Bang at 24h race Nürburgring 2023 (May 18-21): The three DTM champions Timo Scheider, Mike Rockenfeller and Martin Tomczyk will line up together this year at the Eifel classic!
The prominent trio, who are already among the big fan favorites at the Ring, share an Audi R8 LMS GT3. All three DTM icons have competed for the car manufacturer from Ingolstadt in the past, but parted ways more or less amicably…
Scheider, Rockenfeller, Tomczyk at 24h Nürburgring 2023
“Three champions, one green hell: For the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring 2023 from May 18th to 21st, we have united three of our former DTM champions in an Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX,” said Audi Sport without further details on his social media on Wednesday.
The celebrity Audi is looked following by reigning 24-hour Nürburgring winner Phoenix Racing, which has since teamed up with Scherer Sport and is starting this year as ‘Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX’. Scheider, Rockenfeller and Tomczyk have competed in the DTM for the team led by team boss Ernst Moser in the past – what a reunion!
Three DTM champions at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring
Scheider, Rockenfeller and Tomczyk should easily steal the show from the works-supported Audi line-up at the 2023 Nürburgring 24-hour race. Audi Sport recently announced the line-up for the 51st running of the Eifel classic. After the departure of top drivers such as Rene Rast, Nico Müller and Kelvin van der Linde, the brand with the four rings relies on a few young talents who share the GT3-R8 with GT3 veterans such as Chris Mies and Christopher Haase.
Audi Sport at the 2023 Nürburgring 24-hour race
Audi Sport Team Car Collection: Luca Engstler/Max Hofer/Gilles Magnus/Dennis Marschall
Audi Sport Team Land: Christopher Haase/Christopher Mies/Patric Niederhauser
Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX: Mattia Drudi/Ricardo Feller/Dennis Lind/Frédéric Vervisch
Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl had already given a small indication of a possible Audi hammer last year. “In 2023, Audi Sport GmbH, formerly quattro GmbH, will be celebrating its 40th birthday. That’s a great opportunity for one story or another. I can reveal that much now,” Michl said at the 2022 DTM finale Motorsport-Magazin.com
DTM icons reunited in the Audi
Can the DTM icons Scheider (44 years old), Rockenfeller (39 years old) and Tomczyk (41 years old) still be able to keep up at the Ring? It should certainly not fail due to the motivation and talent of the trio. Two-time DTM champion Scheider is competing in Extreme E this year and most recently finished on the podium at a guest start in the US Rallycross Championship in Los Angeles.
After leaving Audi at the end of 2021, Rockenfeller returned to endurance racing and contested races in the WEC and the US sports car championship IMSA. The 2013 DTM champion is currently preparing for a new major project: starting the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a NASCAR car alongside Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button and NASCAR record-breaking champion Jimmie Johnson.
From the trio only Tomczyk hung up his helmet. The 2011 DTM champion announced his departure as a professional racing driver at the end of 2021, but left a back door open for his return – that’s what has happened now. Tomczyk first switched to the now defunct DTM umbrella organization ITR as series manager and from there to Abt Sportsline. At the racing team from Kempten, Tomczyk takes on the role of motorsport director.
By the way: The Abte will also be starting once more this year at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and will field a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for the first time. Kelvin van der Linde, Nicki Thiim, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper drive the sports car from Italy on the Nordschleife.
Scheider, Rockenfeller, Tomczyk: successes in the 24-hour race
That Scheider, Rockenfeller and Tomczyk are planning a possible joint project Motorsport-Magazin.com heard a while ago. There were plenty of offers for the DTM stars, one question was more regarding financing. Now it worked – and that too at one of the most important motorsport events in the world, the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring!
The Audi-Phoenix trio can not only look back on numerous victories and title wins in the DTM – there have also been some successes to celebrate in the ‘Green Hell’: Scheider won the 24-hour race in 2003 in the Opel Astra OPC alongside by Manuel Reuter, Volker Strycek and Marcel Tiemann – incidentally, the Rüsselsheim racing car was used by Phoenix…
Rockenfeller can look back on an overall victory at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2006 in the Manthey Porsche. Back then, like Scheider before him, he shared the Porsche 996 GT3-MR with Tiemann, and 911 icon Timo Bernhard and Lucas Luhr were also at the wheel. Rocky is regarding to start his tenth time at the Nürburgring, most recently in 2018 at the Eifel classic.
Of the celebrity trio, only Tomczyk has not (yet) managed to win the 24-hour race. In 2021, the man from Rosenheim only just failed when he finished second overall behind Manthey’s winning Porsche in a ROWE-BMW together with Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann and Connor de Phillippi.
DTM statistics: Scheider, Rockenfeller and Tomczyk
| Statistics | Tim Scheider | Mike Rockefeller | Martin Tomczyk |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTM race | 181 bis 2016 | 207 bis 2021 | 177 bis 2016 |
| Siege | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| podiums | 24 | 36 | 28 |
| Pole Positions | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Points | 518 | 1151 | 492 |
| championships | 2008, 2009 | 2013 | 2011 |