Press Information
Press release 2019 - 08
ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival 2019 - Finally it's Festival Time
- A meeting of the champions: eighteen German rally title holders come to the Eifel
- Premiere: The Proton Iriz R5
- Festival weekend with many various attractions
In the volcanic Eifel around Daun, the earth will tremble and the air will burn. But the reason is not the extinct volcanoes that gave this landscape its name. At the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 18th/20th 2019) one hundred and seventy cars from the history of rallying will set the region vibrating. At the largest rolling rally museum, often referred to as the "The Elephant Parade of Historic Rally Sports", there is a comprehensive collection of original and faithful rally cars from the history of this wonderful sport.
The reputation of the Eifel Rallye Festival now extends far beyond Europe, and the origin of the cars, drivers and fans at the event this year is testimony to the 2019 motto of "Rally Around the World". With the display of rally cars in the Rallye Mile in the centre of Daun, the demonstration drives on the demanding asphalt roads of the Vulkaneifel and the international meeting of drivers and fans, the Festival is a unique mixture of sport, show, romantic rallying and last but not least a tourist highlight for the region.
The big meeting of the German rally champions
In the 1960s, there was already a German Rally Championship, but the events on which it was based were mainly regularity drives with an orientation character. From 1970 onwards, the sport developed in its current form and since then there has been one champion every year until 2006. At the Eifel Rallye Festival 2019, eighteen of these title winners will be present: Wolfgang Inhester (1980), Harald Demuth (1982, 1984), Willy Lux (1984), Erwin Weber (1983, 1991), Kalle Grundel (1985), Manfred Hiemer (1991), the record-breaking champion Matthias Kahle (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010), Stefan Kopczyk (2012) as well as Georg Berlandy and Peter Schaaf, the champions of 2013. The fans will be able to meet many of these champions and international rally legends on the large show stage at Laurentiusplatz during the autograph session on July 19th from 11:00 onwards. And amongst those legends will be Stig Blomqvist, Harald Demuth, Matthias Kahle, Jochi Kleint, Jimmy McRae, Luis Moya, Timo Salonen, Niki Schelle, Isolde Holderied, Catherine François, Erwin Weber, Nicky Grist, Kalle Grundel and Josep Maria Servià.
Premiere: The new Proton Iriz R5
The homologation of the Proton Iriz has just been approved by the FIA and uniquely it is the only R5 vehicle that is approved both as right and left-hand drive. The British tuning company Mellors Elliot Motorsport will use this new turbocharged, all-wheel drive vehicle developed and built by them for the first time outside the United Kingdom. Former World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm was involved in the development of this car. On the European debut of the Proton Iriz R5, a father and daughter will be sharing the driving: Aziz and Nabila Tejpar. Aziz has recently restricted his own sporting activities somewhat to make way so that he can support his daughter's rally career. Nabila, the reigning British ladies' rally champion, is competing this year in the Iberian Peugeot Cup in Spain and Portugal and in the European Rally Championship, where she is the current leader of the ladies' classification.
When wanderlust plagues you: Long ways to come to the Eifel Rallye Festival
Wanderlust is a widespread "disease". Whoever lives in the mountains wants to go to the sea, whoever lives in the city yearns for the countryside, whoever lives overseas sits there and dreams of the heart of rallying - and that is in Europe. But very few of them are so obsessed that they simply pack their rally cars into a container to be able to take part in the Eifel Rallye Festival.
But one of them has done just that. He is Darryn Snooks from Australia. He stumbled across a Datsun 710 SSS in excellent condition in New Zealand in 2005. He then undertook a lengthy project to build a faithful copy of the original 710 SSS factory car used in Australia. A worldwide search for parts meant that he was almost eight years into the build before he found one of the very rare twin-cam engines that would complete the project perfectly. Darryn: "When we started building the car, we had the vague dream that one day we might bring it to Europe. When you live and grow up in Australia and watch legends like Stig, Ari, Henri and Walter, it was a dream to be there".
The second is Ross Clarke from New Zealand. In 2013, he decided to build a Group B Celica Turbo because there were no originals left since, at the end of the Group B era in 1986, Toyota had scrapped nearly all of the other models. In the workshop of Neil Allport in New Zealand, a series production Celica TA64 served as the basis, and the restoration of Gerd Dick's original Turbo Celica, which was documented in detail on the Internet, served as a template for many details and dimensions of the copy. In 2018 Ross Clarke came to the Eifel Rallye Festival as a spectator and spontaneously decided to ship his Celica to Germany for 2019 in order to participate.
Timetable
Thursday: Shakedown in the Maubach Arena and Welcome Evening with Open-Air Cinema
Already on Thursday from 15.00 o'clock in the Eifel the sound of apparently long past rally days can be heard. The 'Maubach-Arena' between Darscheid and Hörscheid is again the venue for the festival overture. In the Rally Mile in Daun, the Welcome Evening with the traditional open-air cinema by cult filmmaker Helmut Deimel will lure you from 20:30. Moderator Markus Stier will guide you through the night in an entertaining way.
Friday: Scrutineering, autographs, gravel and Sarmersbach at night
For technology freaks, Friday from 08:00 is an absolute must. The technical control of the vehicles in the Rally Mile that is open to the public offers some interesting insights into the vehicle technology. From 11:00 onwards, the autograph session will be held.
In the afternoon the fans are spoilt for choice since the water hole, jump or even the drift curve - the Super Stage offers everything from 14:20 that makes the heart beat faster. Only a few hundred metres away, the legendary special stage around Sarmersbach starts at 19:20 and runs into the night. While the pilots drive through this small Eifel village several times, the inhabitants celebrate together with thousands of fans overlooking the special stage.
Saturday: Vulkaneifel pure-bred stages and then rally party
Saturday will be dominated by the demanding asphalt special stages in the Vulkaneifel region around Daun. The three stages are tackled once in the morning and again in the afternoon. The fans have the choice between 'Risselberg', the 'Kelberger Land' and the absolute classic 'Lehwald'. During the extended lunch break there will be the opportunity to visit drivers and vehicles in Daun. The finale will then take place in the Rally Mile from 19:30 at the big Rally Party.
Always worth a visit: The Rally Mile in Daun, home of 'Rally around the World'.
The city centre of Daun will be transformed into a Rally Mile for the festival weekend. Around Leopoldstraße are the service points of all the rally cars. Ideal as a meeting point for photographers and autograph hunters, here is also the time for many 'petrol-head conversations'. The Leopoldstraße has everything connected with rallying. There are also stands with model cars, special reading material or anything interesting for rally freaks. Very important, as well is the Organiser's information stand where one can buy programmes and tickets as well as other products for rally fans.
The search is on for the most beautiful photo of the event.
The photo competition open to the fans brings to light every year countless and above all fascinating pictures. In addition, the winners can look forward to attractive prizes. All the information you need about this competition and the various sections can be found at: https://www.eifel-rallye-festival.de/de/Fotowettbewerb.html
Eifel Rallye Festival - Time Table
Thursday, 18.07.2019 | |
15:00 - 19:00 hrs | Shakedown at the 'Maubach Arena' near Hörscheid |
from 20:30 hrs | Welcome Evening in the Rally Mile, Open Air Cinema with film-maker Helmut Deimel |
Friday, 19.07.2019 | |
From 08:00 hrs | Scrutineering in the Rally Mile |
11:00 - 12:00 hrs | Autograph Session with the VIP drivers |
From 14:20 hrs | Super Stage with jump, water splash and gravel action |
From 19.30 hrs | proWIN Hilgerath stage in Sarmersbach at night |
Saturday, 20.07.2019 | |
08:30 - 17:00 hrs | Tarmac Stages in the Vulkaneifel region |
inbetween | Rally Mile in Daun with various attractions |
From 19:30 hrs | Rally Party & Prize Giving |
Info for all journalists: Accreditation is now open and available from:
https://www.eifel-rallye-festival.de/en/Accreditation-Info.html
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Contact for international media
John Davenport (UK)
Email: john.davenport@eifel-rallye-festival.de