Once again this year, the Teichalm Winter Classic was unsuitable for warm-weather riders. The slippery snow and ice tracks on forest and meadow paths were familiar from previous years, but on February 16 and 17, 2018, new unannounced special stages that were spontaneously added along the way were added to the mix. And the required compass navigation brought even experienced co-drivers to the brink of despair, as even the most cunning navigator lost their bearings.
Fun driving
Nevertheless, the driving, of course, as always under great time pressure, is a lot of fun in the beautiful landscape of southern Styria. Once again in 2018, it was impossible to keep to the specified times, with even the almost professional winning team of Helmut Schwab/Christian Baier in the 1979 Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 losing over 44 minutes on the target time. Towards the back of the field, the cumulative gap increased to over 12 hours, with the 1961 Fiat Abarth 850TC finishing 5:36 behind.
Colossal navigational errors on the first day, even at the first junction, which only equates to a slalom driver threading the first gate, left us far behind the long-awaited dinner. The mountain restaurant was already dark when we drove up and so it was only later in the hotel at one o'clock in the morning that we were able to calm our stomachs, which had been growling for hundreds of kilometers, with a small ham and cheese toast.
On the second day, however, we rolled up the field from behind and made up place after place. However, the gap from the previous day was far too big to make it into the top ten. So with the third-oldest car we were at least the best of three Swiss teams in 17th place.
Almost 1000 km on ice and snow
Although there is always a certain amount of ambition, we didn't come here with the intention of winning a trophy; we just wanted to have fun and we had plenty of it.
While the Porsche 356 ended up in the ditch twice, the Ford Cortina had to be pulled out of the snow once and the Ford Mustang had to wait an hour and a half on a snowbank for help, we not only drove through without any problems, but also made plenty of extra kilometers with all the navigation errors. Instead of the calculated 680 km, we safely drove 900, almost without any slips, which means that our sliders stopped twice just short of the snow terrace that needed help.
Not for expensive and valuable cars
On the second day, after a time-controlled parking maneuver, we were granted a short breather. The local woman at the table asked in all seriousness why we would drive like this in the middle of winter when the weather conditions were so bad? She also said that we looked very strange and had nothing at all in common with the people from the Ferrari club that she knew.
No, there wasn't an Italian from Maranello either, a completely different type of car was required for this company. The grit on the roads maltreats the bodywork, the chains hit the mudguards and the small slips can very quickly lead to cold deformation. Not for expensive and valuable cars, that's what the specially prepared winter vehicles are for. As our wheel arch was too narrow to fit chains, we carried two extra wheels on the roof so that we could change all the wheels fitted with chains in an emergency. But we were lucky with the spikes and managed all sections of the route without any problems.
Quite different from summer rallies
A winter rally is in no way comparable to a summer event, as the weather conditions can change completely within just a few hours and, due to the altitude above sea level, the roads are either covered in snow, ice or just wet. To make matters worse, there is often thick fog in places, so that you can only orient yourself by the wooden poles at the sides. All of these ingredients do not make for a smooth ride and the challenges are just as great for drivers and co-drivers.
Sometimes you might ask yourself why you would even take on such a rally on a free weekend, some 800 km away from home? The answer is quite simple: extreme fun with great satisfaction.
Results
1st Helmut Schwab / Christian Baier on Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo from 1979
2nd Wolfgang Rathausky / Gudrun Rathausky on BMW 2002 tii from 1973
3rd Gert Pierer / Martin Rettenbacher on Volvo from 1965
