For regular readers of Classic Driver Magazine, it will come as no surprise that wherever Rennmeister goes, we follow. That’s because our in-house creative consultancy, CD Works, is behind the activations, communication, and brand strategy for this particular project. It’s one of those “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” kind of situations. Especially in this case, where every year we get to dream up Rennmeister’s presence at the most exciting of the new generation of car events — Ultrace. And this year’s edition was one for the books. But enough braggadocio — here’s what went down.
First of all, as usual, Rennmeister brought a fleet of epic racing cars from their collection. These included the 962 Group C ground-effect Porsche (a clear fan favourite), the slant-nosed Porsche 935, the out-of-this-world V8 Opel Astra DTM, and the four-wheel-drive monster that is the DTM Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti. None of these, however, were as celebrated as the DTM BMW M3 Sport Evolution.
With the BMW 3 Series celebrating its 50th anniversary, this particular car served as the inspiration behind a very limited drop of 560 numbered packs of the Jägermeister Racing Collectors Edition Volume 1992. Each box set featured a 100ml bottle with a special label created by artist by James Martin and a 1:64 scale model of the BMW M3 E30 on display at the event (you can read more about that here). Needless to say, the drop sold out completely halfway through day one.
While the DTM E30 shone in its custom container — built to mimic the packaging of the limited-edition scale model — gigantic screens were the name of the game at this year’s event. The entire stadium lit up with thousands of LED panels, forming the main stage and many partner stands — including Jägermeister’s — with custom videos and animations by James Martin and 3D studio Zicher Team. The result? The perfect backdrop for thousands of content creators scrambling to capture the insane cars on site. And there were quite a lot of them.
Our friends from BMW Classic’s Hoffmeister Project brought Jenny Holzer's V12 LMR BMW-Williams Art Car, along with its twin race car — still the only BMW in history to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, back in 1999, with Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini, and Joachim Winkelhock behind the wheel. These were flanked by two E46 M3 GTRs, one of which became iconic thanks to the Need for Speed: Most Wanted games.
Opposite the Rennmeister stand, a stunning display of hypercars from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s featured the likes of a Ferrari 512 Koenig Bi-Turbo Testarossa, a Gemballa Mirage, a Jaguar XJ220, and a Bugatti Veyron, courtesy of Maurizio De Angelis. These stood shoulder to shoulder with two gems from The Pearl Collection, the EB110 Super Sport and the spectacular Bugatti Divo.
Other standout displays included the Tutto Bene x Race Service stand, where a Maserati MC12 Corsa took centre stage, flanked by Race Service founder James Kirkham’s AMG GTR GT3 Raw Spec and the Casa GTO F430 GT race car created by the legend Eugenio Amos. Carlo Borromeo, co-founder of design studio BorromeodeSilva and mastermind behind Tutto Bene, the Italian hillclimb “For cool cars only”, joined an engaging panel on car design alongside Ultrace superstar and “Ultrace Hall of Legends” recipient Khyzyl Saleem (aka The Kyza), hosted by our very own Błażej Żuławski.
Also worth noting was the Porsche Museum’s presence, with two incredible cars on display and a selection of Porsche Design watches that sold like hotcakes. These included the 1968 909 “Bergspyder” and the one-off 2019 Boxster Bergspyder it inspired. The size difference between the two was staggering. Nearby, the Hot Wheels stand showed off finalists from the Hot Wheels Legends competition, including a Pikes Peak-inspired Fiat 126p with a 220hp Uno Turbo engine, and a “Dakar” R32 Nissan GT-R. Alpine also impressed, bringing along rally and racing legends like the original A110, as well as the mind-bending, hydrogen-powered hypercar Alpenglow.
With 1,000 modified cars on display, we can only mention a few standouts - like the full dry-carbon midnight purple R32 GT-R, the Kyza-designed Mazda RX-7, the twin-turbo Porsche KS-R, and his brutish first production car, the TWR Supercat. We also took note of the cyberpunk deconstruction of a McLaren 750S turned drift car that Khyzyl designed for Sultan Fq, and the wild Pająk Carbonerre Porsche GT1 Manta, featuring a bonkers interior, GT1-inspired details, and active aero.
There were Bōsōzoku cars with ridiculous tailpipes, VIP-style Lexuses and Toyota Centurys, and from our friends at skateboard brand Banzai Collection, two standout Porsches - the 962C Takefuji and the wonderfully quirky Bi-Turbo 930 3.3 Almeras which we covered in 2015.
Stepping away from the cars, for the first time ever at Ultrace, special guests were invited to an atmospheric dinner and party on Friday at Warsztat Food & Garden, where the car community danced the night away. For the second year in a row, Saturday’s Night Experience concerts — this time inspired by a Boiler Room vibe and sponsored by Jägermeister Poland — drew a 6,000-strong crowd that partied until 5am. Daytime activities were just as wild, with at least eight hours of hardcore drifting each day. Participants came from as far away as Japan, like Arios Suzuki with his Ferrari 360 Modena. Inside the stadium, an art exhibition curated by interdisciplinary powerhouse Zulu Kuki showcased car bonnets as artistic canvases. Miami-based photographer Riocam was also spotted capturing early-morning content with a long-legged blonde in heels.
As always, Saturday ended with the Top 16 cars of the show selected by the judges, and on Sunday they went head-to-head in a b-boy battle-style showdown to crown the winner. It came as no surprise when Kazuki Ohashi’s Kremer K4-inspired 935ML took home Best of Show. Kazuki (aka Kazuki Madlane) reimagined the entire body, incorporating wild, innovative engineering. As the official Ultrace catalogue put it: “This sophisticated, frame-built masterpiece features bespoke components throughout, creating an aesthetic that commands attention with understated elegance.” We couldn’t agree more, the all-white Porsche had everyone hooked from day one.
The weekend wrapped up with an award ceremony where all Top 16 finalists received prizes, including Unimatic UT1 GMT Tool Watches. In the true spirit of Ultrace, there are no losers here. Before that, a touching moment: four individuals who supported the event from its earliest days — Mike Koziel, The Kyza, Kazuki Ohashi, and Matt Carter (aka Stancefaktor) — received special “Hall of Legends” rings, kicking off a new Ultrace tradition.
To sum up, after three days of pure emotion, sights, and sounds, we’re still struggling to pick the highlights from this insane show — where embracing the chaos might be the only real survival tactic. If we had to describe Ultrace in one word? Inclusivity. Where else can you see multi-million-euro hypercars parked next to a modified Lada Samara and not be entirely sure which one’s getting more attention? At Ultrace, it’s passion that counts. Not money.
Images: Filip Blank
