minute races were scheduled for Historic Championship ’65. During the first race the spectators could enjoy the Ford GT40 of Georg and Bjorn Griesemann, who competed against the small but vicious Lotus 23B of Felix Haas. In the end the GT40 was victorious.

During the second race of the weekend, the battle for victory was between the two Lotus 23Bs of Felix Haas and Georg Hallau, who compete with each other often. Haas had it a lot easier during this race because Hallau could only follow. The Swiss crossed the finish line first after 30 minutes of competition.

A single 90-minute race was scheduled for Historic Championship ’81. The Lola T210s, driven by Felix Haas and Frank Jacob initially dominated the race. Technical problems caused Haas to retire prematurely. Jacob took the lead and seemed to be heading for a certain victory until bad luck struck him too. Björn Griesemann gained the lead and drove to victory in his Porsche 911 RSR.

The 51st Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix turned out to be a must see event. The organiser published already the dates for the 52nd edition, from August 1st – August 3rd 2025. At Motorsport Retro we are already counting down the days.

Results 51st Belmot Oldtimer Grand Prix 2024

Tourenwagen Golden Ära

Race 1