WHEN THE DTM CONQUERED THE NORDSCHLEIFE
“When the idea came up to do it with a DTM car, it was like a silence in the room,” remembers Timo Scheider. “It was like, ‘Are you serious?’ We were thinking, ‘That will be a challenge’. In the beginning there was a feeling of, ‘Let’s try it. If we quit after three laps, we quit after three laps.’ It was a bit like this.”
“Everybody was laughing because to get a DTM car reliable for 24 hours at the Nordschleife, it’s a big project!” adds Manuel Reuter. “But in the end, we showed it was worth it.”
The incredulity that the two 2003 Nurburgring 24 Hours winners recall on hearing the news that Opel would be entering two factory-run DTM cars for that year’s race was widely shared. There have been several improbable victories in 24-hour endurance races over the years. In 2003 alone, GT2-spec Porsches twice prevailed outright by respectively beating
