Klaus Ludwig at the Nürburgring in 1973. The Nürburgring, known as simply " The Ring " by enthusiasts is a Motorsport Race track in Nürburg, Germany.

Klaus Ludwig (born May 5, 1949) is a German former race driver, born in Bonn. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Unlike Hans-Joachim Stuck, Rolf Stommelen, Harald Ertl, Hans Heyer and Jochen Mass, he has never raced in single seaters (just doing a few test drives). Hans-Joachim "Strietzel" Stuck (born January 1, 1951) is a German racing driver who has competed in Formula One and many other Rolf Stommelen ( 11 July 1943 - 24 April 1983) was a Racing driver from Siegen Germany. Harald Ertl ( August 31, 1948 - April 7 1982) was an Austrian Motorsport Journalist and racing driver Hans Heyer (born March 16, 1943 in Mönchengladbach, Germany) is a Racing driver from Wegberg, the site of the Grenzlandring Jochen Mass (born September 30, 1946 in Dorfen, Bavaria) is a former Racing driver from Germany. He is called König Ludwig for his success with touring cars and in sports car racing. A touring car was a popular Car body style in the early 20th century being a larger alternative to the runabout and the Roadster. Sports car racing is a form of circuit Auto racing with Automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels

In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, winning in 1979 with a Kremer-Porsche 935. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (translated as German Racing Championship) or simply DRM as it was known as was a touring cars and Sportscar racing series Kremer may refer to People Gerard de Kremer, Gerardus Mercator Gidon Kremer, a celebrated Latvian Violinist The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976 as the racing version of the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo prepared for FIA - Group 5 rules (similar to the Porsche With this car, based on the then 15 year old Porsche 911 road car design, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall in the wet, an unprecedented and never repeated win against the faster pure sports car racing prototypes. The Porsche 911 (pronounced as Nine Eleven, Neunelfer is a Sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany The 24 Hours of Le Mans ( 24 Heures du Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, Sports car racing is a form of circuit Auto racing with Automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels

Klaus Ludwig's 1981 Group 5 Zakspeed Ford Capri at the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany

In 1984 and 1985, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing in their #7 Porsche 956. Group 5 was an FIA classification for cars in Sportscar racing. Zakspeed is a Motor racing team from Germany founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski. The 24 Hours of Le Mans ( 24 Heures du Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, Joest Racing (currently Audi Sport Team Joest) is a racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works The Porsche 956 was a Group C Sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. Considering Le Mans and sportcars too dangerous after the deaths of Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof, he was recruited for the 1987 World Touring Car Championship for Ford only to finish runner-up by a single point to BMW driver Roberto Ravaglia after a post-season disqualification. Manfred Winkelhock ( October 6, 1951 - August 12, 1985) was a German Racing driver. Stefan Bellof (born in Gießen, Germany on November 20, 1957 – died in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on September The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the 1st World Touring Car Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 Roberto Ravaglia (born May 26, 1957, in Venice, Italy) currently runs BMW 's Team Italy-Spain in the World Touring He then moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM), and became champion in 1988 in a Ford Sierra Cosworth. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German Touring Car Championship or DTM) was a Touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996 The Ford Sierra is a Large family car built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993 Cosworth is an Automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958 specialising in engines for automobile racing (motorsport Ludwig also represented IMSA in the 1986 International Race of Champions, finishing 8th.

He repeated the success at Mercedes-Benz in 1992 and 1994, before moving back to sports cars racing for them in 1997 to become the 1998 FIA GT Champion. Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury Automobiles Buses coaches and Trucks It is currently a division of the Schedule Season Results Teams Championship Points are awarded to the top 6 finishers in the order of 10-6-4-3-2-1 The 1998 FIA GT Championship season was the 2nd season of FIA GT Championship. The FIA GT Championship is a Sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de He retired when the series did not continue in the 1999 season.

He soon returned in June 1999, to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring on the Nordschleife for the third time driving a Zakspeed Viper. The 24 Hours Nürburgring is a GT and touring car Endurance racing event on the Nürburgring, inspired by the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans and The Nürburgring, known as simply " The Ring " by enthusiasts is a Motorsport Race track in Nürburg, Germany. Zakspeed is a Motor racing team from Germany founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski. The Dodge Viper is a V10 -powered Sports car manufactured by the Dodge division of Chrysler LLC.

When the DTM resumed as Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2000, he returned to the series, winning at the age of 50 years at the Sachsenring circuit, only to retire once again. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters ( DTM, German Touring Car Masters is a Touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere Also see Sachsenring AG, named after this race track for the former maker of the Trabant car

Ludwig returned as a "hobby pilot" to the Nürburgring Nordschleife when given the opportunity to drive a high power vehicle. The years 2004 and 2005 saw him enter the 24 Hours Nürburgring with Uwe Alzen on the Jürgen Alzen Porsche 996 GT2 Bi-Turbo. Uwe Alzen (born 18 August 1967) is a German racing driver. Alzen was born in Kirchen. Jürgen Alzen (born in Kirchen, Germany) is a Race car driver from Germany. The Porsche 996 is the company's internal name for the version of the Porsche 911 model manufactured and sold between 1998 and 2005 With a normally aspirated Porsche 997 GT3 of the Alzen brothers, Ludwig plus Christian Abt managed to beat the old distance record in the 2006 edition of the 24h, yet finished only second, 1 lap behind the winners. The Porsche 911 GT3 was introduced in 1999 as a high performance version of the first Water-cooled version of the Porsche 911, the 996, to continue Christian Abt (born May 8, 1967) is a successful Race car driver born in Kempten, Germany, into a family of amateur

Ludwig has also worked as a TV commentator on DTM races.

Works

• Winner 24 Hours of Le Mans: 1979, 1984, 1985
• Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft champion 1979, 1981
• Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft champion 1988, 1992, 1994
• FIA GT World Champion 1998