ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (August 15.-17. 2024) Press release 07
Eifel Rallye Festival: Impressive variety
Fortieth anniversaries for Blomqvist, Demuth and
for Röhrl's Monte victories
Some spectacular opening cars with Zeltner,
Schelle, Schleimer and Sampl
Programme booklets and tickets all available to
order now
The entry list for the Twelfth Edition of the Eifel
Rallye Festival that is published today shows just how
colourful and diverse the starting field is going to be.
Between August 15th and 17th, 2024, one hundred and sixty
historic rally cars will reverberate the forests of the
Volcanic Eifel around Daun. Cars from makes such as Alfa
Romeo, Alpine, Audi, Citroën, Ferrari, Ford, Hyundai,
Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Trabant, Triumph, Volvo
and VW will be represented. In addition, there are the
different vehicle types to be considered, many of which
are variants and evolutions that emerged during a
particular car's years of use.
In total, there are thirty different car manufacturers,
ninety-five different models and one hundred and
forty-five variations of livery. "We are very proud
that our participants are giving us and the fans such a
diverse field," says Reinhard Klein, who as the head
of Slowly Sideways is responsible for the vehicle line-up
for the Festival. "The quality of these either
original or faithfully reproduced rally cars has yet again
increased. Thanks to this, we – the organisers and the
participants – are making a joint contribution to
preserving the history of rallying."
Fortieth anniversaries for Blomqvist, Demuth and for
Röhrl's Monte victories
"Of course, the cars are the stars of our Festival,
but we are also very happy when their former drivers find
their way to our big class reunion of global
rallying," says organisation manager Otmar Anschütz
from the organising MSC Daun, who is looking forward to
welcoming the 'human' stars of the scene as well as the
rally cars. With Marcus Grönholm, Harri Rovanperä, Bruno
Thiry, Nicky Grist, Kalle Grundel, Herbert Grünsteidl,
Mike Kirkland and Yvonne Mehta, the VIP lounge is going to
be well filled.
Two of these top drivers are also celebrating an
anniversary in Daun. Stig Blomqvist achieved his greatest
success forty years ago when he won the World Rally
Championship. To celebrate that, Audi Tradition is
providing him with the original Quattro A2 in which he
competed – and emerged victorious – in Sweden in 1984.
Harald Demuth won his second title in the 1984 German
Rally Championship driving both Audi A1s and A2s. For the
anniversary, he will be driving the original Sport Quattro
S1 from their treasure trove, which Walter Röhrl drove at
the 1985 Monte. "That fits really well," says
Demuth, looking forward to the event, "because I had
the honour of driving the last official WRC event for Audi
with the short Quattro at the 1986 RAC Rally. "Demuth
is an avowed fan of the Festival and has been at every
edition, "I'm really looking forward to meeting
everyone again, because you just can't live without the
Eifel."
It is also exactly forty years since Walter Röhrl
celebrated the last of his four victories at the Monte
Carlo Rally. For this reason, the cars driven by the VIPs
will be followed over the stages by seven faithful
replicas of the cars that 'the Tall One' drove to victory
at the Monte. These include, of course, the four winning
models: Fiat 131, Opel Ascona 400, Lancia Rally 037 and
the Audi Quattro A2.
Some spectacular opening cars with Zeltner, Schelle,
Schleimer and Sampl
The opening cars who drive the stages ahead of the main
field do not have to comply with the strict regulations
and specifications of the others. For the fans, however,
they are the perfect way to get in the mood for the parade
of historic rally cars that follows. This is guaranteed
above all by the head of the field, which is led by
two-time German rally champion Ruben Zeltner. He will be
driving his legendary 'Zebra', a Porsche 996 GT3.
"After I twice unfortunately had to cancel my
attendance at the Festival, my entire team is delighted
that we can finally be here," explains Zeltner. For
him personally, there is another highlight: "In my
first rally career as a co-driver, I was able to take part
in two Group B cars, a Lancia 037 and a long Quattro. I'm
really looking forward to seeing cars like these again
live."
The front-wheel drive faction, a.k.a the 'Little
Screamers', is led by Niki Schelle (Suzuki Ignis S1600),
Christoph Schleimer (Opel Corsa S1600) and then Roman
Schwedt in a Suzuki Swift S1600. "It's great fun to
be part of this illustrious group," says Schelle, as
he looks forward to the Eifel. "As there is no time
classification, it's all about putting on a great show for
the fans. We will certainly be pushing each other to the
limit."
Austrian and paralympic skiing star, Reini Sampl, has
something special in store this time: "The fans can
look forward to a cool Audi S1 body with modern technology
under the bonnet. It's also perfect that we can drive this
piece of jewellery in the great company of Ruben and
Niki."
Advance sales of programme booklets and tickets are
underway.
Following last year's positive experience, the sale of the
programme booklet and tickets will be organised via the
RallyWebShop again this year. This means that it is once
again possible to offer day tickets in advance as well as
weekend tickets. The RallyWebShop also offers payment
options via PayPal or credit card. All details can be
found here:https://www.rallyandracing.com/rallywebshop/eifel-rallye-festival-2024/.
Eifel Rallye Festival 2011-2022 - The official book
If you want to bridge the time until the next Festival in
an entertaining way, you can do so with the official book
about the first ten editions of the Eifel Rallye Festival:
The highlights of each year are described on more than
three hundred pages. There are rally cars that have never
been seen since they last competed. In addition, there is
a unique cross-section of rally history with the classics
from Mini and Volvo PV544, to Group 4 legends like the
Stratos and Ascona 400, then the unforgettable Group B
monsters, the stars of Group A from Lancia to Subaru and
finally the spectacular World Rally Cars. The book's
bilingual text (German and English) and the many photos
are completed by numerous tables and overviews of starters
and rally cars. The Festival's long-time patron, Walter Röhrl,
summarises his impressions of the Festival in a foreword.
Here is the ordering link to obtain copies of this
remarkable book from the RallyWebShop: https://www.rallyandracing.com/mcklein-store/buecher/eifel-rallye-festival-2011-2022-das-offizielle-buch?c=1194
