3rd - 5th October 2025

The beginning of a long tradition? At the first Legends Grand Prix at the Salzburgring 

Words and pictures: Roman Klemm 

When in 1969 the Austrians completed the then ultramodern Salzburgring  circuit, they aimed very high in Salzkammergut: of course, they were looking forward to soon hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix and having tens of thousands come to cheer for the local star Jochen Rindt. The same plan, however, was realised at the same time in Styria - and Formula 1 found its home in Zeltweg...

Salzburgring, however, was not left idle. The first major international race there in September 1969 was won by Kurt Ahrens in a Porsche 908. The track then became the home of the Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix, but fans from nearby Salzburg and Munich could also regularly come to see events of the European F2 Championship, DRM, or even the World Endurance Championship. The decline of the fast track only came after 1988, when the DTM last competed there.

On the heavily modernised track and surrounding area, the Salzburg region, the German AvD club, and the Legends-Grand-Prix organisation around the experienced Achim Althammer are now striving to re-establish a truly major international event, as Althammer reports: "Our Legends-Grand Prix is one day meant to become something between the Monaco Grand Prix Historique and the Goodwood Revival."

From the event, which is supposed to take place every year on the relatively 'dangerous' date of the first weekend in October, I took away these cheerful  impressions.

01 - Very welcome guests of the event were Kurt Ahrens (left) and his wife Reni (right) 

02 - With such a Porsche 908, Ahrens won his first major race here. The veteran was not amused that he could not drive it again (on the right is Rudi Lins, another former Porsche factory driver) 

03 - Skoda at Salzburgring: gentlemen Velebný and Kafka demonstrated their sports car that competed in Le Mans in 1950. 

04 - A special corner was dedicated to Niki Lauda with his 1974 Ferrari 312 and 1980 BMW M1. 

05 - On the track appeared the sensational Group44-Jaguar XJR5 from 1985 

06 - One of "Lauda's rescuers from Nürburgring 1976", Hans Clausegger with his special ONS-Rescue-Porsche. 

07 - Fans had stars within reach during frequent interviews: here are Karl Wendlinger and Clemens Schickentanz 

08 - Junior Porsche driver Klaus Bachler was allowed to try the Porsche 965 for the first time.

09 - 9-time 24h Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen drove - unfortunately only on the wet Sunday - an Audi 90 quattro IMSA

10 - The event suffered somewhat from inclement weather on Sunday: Jürgen Rädlein in a Melkus-Wartburg F-Junior. 

11 - The 6-litre 1972 Steinmetz-Opel Commodore B Jumbo is truly an incredible beast. 

12 - The F1 sector was represented by this 1988 Rial-Ford of Andrea de Cesaris. 

13 - Was only exhibited: the Porsche 804-F1, with which Dan Gurney won the French GP in 1962. 

14 - Pre-war cars also had their place: the enormous 1925 Gräf & Stift. 

15 - Walter Roehrls classic rallye car Fiat 131

16 - The 'spirit of Jules Verne' was successfully brought to life in the paddock by the gentlemen of the Dutch art group Abacus. 

17 - Christian Danner in the Aston Martin leading other GT class cars  through the Fahrerlager Chicane. 

18 - Rudi Lins in a Porsche 906 Carrera. 

19 - Hans-Joachim Stuck in an Audi 90 quattro IMSA on a sunny Friday. 

20 - So lets be heading towards a long tradition - Legends Grand Prix at the Salzburgring!