02.06.2004 Popular German TV actress Eve Scheer will join the driving line-up when the stunning new Alfa GT Coupe makes its racing debut in the gruelling Nurburgring 24 Hours

The brand-new Alfa Romeo GT Coupe has already proved a sensation as a road vehicle. Now the stunning Bertone-designed Coupe will take to the track for the first time during the International Nürburgring 24 Hour Race (10-13 June, 2004). 

The Alfa GT Coupe racer, which pumps 220bhp from its 1.9JTD turbo diesel, has been built and entered by Alfa Romeo Divisione Sportiva, the German Alfa importer's competition division. The ARDS, who masterminded Alfa's first diesel win last year in this event, also run the popular Alfa 147JTD Cup, and the high performance driving centre, the 'Scuola Sportiva'.

In last year's 24 hour race the team caused something of a sensation when their 1.9-litre Alfa 147JTD won the S1 'Alternative Fuels' class, eighteen track positions and six laps clear of the first of much-fancied BMW runners. They also finished in a very credible 19th place overall, all after twenty four hours of hard racing on a tough track.

The Nurburgring 24 Hours bills itself as the most 'exciting race on the most beautiful and demanding track of all', and it is a claim it can certainly aspire to. The event nicknamed 'The Green Hell' will this year see 210 cars, from the factory Porsche, Audi and Opel squads to tiddlers including Minis, Renault Clios and VW Beetles, all competing on the legendary track in front of 200,000 spectators.

The 'old' Nurgburgring, is possibly the most famous and legendary racetrack in the world. Its 24.358 km, 73 corner, lap has these days been outgrown by the premiere racing series'.

The GT Coupe's driver line-up will include a German actress Eve Scheer. She is a star in her native land due to her role in the RTL television soap “Unter uns”. The 27-year-old has already driven in the German Alfa 147JTD Cup for the past two years, where she has achieved a number of victories, and is looking forward to the event "Just to have some fun in this exciting race". 

Not only is she familiar with the Nordschleife, as the Alfa 147JTD Cup visits the track, but she is also experienced with the 1.9JTD engines as they are fitted to the cars in the German series. The driver line-up is completed by Gunnar Beer, Narkus Lungstrauss and Stefan Neuberger, who was one of last year's victors for the Alfa Romeo Divisione Sportiva team.

No fewer than six other Alfa Romeo’s will be taking part in the famous race, including a Engstler Motorsport run GTV 3.0 V6. In order to underline the growing importance of the “Alternative Fuel” class to the marque, three Alfa 147 JTD’s are set to take to the grid, two of these will be fitted with 1.9 JTD engines, while the third 147 will be powered by a 2.4 JTD unit.