The 20th edition of the Planai Classic opened the 2016 classic car season on January 6, 2016 in Styria, more precisely in the Enns Valley and around Gröbming and Schladming.
Start in picture-book weather
In glorious sunshine, 46 teams in cars dating from 1930 to 1972 started the first special stage on the Gröbming trotting track. They battled until the dung stick began to smoke. From really fast to cautiously slow, you could marvel at every type of driving.
The little boy at the side of the track suddenly asked about the Red Bull car, but as we all know, it drives in a completely different series.
The oldest car broke down on the track even before the start of this first special stage. Hectic repairs were carried out all over the car, but unfortunately not where the fault actually lay. An attentive, well-known classic car mechanic with his own garage in Switzerland observed the scene and intervened when he realized that the crew of the Sunbeam was just groping nervously in the dark. And the engine was brought back to life. Damage to the gearbox ultimately put the 1930 sports car out of the race.
Snowfall in the night
The night forecast had it all, as the snowfall began at exactly the right moment. On the Tauplitzalm, the snowflakes danced from the sky and only the old flapless engines with their unmistakable sound rang through the silence of the night, long before the headlights could be seen flashing through the trees.
The ascent was no problem, as many of the participants had lead plates in the trunk to provide traction. However, the subsequent descent was crossed off the list as a special stage. Only the Lancia Aurelia B20 lost contact with the road in the driving snow and was stopped by the oncoming wall. All other participants arrived safely at the Schloss-Hotel Pichlarn for dinner late in the evening.
Enthusiastic final lap
As the name suggests, the highlight of the Planai Classic every year is the three races up the Planai. The glorious sunshine and the gigantic view coupled with a perfect road (or rather piste) could not have been more perfect for the final round.
Despite absolutely equal opportunities for all participants in the three rounds, the three-time winners Pius Weckerle / Othmar Schlager remained unbeaten in their Beetle 1303. The pair came to the Planai in the lead and defended their leading position in the three final runs.
Weckerle: "At the beginning we were far behind because we had forgotten to set the clock. But the driver made up for that." Othmar Schlager on his driver: "His motto is better to be the hunter than the hunted." Also on the podium were Alexander and Florian Deopito in the Mercedes 350 SLC and last year's winners Günter Schwarzbauer and Erich Hemmelmayer in the Datsun 240Z.
Celebrities in the snow
Hans Joachim Stuck started with his son Ferdinand in the 1956 Mille Miglia Beetle from VW. The windshield water bottle mounted on the dashboard was not always sufficient for a clear view, as the pictures from the trotting track clearly show.
The Austrian Porsche works driver Richard Lietz and his brother Philip in the Porsche 911 quickly became the absolute crowd favorites with their cross-country driving in all corners. The Porsche always skilfully "stood" on the road the way you like to see it and not necessarily the way the traffic rules demand.
Rauno Aaltonen has been celebrating his birthday for years in the Mini Cooper on the Planai. The Finn turned 78 this year and hasn't slowed down a bit. He skillfully drove the little Mini through Styria with bold, hard bursts of gas.
Former Austrian rally driver Rudi Stohl, another well-known participant, was on the road in a Pinzgauer and drove the former military vehicle around the bends, mostly against its will, but to the delight of the audience. As there was enough space on the vehicle, he also offered a night-time cab service from the Tauplitzalm to the valley. In the silence of the wintry night, the passengers' unrestrained laughter could be heard better than the singing drive unit of the Steyr-Puch.
The ranking
| Place | SNr | Vehicle | Year | Driver/passenger | Nat | ES | G points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | VW Beetle 1303 | 1972 | Weckerle/Schlager | AT | 3 | 2482 |
| 2 | 44 | Mercedes-Benz 350 SLC | 1972 | Deopito/Deopito | AT | 3 | 2570 |
| 3 | 43 | Datsun 240Z | 1972 | Schwarzbauer/Hemmelmayer | AT | 3 | 2680 |
| 4 | 16 | Porsche 911 | 1965 | Haberl/Moser | AT | 3 | 2820 |
| 5 | 24 | Volvo 123 GT | 1968 | Landerl/Ragowsky | AT/CH | 3 | 2856 |
| 6 | 8 | MG A Coupe | 1957 | Matzelberger/Rettenbacher | AT | 2 | 2861 |
| 7 | 17 | Saab 96 V4 | 1966 | Kunz/Klackl | AT | 3 | 3143 |
| 8 | 38 | VW Beetle 1302 S | 1972 | Corsmann/Voglar | AT | 3 | 3261 |
| 9 | 27 | Porsche 914/6 | 1969 | Müller/Schurz | AT | 3 | 4448 |
| 10 | 39 | Mini Cooper | 1972 | Aaltonen/Artacker | FIN/AT | 3 | 4507 |
| 11 | 49 | Skoda 120 S Rallye | 1972 | Linn/Sommerauer | EN | 3 | 4701 |
| 12 | 45 | Volvo P1800 | 1972 | Roubinek/Schrems | AT | 3 | 5106 |
| 13 | 15 | Austin Healey BJ8 | 1965 | Klaus/Ahrens | EN | 3 | 5243 |
| 14 | 14 | Ford Mustang | 1965 | Witzany/Witzany | EN | 3 | 5809 |
| 15 | 12 | Alfa Romeo Sprint GT | 1965 | Grundner/Stolte | EN | 3 | 5954 |
| 16 | 30 | Volvo 123 | 1970 | Mlcoch/Laaha | AT | 3 | 6074 |
| 17 | 29 | VW Beetle 1302 S | 1970 | Peters/Baier | AT | 3 | 6495 |
| 18 | 28 | Porsche 911 | 1969 | Lietz/Lietz | AT/DE | 3 | 6704 |
| 19 | 7 | VW Beetle | 1957 | Black/Boennecken | AT | 2 | 6906 |
| 20 | 25 | VW Beetle | 1968 | Borns/Borns | AT | 3 | 7207 |
| 21 | 11 | Volvo PV544 Sport | 1962 | Frech/Frech | AT | 2 | 7530 |
| 22 | 21 | Opel Kadett B Rallye Sprint | 1968 | Zimmermann/Zimmermann | EN | 3 | 9349 |
| 23 | 33 | Mercedes-Benz 200/8 | 1971 | Kilzer/Chrysopoulou | AT/GR | 3 | 9985 |
| 24 | 42 | Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer | 1972 | Stohl/Setti | AT | 3 | 10379 |
| 25 | 3 | VW Beetle | 1954 | Dercks/Dercks | EN | 2 | 10474 |
| 26 | 31 | Alfa Romeo 1750 GTVeloce | 1970 | Burges/Hörl | EN | 3 | 10993 |
| 27 | 37 | BMW 2000 tii Touring | 1972 | Rhomberg/Lambert | AT | 3 | 11785 |
| 28 | 41 | Rover 3500S | 1972 | Perger/Gottschlich | AT | 3 | 12263 |
| 29 | 5 | VW Beetle Mille Miglia | 1956 | Stuck/Stuck | EN | 2 | 12637 |
| 30 | 18 | Porsche 911 | 1968 | Schön/Mayr | AT | 3 | 12916 |
| 31 | 48 | VW Beetle 1303 | 1972 | Ötsch/Witsch | AT | 3 | 14231 |
| 32 | 9 | Renault 4 CV | 1957 | Hasenöhrl/Zauner | AT | 2 | 14482 |
| 33 | 36 | BMW 3.0 CSL | 1972 | Wittner/Wittner | AT | 3 | 15762 |
| 34 | 35 | Lancia Fulvia Coupe Zagato | 1971 | Martin-Ponti/Flecchia | IT | 3 | 15848 |
| 35 | 2 | Willys Jeep | 1942 | Huber/Ryda | AT | 2 | 16650 |
| 36 | 26 | Triumph GT 6 | 1969 | Domenghini/Daniel | CH/AT | 3 | 17498 |
| 37 | 23 | BMW 2500 Coupé | 1968 | Spak/Merzitsthka | AT | 3 | 17556 |
| 38 | 6 | Austin A30 | 1956 | Rohrmoser/Dirnbacher | AT | 2 | 17903 |
| 39 | 10 | Morgan +4 Super Sport | 1960 | Streminski/Streminski | EN | 2 | 18164 |
| 40 | 4 | Porsche 356 A | 1955 | Wührmann/Dreier | EN | 2 | 18170 |
| 41 | 22 | Alfa Romeo GT Junior | 1968 | Fröschl/Fröschl | AT | 3 | 18609 |
| 42 | 19 | Porsche 912 | 1968 | Wittner/Bioichini | AT/USA | 3 | 19665 |
| 43 | 1 | Sunbeam Supersport | 1930 | Kofier/ | AT | 1 | 25357 |
| 44 | 34 | Volvo P1800 | 1971 | Clerici/Rossmanith | AT | 3 | 27473 |
| 45 | 46 | Lancia Aurelia B20 GT | 1954 | Jöbstl/Forenbacher | CH/AT | 2 | 31387 |
