In the Austrian Porsche region of Zell am See, a great spectacle was offered on the weekend of February 1 and 2, 2020, despite a lot of fog. From the March F1 to the Alfasud, pretty much everyone who's anyone competed on snow and ice.
Star parade
There was no shortage of celebrities either, with Hans Joachim Stuck in the Jägermeister March 741 Formula 1 car, Stig Blomquist driving the Audi S1 Sport-Quattro, Patrick Friesacher drifting in the NASCAR car, Lucas Auer in the Austin Mini Cooper, Daniel Abt in the Audi Formula E racing car and René Rast in the DTM Audi RS5.
True to the motto, when the employer calls, the stars come ...
Change of sides
For once, a very special guest showed off his driving skills not between the tipping poles but on the 700m-long ice track in the Rallycross Audi. Retired slalom star Marcel Hirscher cut a fine figure in the 600 hp Audi S1 EKS WRX, which accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.5 seconds.
His comment: "There was nervousness and respect at the beginning. Because it's like sending a beginner skier straight onto the black slope. And I'm just a normal driver."
From the sand to the snow
One car, the New Beetle, came with its driver, TV presenter and racing driver Tanner Foust, from Southern California, a place where snow and ice are a rarity.
"It's really cool to race the Beetle over the ice here. It's great fun and something completely different for me," laughs the American rally-cross champion.
Celebrities in and behind the car
Porsche works driver Jörg Bergmeister pulled none other than Aksel Lund Svindal behind him on skis in his Dakar-winning Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 4x4.
Skijoring, which once began with horses and one horsepower, has now also arrived in Formula E, with freestyler Benedikt Meier being pulled electrically. Unfortunately, the track was blocked by a Porsche Taican standing on its side, which Meier used for selfies and a big wave with the numerous fans.
Formula 1 with starting difficulties
Unfortunately, the absolute highlight had to be canceled at short notice on Saturday evening. Strietzel Stuck's 1974 F1 March 741 no longer wanted to start just before the starting line. Stuck: "It's exactly the car in which I collided with James Hunt down to the Mirabeau in Monaco in 1974 and crashed. The car was then lost for many years and was only recently rebuilt and is now in Eckhard Schimpf's Jägermeister collection."
As no wide studded tires could be found, the car was fitted with twin wheels. "That's exactly how my father competed in the Union 16 Zylinder hill climb before the war," says Strietzel happily.
An electrical problem prevented the drive, but could be repaired during the night and so Stuck drove his four laps on Sunday to everyone's great delight. When asked how it was, the typical Stuck answer was: "Just awesome."
You had the feeling that the F1 was moving better than the DTM Audi with René Rast at the wheel. Sixth gear was already engaged, but the car had barely picked up speed. Stuck said that the March was much easier to drive than expected.
Unfamiliar terrain
You have to come up with the idea of driving a Nascar car on ice first. But it didn't look all that bad and the sound backdrop was infernal.
Nevertheless, the buggies and sidecars were massively faster than the oval monster for once. Alongside the Audi S1 Sport Quattro, with Stig Blomquist at the wheel, it was the Skoda rally squad that proved to have the most traction. Phillip Eng was also very impressed by the ex-Peterhansel winning car, the Dakar Mini, which is really no longer a "Mini".
Rarities in the snow
The oldest car at the event came from Milan, an Alfa-Romeo 8C Monza. And the rarest vehicle was certainly the Okrasa Special.
The only point of criticism of the event must be seen as being the restriction on the number of laps. Three laps of free practice, three laps of qualifying, then the fastest four progress and can drive a further four laps.
With a bit of bad luck, the race is already over after six laps or around 7 minutes and the more or less long return journey can be tackled again.
Already very popular
The fact that the event has already blossomed into a huge scene meeting place in its second edition was demonstrated by the 16,000 or so visitors at the weekend. The five-year-old boy called Marcel stood on the concrete element by the fence the whole time and knew every VW, Audi and Mercedes. His sausage fell out of the roll into the snow as his namesake Marcel Hirscher came flying towards him in an Audi.
It was great to see so many young people attending a real motorsport event once again. "Many thanks to everyone who made this great weekend possible with their commitment. We are already looking forward to next year's GP (Greger-Porsche) Ice Race," summed up the organizers Ferdinand Porsche and Vinzenz Greger.
