ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival 2018 – New Challenges

The eighth edition of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival is due to take place from July 19th to 21st, 2018 and will feature some new highlights for spectators and drivers alike. During the winter, the organisers have gone the extra mile to include two new stages in this demonstration event for classic rally cars. Entries for this normally over-subscribed event will open on March 1st, 2018.

The event will kick-off on Thursday, July 19th, with an all-new shakedown stage which has never been used on a rally. The ‘Maubach-Arena’ is a 100% tarmac stage with a total distance of 5.4 kilometres. The fact that it is a loop of nearly two kilometres driven three times will make it especially appealing to the audience. “Rally fans standing in the main spectator area of the ‘Maubach-Arena’ can see nearly 75 percent of the entire stage”, says Chief Safety Office Pascal Neuens.

The second new stage will be tackled on Saturday and is a combination of both new and well-known roads. The ‘Risselberg’ stage was part of the Festival until 2014 and now makes a come-back in a new, 14.5-kilometre layout. The demonstration stage will start with a closed loop near Niederstadtfeld before crossing the village where it joins the famous hill-climb track that hosted the ‘Risselberg-Rennen’ from 1970 to 1982. This stage also incorporates a spectator area with an excellent view from which one can see nearly the whole of the closed loop.

Motorsport has a long history in this village and still has a great appeal to the people, as Otmar Anschütz, Chief Organiser of the Eifel Rallye Festival, points out. “In fact, the people from Niederstadtfeld approached us and asked whether we would like to drive through their town again. As you can see, their door was wide open and thanks to the support of the local community we could realise this new and attractive version of the legendary Risselberg stage.” A local metal processing company will even shut down for the duration of the Eifel Rallye Festival.

The Festival organisers received the same warm welcome at the ‘Maubach-Arena’ which practically cuts off the town of Hörscheid from the rest of the world on that Thursday afternoon. “We have a green light for both stages, the communities are really looking forward to the event and they will also support us with catering for the spectators”, says Neuens who together with his Deputy, Martin Dimmig, is one of the youngest people playing a key role in the Festival organisation.

Apart from those new stages, the one hundred and fifty or more crews who are expected to come to the Vulkaneifel region will experience an event with a well-proven concept. The 2018 Eifel Rallye Festival will kick off with the shakedown stage on Thursday afternoon which is followed later by the ‘Welcome Evening’ in the Rally Mile of Daun. On Friday morning, everyone’s attention focuses on scrutineering and the VIP driver’s autograph session. After lunch, the real action begins with the all-gravel ‘Hyundai Super Stage’ while in the evening, the action shifts to the ‘proWIN Hilgerath’ night stage. Saturday is the most intensive day with three stages – including the Risselberg hill-climb – each held twice. After that, the crews have every reason to celebrate their participation by attending the Rally Party.

Everyone who is keen on taking up this challenge and owns a car complying with the Slowly Sideways regulations in terms of originality, will be able to enter the Eifel Rallye Festival from March 1st, 2018.

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Contact for international media
John Davenport (UK)
Email: john.davenport@eifel-rallye-festival.de

Sebastian Klein (Germany)
Email: sebastian.klein@eifel-rallye-festival.de