Schloss Dyck Classic Days 2019: Mercedes-Benz highlights on the “Apfelwiese”

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Mercedes-Benz Classic will be present at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days from 2 to 4 August 2019 with a number of father-and-son stories, fascinating #racing cars and other highlights. The theme of the #Event is the anniversary of “125 Years of Motorsports”.

Stuttgart. The enthralling motorsports history of #MercedesBenz goes right back to the first competitive motorcar race in history, from Paris to Rouen in 1894. The brand with the star will be commemorating the highlights of this unique tradition at the #schlossdyckclassicdays2019. The focus of the #Event is on the “Apfelwiese” (apple orchard) of this moated castle in the German Lower Rhine area. ALL TIME STARS, the vehicle trading platform of #MercedesBenz Classic, will also be present. In addition to these, there is the “Masterpieces” Concours d’Elegance on the Orangerie Peninsula and demonstration drives on the circuit.

The father-and-son stories surrounding brand ambassadors Roland & Sebastian Asch and Klaus & Luca Ludwig show that motorsports under the Mercedes star can also be handed down through generations. The four #racing drivers at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days will also be guests of #MercedesBenz, as will Jutta Benz, great-granddaughter of Bertha and Carl Benz, and #racing drivers Dieter Glemser and Karl Wendlinger.

Invention and litmus test of the first motorcar

The family history of Jutta Benz is inextricably linked with the invention of the motorcar by her great-grandfather Carl Benz in 1886 and with the courageous, high-profile first endurance drive in what was to become a historic motorcar in 1888 by her great-grandmother Bertha Benz. #MercedesBenz Classic reminds us of this at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days with an authentic and fully functional replica of that Benz patent horseless carriage. This is one of three vehicles from the corporate collection that can be experienced in action at this nostalgic motoring garden party.

Also featured on the circuit will be two vehicles that represented sporting success with #MercedesBenz sports cars and were almost identical to series production cars: the #MercedesBenz 190 SL (W 121) as the sports version with glassless aluminium doors, a reduced windscreen and other modifications that turned the popular lifestyle roadster (1955 to 1963) into a competition car. The major successes of this car included the class victory achieved by Douglas Steane at the 1956 Macau Grand Prix.

The #MercedesBenz 500 SL “Rallye” (R 107) is a byword for great victories of this star-studded brand in international rallies during the late 1970s and into 1980 with the SLC coupés of the C 107 series. The shorter and more agile roadster with the hardtop was prepared for the 1981 season as a rally car, but was not, in fact, used.

Silver Arrow amongst the “Masterpieces”

Another milestone in the 125-year #heritage of motorsports is the #MercedesBenz 750-kilogram W 25 #racing car from 1934, which commemorates Manfred von Brauchitsch’s victory in the Eifel race at the Nürburgring in that year. That was the first race victory of this car. #MercedesBenz Classic is showing the W 25 as part of the “Masterpieces”, the name given to the Concours d’Elegance at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days. A total of 55 outstanding examples of motoring history can be seen on the Orangerie Peninsula.

Visitors to #schlossdyckclassicdays2019 will experience many facets of #MercedesBenz history on the #Apfelwiese. This is where the brand with the star invites you to travel through time: together with brand ambassadors, outstanding vehicles and with the opportunity for lively conversations in stylish and evocative surroundings. Besides Jutta Benz, the #racing drivers who are the guests of #MercedesBenz Classic at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days will be Roland & Sebastian Asch, Dieter Glemser, Klaus & Luca Ludwig and Karl Wendlinger.

The Swabian Arrow dynasty

Racing driver Roland Asch celebrated his début in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in 1985 and, in 1988, raced his own #MercedesBenz 190 E 2.3-16 to finish as runner-up. Five wins for #MercedesBenz in the early 1990s head the list of his various good finishes in the DTM. In 1993, he finished runner-up in the DTM for the second time. Asch is affectionately called the “Swabian Arrow” by his fans. As a brand ambassador, Roland Asch still has close ties to the #MercedesBenz brand to this day and can regularly be seen behind the wheel of impressive #racing cars from the #MercedesBenz Classic collection during Events.

Roland Asch’s son Sebastian, born in 1986, began his motorsports career in the early 2000s and has been #racing in the ADAC GT Masters series since 2008. He has won this series twice – the only #racing driver to date to do so: he won the Championship title both in 2012 (with Maximilian Götz) and 2015 (with Luca Ludwig) in a #MercedesBenz SLS AMG GT3. From 2016 on, Sebastian Asch took the wheel of the new customer sport #racing car, the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Together with Luca Ludwig, he won the opening race of the 2016 season and secured further victories in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

The King and his son

In 1989, he moved to the AMG-Mercedes team, with whom he won two Championship titles (1992 and 1994, runner-up in 1991) and a total of 19 race victories in the years up to 1994. He subsequently won the driver and team trophy in the International FIA GT Championship for AMG-Mercedes together with Ricardo Zonta in 1998. In 2000, he competed in the new German Touring Car Masters (DTM), ending the season and his #racing career with a third-place finish in the overall standings driving a #MercedesBenz CLK-DTM. All in all, Ludwig took the DTM Champion title three times, which earned him the name “King Ludwig” amongst his fans. Before joining #MercedesBenz, Ludwig drove successfully for the other Stuttgart car brand. In Porsche cars, Ludwig scored a total of three overall victories at the legendary “24 Hours of Le Mans”.

Klaus Ludwig’s son Luca, born in 1988, successfully competed in customer sport with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 until 2017, as one of his #racing activities. The highlight was the 2015 season, in which he won the ADAC GT Masters Driver Championship for the first time – in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Luca Ludwig is also an instructor at the AMG Driving Academy.

Enthralling father-and-son stories

Motorsports with #MercedesBenz also means family history: the two father-and-son teams demonstrated this fascinating aspect in December 2015. At that time, the brand with the star emblem invited the successful customer sport #racing drivers Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig to participate in test drives in the 2015 DTM Championship car. Their fathers, Roland Asch and Klaus Ludwig, highly successful #racing drivers themselves, were also present. Both of them took the wheel themselves at their sons’ first DTM test in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

Circuit classics

Brand ambassador and former #racing driver Dieter Glemser also stands as a testimony to the victories of #MercedesBenz in the 1990s: after many successes as a #racing driver, amongst others in endurance races for #MercedesBenz in the 1960s, Dieter Glemser was a member of the #MercedesBenz motorsports team for ten years from 1990, and as department manager, responsible for organisational matters.

The extremely versatile #racing driver Karl Wendlinger was also successful in the 1990s. Amongst other classes, he took the wheel in Group C for Sauber-Mercedes, in the German Touring Car Championship for AMG-Mercedes and in Formula One for Sauber-Mercedes.

At the Schloss Dyck Classic Days, #MercedesBenz Classic will be commemorating the fascinating #racing period in the 1990s with two historical #racing cars.

The 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM touring car from 1990 is the #racing car in which Roland Asch won the second heat of the invitational race of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in Kyalami (South Africa) on 18 November 1990, and, in the first heat, Asch took second place. The DTM touring car referred to simply as the “EVO II” for the 1990 season, was based on its predecessors, the 190 E 2.3-16 and 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution (1989).

A #MercedesBenz CLK-GTR #racing touring car commemorates Klaus Ludwig’s victory in the 1998 international FIA GT Championship together with Ricardo Zonta. With this car and its successor, the CLK-LM, the Stuttgart-based team clinched their second consecutive World Championship title in that season: as in 1997, the brand Championship title went to AMG-Mercedes. The year before, Bernd Schneider won the Drivers’ title ahead of runner-up Klaus Ludwig.

ALL TIME STARS as a guest at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days 2019

ALL TIME STARS is also coming to the Schloss Dyck Classic Days and bringing three exquisite classic cars with it. This #Event is always a highlight for the #MercedesBenz Classic vehicle dealer, which was founded five years ago. The focus of the presentation is always on classics from the unique history of Mercedes-Benz SL sports cars. In 2019, ALL TIME STARS is bringing a #MercedesBenz 280 SL of the R 107 series from 1976. The second car comes from the S-Class coupé tradition: a perfectly restored #MercedesBenz 280 SE 3.5 coupé, model series W 111, from 1971. Both cars are part of the “Concours Edition” of ALL TIME STARS.

A special highlight staged by ALL TIME STARS at the #schlossdyckclassicdays2019 is a Mercedes Knight 16/40 hp. It was built in 1913, delivered to South America and sold to the owner of a coffee plantation near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From the 1970s to the mid-1980s, the vehicle was part of the collection of a technology museum in Bebedouro near São Paulo, Brazil. In the 1980s, the Mercedes Knight returned to Europe and was expertly restored. In 2019, ALL TIME STARS took it over.

Mercedes-Knight motorcars played a special role in the brand history of #MercedesBenz. They were driven by valveless engines in which the gas ports were controlled by sleeve valves – an innovation invented by North American journalist and inventor Charles Y. Knight (1868 to 1940). Paul Daimler, the son of Gottlieb Daimler, was the head of the design office of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and was keen to start licenced production of Knight slide valve motors. They were noticeable due to their extraordinary, smooth-running, sophisticated design, which was unusual at that time. This was, however, offset by their elaborate construction and maintenance as well as limited performance at top speeds of around 80 km/h. Mercedes Knight cars were, nevertheless, successful: from 1911 to 1924 no fewer than 5,500 of them were built. Of the three models available, the Mercedes Knight 16/40 hp was built for the longest period by far.

The range of cars available through the dealership of #MercedesBenz Classic extends from pre-war classics to the young classics and includes outstanding one-off cars, such as #racing cars. Models from the 1960s and 1980s are particularly popular with customers. ALL TIME STARS ensures maximum transparency by thoroughly examining every vehicle offered according to 160 criteria, plus a Classic Data expert report. ALL TIME STARS cars are classified technically as being at least of quality grade 2, and are categorised into three grades. Vehicles in absolutely peak condition that have the appearance of being either brand-new or about a year old are termed “Concours Edition”. A classic of this kind enriches every collection and is a highlight for special occasions. A car in the “Collectors Edition” is in exceptionally good original condition or has been restored some time ago. These young classics or vintage cars captivate with their perfect care condition and technical features that have been subjected to little stress. This makes a vehicle in the “Collectors Edition” not only a collector’s item, but also a fantastic companion for every trip. A classic in the “Drivers Edition” is in above-average overall condition. These vehicles have relatively low mileage, so that the bodywork and paintwork are as neat as the vehicle’s technical features. The sum of its characteristics makes this car a reliable companion on all occasions.

The company’s own showroom in the #MercedesBenz Museum in Stuttgart, with its extensive vehicle presentation, is the centrepiece of ALL TIME STARS. But the vehicle traders also regularly go to outstanding public Events in the motoring classics calendar: be it the start of classic rallies or with an appearance like the one at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days. 

The brand ambassadors of #MercedesBenz Classic at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days 2019

Roland Asch
Born 12 October 1950 in Altingen, Germany

Trained originally as a master #automotive technician, Roland Asch initially began his motor #racing career as a hobby, but soon began to post victories like a professional: wins in the German Hillclimb Championship of 1981 and the German Motor #racing Trophy in 1983 were followed by his début in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in 1985. In 1988, he finished as DTM runner-up driving his own #MercedesBenz 190 E 2.3-16. In the late 1980s he came first three times in the overall standings in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup, and in 1991 won the Championship title in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Five wins for #MercedesBenz in the early 1990s head the list of his various good finishes in the DTM. In 1993, he finished runner-up in the DTM for the second time, and moved to Ford in the Super Touring Car Cup in 1995. As a brand ambassador, Roland Asch has close ties to the #MercedesBenz brand to this day and can regularly be seen behind the wheel of important #racing cars from the #MercedesBenz Classic collection during Events. 

Sebastian Asch
Born on 4 June 1986 in Tübingen

Automotive engineer Sebastian Asch is the son of DTM #racing driver Roland Asch. He began his own #racing career at the beginning of the 2000s, initially with slalom races. He then took part in endurance races and participated in various #racing series. In 2007, together with his team Asch Motorsport, he became junior Champion and runner-up in the Seat Leon Supercopa Cup and won class victories in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring as well as in the Porsche Classic Car Trophy. Since 2008, Asch has taken part in the ADAC GT Masters. He has won this series twice – the only #racing driver to date to do so: in 2012 (with Maximilian Götz) and 2015 (with Luca Ludwig) he won the Championship title in a #MercedesBenz SLS AMG GT3. In December 2015, the brand with the star emblem invited the successful customer sport #racing drivers Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig to participate in test drives in the 2015 DTM Championship car. Their fathers, Roland Asch and Klaus Ludwig, highly successful #racing drivers themselves, were also present. Both of them took the wheel themselves at their sons’ first DTM test in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain). From 2016 on, Sebastian Asch took the wheel of the new customer sport #racing car Mercedes-AMG GT3. Together with Luca Ludwig, he won the opening race of the 2016 season and secured further victories in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. 

Jutta Benz
Born on 1 October 1943 in Mannheim

She has a famous name: Jutta Benz. In 1886, her great-grandfather Carl Benz invented the world’s first automobile as a totally novel, all-embracing and therefore revolutionary design. His wife, Bertha Benz, great-grandmother of Jutta Benz, greatly influenced and assisted in the development work. She supported her husband in every respect, regularly contributing strong impulses of her own to bring the automobile to large-scale production maturity. She is famous for her long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim with the Benz Patent Motor Car in August 1888, which she completed with their two sons – both as an endurance test and as proof that this magnificent invention worked. No wonder Jutta Benz has tremendous admiration for her great-grandparents, especially her great-grandmother as a woman of outstanding attributes for her time: in their day, publicly exhibited creativity and equality were anything but the norm. In this sense, Bertha Benz and her husband symbolise the success and evolution of the automobile and the Mercedes–Benz brand. Jutta Benz is the last bearer of the Benz name who can be directly traced back to Carl and Bertha Benz. 

Dieter Glemser
Born on 28 June 1938 in Kirchheim unter Teck

His pedal-to-the-metal career kicked off in the 1960 Schorndorf Hillclimb. Numerous class victories in various hillclimbs and circuit races at the Nürburgring followed. His career with #MercedesBenz began in 1963 with the overall victory in the Poland Rally in a #MercedesBenz 220 SE, followed by second places in the Germany Rally (including a class victory) and in the Argentine Touring Car Grand Prix. The following year, he was part of the triple victory by the teams made up of Eugen Böhringer/Klaus Kaiser, Dieter Glemser/Martin Braungart and Ewy Rosqvist/Eva-Maria Falk in the Argentine Touring Car Grand Prix. With Ford, Dieter Glemser celebrated a European Championship title for touring cars in 1971, a win in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps and the German Motor #racing Championship in 1973 and 1974. He ended his active motor #racing career in November 1974 after a serious crash caused by tyre damage in the touring car race in Macau, south-east China. From 1990, Dieter Glemser was a member of the #MercedesBenz motorsport team for ten years, responsible for organisational matters as a department manager. From 2001 to 2008, he worked as a freelancer for Mercedes-AMG and Daimler AG in the area of sports and driver safety training as well as at #MercedesBenz Classic Events, where he is still active. 

Klaus Ludwig
Born on 5 October 1949 in Bonn, Germany

Honoured with the title of “King Ludwig” by his fans, the outstanding #racing driver and three-time DTM Champion Klaus Ludwig began his motor #racing career in the early 1970s with slalom races, orientation rallies and touring car races. His first major successes included the German Motor #racing Championship (DRM) title in 1979 and 1981, and victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979, 1984 and 1985. Ludwig came to the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in 1985, where he initially drove for Ford and won his first title in 1988. In 1989, he moved to the AMG-Mercedes team, with which he won two Championship titles (1992 and 1994, runner-up in 1991) and a total of 19 race victories in the years up to 1994. In 1995 and 1996, he competed in the ITC (International Touring Car Championship) for Opel Team Rosberg. He subsequently returned to AMG-Mercedes, winning the driver and team trophy in the International FIA GT Championship together with Ricardo Zonta in 1998. Afterwards, he officially retired from motorsports. In 2000, however, he made a comeback and competed in the new German Touring Car Masters (DTM), ending the season and his #racing career with a third-place finish in the overall standings driving a #MercedesBenz CLK-DTM. 

Luca Ludwig
Born on 4 November 1988 in Bonn

Klaus Ludwig’s son Luca, born in 1988, successfully competed in customer sport in a #MercedesBenz SLS AMG GT3 from 2013 to 2017 and, from 2016, in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. The highlight was the 2015 season, in which he won the ADAC GT Masters Drivers’ Championship together with Sebastian Asch for the first time in a #MercedesBenz SLS AMG GT3. Luca Ludwig wrote about the close links between the family and the Mercedes-AMG brand on his website in 2013: “I grew up with Mercedes-AMG, and have known a lot of people there since I was a kid. I am fully aware of the great history that links our family name with the brand and I know a lot about it. Nothing would be better than to win in a Mercedes in the future.” Besides his career as a #racing driver, Luca Ludwig also works as an instructor at the AMG Driving Academy. Here he passes on his knowledge and skills to participants who want to develop their driving skills to the next level. 

Karl Wendlinger
Born on 20 December 1968 in Kufstein, Austria

Karl Wendlinger’s motorsport career began in karting at the age of 14. In 1989, he won the German Formula 3 Championship. In 1990 to 1991, the Austrian was a member of the Mercedes Junior Team, along with Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and competed in the World Sportscar Championship. In 1991 he graduated to Formula 1. From 1994 Wendlinger drove for the Sauber-Mercedes team together with Heinz-Harald Frentzen. This was followed by periods in DTM, Formula 3000 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His most outstanding successes on the racetrack include winning the FIA GT Championship (1999), 1st place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTS Class (in the same year), overall victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2000 and a second-place in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (2003). From 2004 to 2011, Karl Wendlinger competed for various teams in the FIA GT Championship. With Jetalliance #racing, he finished runner-up in 2007. Since 2012, Karl Wendlinger has been a Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador and instructor at the AMG Driving Academy. 

The cars from #MercedesBenz Classic at the Schloss Dyck Classic Days 2019

Benz Patent Motor Car (1886)

On 29 January 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent on his “gas-powered vehicle”. Patent number DRP 37435 is regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile, and gave its name to the Patent Motor Car. The world’s first automobile was a distinctive design in which the engine and chassis formed an organic unit. Benz designed it as a three-wheeler, as he was not convinced by the drawbar steering used for coaches. Carl Benz’s key achievement was the persistence with which he turned his vision of a “horseless carriage” into a reality: he had the idea for a motor vehicle, designed it, built it, patented it, tested it, brought it to market, produced it in large numbers, developed it further and therefore made his invention usable. The Benz Patent Motor Car ushered in a new era of personal mobility. Presented at #schlossdyckclassicdays2019, this authentic replica of the first motorcar from 1886 was built in 1969 in the company’s apprentice workshops.

Technical data of Benz Patent Motor Car
Year of manufacture: 1886
Cylinders: 1
Displacement: 954 cc
Output: 0.55 kW (0.75 hp) at 400 rpm
Maximum speed: 16 km/h 

Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram W 25 #racing car (1934)

The W 25 was the first #MercedesBenz #racing car for the new Grand Prix format launched in 1934, which stipulated a maximum weight of 750 kilograms. Designers in Stuttgart opted for a traditional vehicle structure with the front-installed engine transferring its power to the rear wheels via a transmission on the rear axle. The eight-cylinder, in-line engine initially featured a displacement of 3.4 litres and was equipped with a tried-and-tested supercharger. Thanks to its silvery aluminium skin, the car was given its nickname Silver Arrow. With Manfred von Brauchitsch at the wheel, the car was victorious on its very first trip, thereby establishing the unique success story of the Silver Arrows. The W 25 was used from 1934 until 1936, during which time it underwent continuous further development. In 1935, Rudolf Caracciola won the European Championship in this car.

Technical data of #MercedesBenz 750-kilogram #racing car W 25
Period of use: 1934 to 1936
Cylinders: 8/in-line
Displacement: 3,360 to 4,740 cc
Output: 260 kW (354 hp) to 363 kW (494 hp)
Top speed: Around 300 km/h 

Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Sports version (W 121, 1955 to 1956)

Together with the 300 SL Gullwing high-performance sports car (W 198), #MercedesBenz unveiled the prototype of the elegant, compact 190 SL (W 121) roadster in February 1954. The open-top two-door model was designed as a sporty, elegant touring and utility vehicle for two persons and, especially in the revised standard-production vehicle, was stylistically closely based on its “big brother”, the 300 SL. Conceived from the outset as a roadster, the 190 SL established the tradition of SL sports cars with a roof that could be opened. The roadster, for its part, was more closely related at a technical level to the #MercedesBenz 180 “Ponton” saloon (W 120), copying the latter’s shortened floor assembly. The 1.9-litre petrol engine rated at 77 kW (105 hp) was newly developed. The four-cylinder machine featured an overhead camshaft and was to found an entire family of engines. The Sport version of the 190 SL clocked up several motorsport successes in 1956 – such as the Macau Grand Prix and the Casablanca Grand Prix. It was, however, disadvantaged by the rules: with a small sports windscreen and without a soft top, it was not able to be completely closed, which meant it was classified by the FIA not as a GT, but as a sports car – a class in which it really stood no chance. The fact that this version was removed from the product line-up does not detract from the success of the 190 SL: a total of 25,881 of these cars were built, around 18,000 of which were exported to the USA.

Technical data of the #MercedesBenz 190 SL (production version)
Production period: 1955 to 1963
Cylinders: 4/in-line
Displacement: 1,897 cc
Output: 77 kW (105 hp)
Top speed: Up to 180 km/h 

Mercedes-Benz 500 SL Rallye (R 107, 1980)

During the company’s rally activities with the SLC coupés from 1978 to 1980, #MercedesBenz also envisaged entering the shorter and more agile model series 107 roadster. They prepared four vehicles for the 1981 season and Walter Röhrl, back then a top driver, was signed as a rally #racing driver. In this process, the SL was configured with a shorter axle ratio geared towards fast acceleration and a lower top speed. The drive axle was equipped with a differential lock generating an 80 per cent locking ratio to transfer the power of the tuned V8 engine onto the road. Another impressive property of the vehicle was the weight reduction of around 230 kilograms, which was essential for motor #racing, despite additional equipment, such as the safety cage made of aluminium tubing, additional headlamps and other rally equipment. The car was never used for #racing, however, as #MercedesBenz discontinued its rally activities before the season began.

Technical data of the #MercedesBenz 500 SL Rallye car (R 107)
Period of use (planned): 1981
Cylinders: V8
Displacement: 4,973 cc
Output: 220 kW (300 hp)
Top speed: Around 240 km/h 

Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM touring car (W 201, 1990)

The #MercedesBenz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution was created in 1989 to participate in the German Touring Car Championship. The most important modification compared with the previous year’s model, the 190 E 2.3-16, was the new engine: the 2.5-litre, sixteen-valve unit delivered up to 250 kW (340 hp). Comprehensive modifications were necessary to meet the maximum weight of 1,040 kilograms as specified in the regulations. Kevlar was used for numerous body parts, such as the bonnet, boot lid and spoiler. In May 1989, the new #racing touring car won its first ever race with Roland Asch at the wheel. As early as August 1989, work began on the second development stage, “Evolution II”, in the in-house #MercedesBenz sport technik (st) department. The resulting #racing touring car, now with 274 kW (373 hp), won its very first race in August 1990 with Kurt Thiim at the wheel. In the 1992 season, Klaus Ludwig raced the “EVO II” to win the Drivers’ title of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). In the “EVO II”, Roland Asch won the second heat of the invitational race of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in Kyalami (South Africa) on 18 November 1990. This car featured in-house an anti-lock braking system (ABS), tuned for #racing use, and was the first car ever to use this system.

Technical specifications of the #MercedesBenz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM touring car
Period of use: 1990 to 1993
Cylinders: 4/in-line
Displacement: 2,490 cc
Output: 250 kW (340 hp)
Top speed: Over 250 km/h 

Mercedes-Benz GT #racing sports car CLK-GTR (1997)

The sports car scene was revived in 1997 with the introduction of the FIA GT Championship. #MercedesBenz and AMG developed the CLK-GTR for the new race series in just 128 days. As per FIA regulations, no electronic driving assistance systems except engine, ignition and injection control were permitted, thus ruling out an anti-lock braking system, anti-slip control (ASR) or an active suspension. Powered by a 6-litre V12 engine, the CLK-GTR dominated the 1997 season, winning six of eleven races, including four one-two finishes. At the end of the season, AMG-Mercedes took the Team title and Bernd Schneider won the Drivers’ title. The evolved CLK-LM, equipped with a 5-litre V8 engine, replaced the CLK‑GTR at the end of June 1998. This vehicle proved even more dominant in the races than its predecessor: this time round, Klaus Ludwig and Brazilian Ricardo Zonta won the Drivers’ title of the FIA GT Championship in the superior CLK-LM, beating Bernd Schneider and Mark Webber to the top spot.

Technical data of the #MercedesBenz GT #racing sports car CLK-GTR
Period of use: 1997
Cylinders: V12
Displacement: 5,986 cc
Output: 464 kW (631 hp)
Top speed: 320 km/h