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The official works AMG-Mercedes squad entered several of the machines under different sponsorship. Most eye-catching of all were the silver cars (silver being traditional Mercedes racing colours) sponsored by the mobile telephone company D2. The Zakspeed team also ran bright yellow C-Class cars financed by the Pro-Markt electrical retail chain. The C-Class was immediately successful for Mercedes, winning the DTM titles in both 1994 (Klaus Ludwig) and 1995 (Bernd Schneider) against the four wheel drive Alfa 155s and the Opel Calibra V6. In 1995 under the auspices of the FIA, the DTM championship was taken out of its national context. Several of the races took place in other parts of Europe under the parallel title "ITC" or International Touring Car Championships. This meant that the Mercedes squad were able to claim two titles in one year - both DTM and ITC.
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For 1996, the DTM became officially known as the ITC and took on the status of a genuine international series. Races took place in Germany, Portugal, Britain, France, Italy, Brazil and Japan, thrilling crowds wherever it went. There was also the now legendary "ITC Thunder" street race in Helsinki, Finland which attracted a crowd of 110,000 people. The prestigious nature of the series attracted an enviable roster of superstar drivers. Established names such as Ludwig, Stuck, Lehto, Roseberg, Nanini, Larini, Tarquini and Fittipaldi aswell as superstars-to-be such as Fisichella, Montoya, Wurz, Franchitti and Magnussen.
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