The snow gets deeper, visibility gets worse, the Dachstein road gets steeper and it gets more and more slippery. Snow banks make the road narrower, while the stopwatches patiently count the seconds. The gusts of wind almost sweep the old cars off the road, the windows freeze up more and more with the breath of the occupants until visibility is almost completely lost.
...and Alexander and Florian Deopito again!
The team in the Mercedes 350SLC has now won the Planai Classic four times in a row.
It should have turned out quite differently, but unfortunately you have only won a rally when you have completed the last special stage without any significant mistakes.
Catching up
While a deliberately creeping tractor with heavy chains led to more penalty points than ever expected for the Deopitos, they were able to reduce their deficit again on the Planai mountain stage and started the final special stage in second place overall, just 89 points behind.
In the World Championship stadium, which was barely kept clear of snow and spectators and immediately after the last run was prepared with heavy equipment as the finish area for the two night slaloms (women and men) on the Planai slope, the Deopitos completed the final measurements in ninth place overall.
Then the last car, the Beetle 1302 S (1972) of the overall leaders Voglar/Soucek, drove to the start. A final interview as a distraction was perhaps too much of a good thing, because just as the clock began to count down, oh shock, the Beetle stopped motionless with a dead engine. Endless time passed before the engine howled again and in the end, starting number 44 scored 1334 missing points, which threw the almost certain winner back to 29th place in the final challenge and second place overall.
The frustration ran deep, even a few tears were shed...
As at the last Planai-Classic 2020, father and son Deopito "inherited" the overall victory at the very end, this time ahead of Thomas Voglar and Jan Soucek, mainly due to their strong nerves. In third place, solid and unchallenged: The winners of day 1, Hansi Mlcoch and Martin Laaha in the Volvo 121 (1970).
Weather diversity
Once again, as so often in the beautiful Enns Valley, the weather showed all facets of its unlimited possibilities. While the race-ready Audi TT (pre-car with rally crack and Audi brand ambassador Reini Sampl) and the Healey Silverstone with start number 1 drove up the Planai mountain road in sunshine, only minutes later start numbers 28 and higher were battling their way through the snowstorm that had quickly arisen.
Night-time temperatures in the region of minus 10 and more degrees turned the roads of the mostly unsalted special stages in the damp shady areas into slippery icy surfaces. Quite a few even slid off the road at walking pace.
Open through the winter
Hats off to starting number 1, Tyroleans Johann and Gabi Kofler, who were once again not only the oldest car in the field with their Healey Silverstone (1950), but were also the only ones without a roof over their heads in the icy temperatures, braving the driving snow and, above all, the cold for the entire tour.
With hypothermic faces, they entered the communal restaurant late in the evening and no doubt enjoyed the hot soup much more than anyone else, even those whose heating only worked to a limited extent.
Almost without spectators
The Planai-Classic 2022 was once again a tough one and the three "podium places" went to teams with strong nerves. The team, which was kept in a well-shielded bubble, made its way through Styria without a large number of spectators.
Only the traditional special stage on the trotting track in Gröbming fell through the cracks, partly because the number of spectators could not have been controlled and partly because it was hardly covered in snow.
Over 50 teams competed in the first major challenge of the still young new year and it can be said that the Planai-Classic was once again a great success after the corona-related cancellation of 2021.
Result Planai-Classic 2022
| Pos | St-No. | Vehicle | Year | Driver/passenger | Class | S points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | Mercedes-Benz 350 SLC | 1972 | Alexander Deopito/Florian Deopito | 3 | 3078 |
| 2 | 44 | VW Beetle 1302 S | 1972 | Thomas Voglar/Jan Soucek | 3 | 4063 |
| 3 | 30 | Volvo 121 | 1970 | Hansi Mlcoch/Martin Laaha | 3 | 4366 |
| 4 | 21 | Alfa Romeo Giulia Super | 1966 | Michael Pachleitner/Gunter Lippitsch | 3 | 4619 |
| 5 | 19 | Volvo 122 S | 1965 | Gert Pierer/OtmarSchlager | 3 | 4969 |
| 6 | 48 | Datsun 240Z | 1972 | Gunter Schwarzbauer/Erich Hemmelmayer | 3 | 4981 |
| 7 | 47 | VW Beetle 1302 | 1972 | Franz Vieghofer/Gottfried Sommerauer | 3 | 5137 |
| 8 | 22 | Fiat 850 Coupe | 1967 | Michael Krammer/Andreas Ulm | 3 | 5930 |
| 9 | 25 | Volvo 123 GT | 1968 | Erich Landerl/Gilbert Ragowsky | 3 | 6623 |
| 10 | 23 | Porsche 912 | 1967 | Michael Haberl/Theresa Moser-Billroth | 3 | 7135 |
| 11 | 28 | Volvo 142 GT | 1969 | Helge Leinich/Gustav Fenz | 3 | 7392 |
| 12 | 46 | VW Salzburg Beetle 1303 S | 1972 | Hannes Kotratschek/Eva Kotratschek | 3 | 7522 |
| 13 | 27 | Alfa Rome Giulia | 1968 | Richard Kaan/Oliver Lammel | 3 | 7835 |
| 14 | 51 | Volvo 142 GT | 1972 | Gernot Zohrer/Stefa nie Sols | 3 | 8089 |
| 15 | 49 | VW Beetle | 1972 | Augustin Eder/Ralf Lehner | 3 | 8207 |
| 16 | 18 | Ford Mustang | 1965 | Gerhard Witzany/Astrid Witzany | 3 | 8812 |
| 17 | 14 | Volvo PV 544 Sport | 1963 | Heimo Hofstatter/Peter Dobida | 2 | 9390 |
| 18 | 12 | FIAT 2300 S Coupe Abarth | 1963 | Gebhard Fellner/Anna Sophie Fellner | 2 | 9790 |
| 19 | 29 | Porsche 911 S | 1969 | Georg Schondorfer/Frank Woodcock | 3 | 10068 |
| 20 | 15 | BMW 1800 Tl | 1964 | Michael Stoschek/Philipp Spath | 2 | 11130 |
| 21 | 4 | Austin Healey Rally | 1958 | Kay Fischer/Moritz Fischer | 2 | 13514 |
| 22 | 10 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint | 1962 | Karl Ebersberger/Rolf Sonnenmoser | 2 | 14253 |
| 23 | 35 | Lancia Fulvia Rallye 1.6 HF | 1969 | Sigi Wolf/Gerhard Felfer | 3 | 14559 |
| 24 | 9 | Porsche 356 B Coupe | 1962 | Thomas Lundt/Ingo Rimpler | 2 | 14625 |
| 25 | 39 | VW Beetle | 1971 | Reinha rd Schubert/Josef Reichenberger | 3 | 14851 |
| 26 | 38 | Mercedes-Benz 200/8 | 1971 | Harry Kilzer/Gudrun Aybek | 3 | 14904 |
| 27 | 16 | Opel Kadett A | 1964 | Michael Schroder/Rainer Peukert | 2 | 15217 |
| 28 | 6 | Volvo PV 544 | 1961 | Werner Lang/Mario Ortner | 2 | 15362 |
| 29 | 41 | Ford Escort Rallye | 1972 | Alexander Ringhofer/Philipp Ringhofer | 3 | 15438 |
| 30 | 20 | Volvo 544 Sport | 1966 | Gerhard Plasonig/Horst Nestaval | 3 | 15852 |
| 31 | 3 | VW Beetle | 1955 | Frank Hensel/Adrian Hensel | 2 | 16273 |
| 32 | 36 | Opel GT1900 | 1970 | Kevin Koch/Matthias Fuchs | 3 | 17930 |
| 33 | 1 | Healey Silverstone | 1950 | Johann Kofler/Gabi Kofler | 2 | 18654 |
| 34 | 43 | Mercedes-Benz 350 SLC | 1972 | Christian Molders/Sandra Molders | 3 | 18933 |
| 35 | 33 | Ford Cortina MKII | 1970 | Leopold Heninger/Elisabeth Heninger | 3 | 19057 |
| 36 | 26 | Porsche 912 | 1968 | Andreas Aigner/Barbara Aigner | 3 | 19462 |
| 37 | 7 | Ford Taunus 17 M Super | 1961 | Gottfried Masilko/Erich Eder | 2 | 19918 |
| 38 | 32 | VW Beetle 1300 | 1969 | Michael Lobecke/Simon Lobecke | 3 | 20622 |
| 39 | 17 | Austin Mini Cooper S | 1964 | Andreas Maron/Andy Rupp | 2 | 21044 |
| 40 | 31 | BMW 1600-2 | 1970 | Josef Gsellmann/Franz Stelzl | 3 | 21119 |
| 41 | 34 | VW Porsche 914 | 1970 | Herbert Lummerstorfer/Sabine Lummerstorfer | 3 | 21912 |
| 42 | 40 | VW Beetle 1303 | 1972 | Hans Peter Spak/Christian Hermann | 3 | 22291 |
| 43 | 8 | Austin Healey Sebring Sprite | 1962 | Martin Freund/Anna Freund | 2 | 23364 |
| 44 | 37 | Ford Escort XL 1300 | 1970 | Joachim Althammer/Christian Neunemann | 3 | 29741 |
| 45 | 52 | Volvo 144 S | 1972 | Klaus Zimmermann/Angelika Bacher | 3 | 12865 |
