Quite a statement and truly remarkable: From May 18th to May 21st, 2023, 70 race cars will be equipped with our KW Racing dampers for the 51st edition of the 24-hour Nürburgring race.
This represents more than half of the starting race cars. We are proud that racing teams across almost all categories rely on KW Racing components manufactured in the small German town of Fichtenberg.
Whether it’s in the category for alternative drive systems like AT, the near-production car categories such as V4, and V5, or the customer racing cars of the GT4 or the GT3 category as well as various cup vehicles: our engineering is inside numerous racing cars.
Even in the legendary Opel Manta owned by Olaf Beckmann, our adjustable KW Racing dampers are being used. In 2023, the iconic Opel, originally built as a rally car in 1981, will return to the track as the Ravenol Motorsport Manta (#121). In 2022, the Opel caught fire due to a self-igniting battery just before the 24-hour race, preventing it from traveling to the Nürburgring and participating in the event.
Over the past year, the team behind Opel has been rebuilding the Manta, and the cockpit is shared by the Nürburgring veterans Olaf Beckmann, Peter Hass, Volker Strycek, and Jürgen Schulten.
The highlight at the 51st Nürburgring 24h race in 2023 is the SP9 class (SP9 PRO and SP9 PRO-AM) with its 30 mentioned GT3 cars. All BMW M4 GT3s from the racing teams Rowe Racing, Walkenhorst Motorsport, and the BMW Junior Team, as well as all Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) cars from Dinamic GT, Falken Motorsports, HCB Management, Huber Motorsport, Lionspeed by Car Collection Motorsport, and Manthey Racing, are homologized with the five-stage adjustable KW V6 Racing Solid-Piston dampers for increased performance.
In the SP10 class, customer racing cars such as the BMW M4 GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT4, and Toyota GR Supra GT4 are equipped with our KW Racing suspensions. Moreover, numerous manufacturers around the globe rely on our engineering, not only on the racetrack.
It is planned that a total of 70 racing cars equipped with KW Racing coilovers are starting on the track in the forests of the Eifel in the following classes:
- AT
- BMW M240i
- Cup 3 AM
- Cup 3 PRO
- SP 10
- SP 3T
- SP 4T
- SP 8T
- SP 9 PRO
- SP 9 PRO-AM
- SP 3
- SP 6
- SP 7
- TCR
- V4
- V5
- V6
- VT2 FWD
- VT2 RWD
- VT3
Behind the scenes, our colleagues from the KW Racing Service and our KW motorsport engineers have been supporting numerous motorsport customers in preparation for the 24h Nürburgring race over the past months.
Just like in previous years, one of our colleagues is once again participating in the endurance classic on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
At the 24h race our colleague Tim Heinemann… 
…drives in the 24h race at the Nürburgring. 
Moreover, he also drives in the DTM 2023.
In the past, Tim Heinemann has competed in multiple race cars in the 24-hour race. However, in the 24h Nurburgring season 2023, our colleague will be driving the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) #44! Tim will be sharing the cockpit with Joel Eriksson, Nico Menzel, and Martin Ragginger.
Those that aren’t able to visit the race like the approximately 200,000 fans at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, can still follow the endurance classic from the comfort of their homes. Starting from Thursday, all motorsport fans can track the first laps on the track through the organizer’s website.
Starting from Friday, 14 onboard streams will be broadcasted directly from the cockpits during the top qualifying session. You can also find a live ticker, live timer, and audio commentary via an English YouTube live streams directly at www.24h-rennen.de/en/live-en/
We wish all fans, all teams, and drivers a successful 24-hour race at Nürburgring. Come back home safely and have a wonderful motorsport weekend.
Photos: Gruppe C Photography, Archive
