A 190E Evo II will race in the 2026 Nürburgring 24hrs, and Senna would be pleased

Ayrton would be happy. HWA – builders of the stunning Mercedes-based EVO – has revealed its intention to race in next year’s Nürburgring 24hr race, sending a 190E back in time.

For it was Senna’s heroics in the 1984 one-make race at the ‘Ring that helped cement his legend. Now, HWA is making its street-legal EVO resto very much track-legal, and intends to absolutely send it.

“Motorsport is in our DNA, and consequently in that of the HWA EVO,” said HWA boss Martin Marx.

HWA hasn’t specified what’s in the ‘Ring-bound EVO’s DNA, mind, saying only that a pair of them will contest the special vehicles ‘SP-X’ class, “with appropriate modifications in performance, weight and safety systems”.

Probably an opportune moment to pick over the street-car’s spec. There’s a dry-sumped Mercedes 3.0-litre V6 positioned just behind the front axle (likely the 24v M276), here turbocharged to over 450bhp. In a car that weighs 1,350kg – what the Evo II weighed in its 90s heyday.

There are big six-piston brakes, DTM-spec suspension (the original Evo II finally won a DTM title in 1992 after years of being trounced by that pesky E30), and – literally – the two biggest and most important 190 Things: fat arches and a monster rear wing.

Now the road car’s pretty much done, hotshoes Roland Asch and Klaus Ludwig will help develop the race car ahead of next year’s entry. There’ll be demonstration runs of roadgoing prototypes at this weekend’s N24, and we’ll get further details in due course.

Reckon HWA should organise another Nürburgring GP with a fleet of these EVOs? It’d make Ayrton happy…