Specially developed, weight-optimized RONAL racing wheels make sure the grams disappear where they hurt most. Under the hood: an in-house 3.0-liter V6 biturbo with around 560 hp and 670 Nm, managed by a Bosch Motorsport ECU, paired with a sequential six-speed gearbox. A six-way adjustable KW and H&R race suspension and AP Racing brakes inspire confidence—deliberately balanced so ambitious amateurs can tap into the potential, too. Reinforced monocoque, FIA-homologated cage, safety fuel cell: the EVO.R is deadly serious.

Nothing was left to chance technically, either: the base may be the EVO, von Schöning says, but every component was consistently tailored to the demands of the racetrack. From the very first test runs, it was immediately clear the car delivered exactly what they had envisioned.

No one knows what it feels like at the wheel better than Luca Ludwig, who is following in the footsteps of his father, Klaus Ludwig, with the EVO.R. Compared with a GT3, he said after one of the first race outings, the EVO.R moves around noticeably more. If you really want to be fast in it, you need “balls.” Not understatement—genuine respect for a car with character: even in fast sections, enormous potential was already tangible, and the team learned a huge amount that day.

Just as important to Ludwig was the courage behind the project: the increased attention, on site and online, was obvious to him. Given the work involved, he found it remarkably bold that HWA took this step at all—along with the necessary investment. Before the race, he stayed grounded rather than boastful: he realistically expected mid-pack, but with a clean run he hoped for a top-30 finish and a class podium.

The night that confirmed everything
Originally, two cars were meant to be enough. But interest was so strong that a third vehicle was added. In the HWA EVO.R with start number 62, three men with famous DTM surnames shared a cockpit: Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig, and Markus Winkelhock—alongside regular driver Adam Adelson. Asch and Ludwig are the sons of Mercedes touring-car legends Roland Asch and Klaus Ludwig, who once fought each other for DTM titles in the 190E Evo II—and who were already involved in developing the road-going EVO before their sons were even allowed behind the wheel. Not a coincidence, but a bow to their own past: yesterday’s rivalry, now teamwork in the same cockpit.

Extra goosebumps came courtesy of HWA EVO.R #63: Bruno Spengler was at the wheel, who raced for HWA in the DTM from 2005 to 2011 and became one of the series’ most successful drivers. When Martin Marx called him personally, he didn’t have to think twice: “It feels great to be driving for HWA again,” he said, visibly moved, about his reunion with the “Green Hell” and many familiar faces from his DTM days.

König Pilsener, Kärcher, and SONAX as partners—logos that were already stuck on Mercedes DTM cars in the early ’90s. It wasn’t just three new cars running here; an entire story was along for the ride.

In front of 352,000 spectators, in changeable weather and with numerous incidents, the trial by fire followed.
In the middle of the night, after around nine hours, Sebastian Asch delivered one of those live moments that make a 24-hour race: a risky tire call in shifting conditions,
a spontaneous switch to slicks, then a cooling-system leak that briefly put the pit box on edge. “The car has worked relatively well so far,” he reported matter-of-factly between the dramas—and in the end, he was right.

Twenty-four hours later, all three HWA EVO.R cars cross the finish line. The #61 with Adam Adelson, Lance David Arnold, Jamie Green, and Renger van der Zande secured second place in the SP-X class. The DTM-sons trio in #62 fought back to third despite a radiator issue. Bruno Spengler brought the #63 home in fourth, together with Christian Gebhardt, Evald Holstad, and Peter Ludwig. Not a perfect race, but an honest one—and a debut you couldn’t have scripted better in Affalterbach.