On the first weekend of May 2013, the Hockenheimring will host the curtain-raiser to the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) season - and the opening salvo in BMW Motorsport's title defence. Following the drivers' and manufacturers' title-winning exploits of Canada's Bruno Spengler and BMW in the brand's comeback season of 2012, all eyes are now on the latest version of the victorious BMW M3 DTM.

However, the undercard for the first of the season's ten races will also be worth a look, as BMW Group Classic sends two legends of the track back into the limelight. The BMW M3 DTM - winner of the 1987 edition of the DTM - and the BMW M1 Procar racer driven in 1980 by Formula One world-champion-in-waiting Nelson Piquet will be lining up for action as 'race taxis' at each of the ten races on the 2013 DTM calendar.

The BMW M3 DTM of 1987 set the tone and the template for the reigning title holder in just about every way. This was the car that Belgian Eric van de Poele drove to DTM title glory in BMW’s first season in the series - a trick repeated by Bruno Spengler 25 years later in impressive fashion with the latter-day BMW M3 DTM.

The BMW M1 will also trigger memories of spectacular motor sport success for the brand as it returns to the track as the touring car's 'race taxi' partner. This 470bhp racer was piloted in the specially created Procar series in 1980 by Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian who went on to be crowned Formula One world champion in a Brabham BMW three years later.