Once again in 2013, Georg Berlandy wins the Cologne Ahrweiler Rally in an Opel Ascona A and once again lives up to his name "Loeb of the Ahr Valley" with his ninth victory. For his co-driver of many years, Peter Schaaf, it was his sixth success in this rally. For the well-coordinated team, the victory is the perfect end to the season after winning the German Rally Championship in October.
Küke/Carl in the Kremer Racing Porsche 911RS finished in second place, 1:32 minutes behind, ahead of third-placed Rainer Hermann in the Opel Ascona 400 (2:31 minutes).
But first let's take a look at the course of this year's event.
Friday: Rain, rain, rain...
When all the teams arrived at the Parc Fermé in Mayschoss after the technical inspection of their cars, the participants were preoccupied with one crucial question in particular: "What will the weather be like?" and with it, "Which tires do I have to put on?
As the Eifel region had already experienced all kinds of weather caprices, the teams were prepared for anything. Many teams received important information directly from the track in Rodder, 30 km away, where the first 4.5 km special stage took place. This year, the Eifel once again had typical weather in store - it started to rain right on time at 4 pm.
The forest and farm roads turned into slippery aquaplaning tracks and the notorious "farmer's ice" - dirt and dust on the dirt tracks - did the rest. Just in time for the main field, we could talk about a real downpour and so an exciting Friday evening was pre-programmed.
In these difficult conditions, it was Georg Berlandy, of all people, who was the first to miss a turn-off and lose valuable time in front of hundreds of spectators. Nevertheless, he was fastest at the end of the stage, which showed two decisive points early on in the course of the rally: firstly, Berlandy will be difficult to beat and secondly, mistakes happen quickly due to the difficult conditions.
The closest rivals and contenders for the podium followed: Edwin Wolves, just 0.3 seconds behind, showed once again what drift angles are possible. Third place went to Aaltena in the Opel Manta 400, while fourth place went to Küke in the Porsche 911 RS, 9.1 seconds behind. The performances of Günther Werner in 5th place in the "only" 140 hp BMW 318 is and Olaf Rost in the "small" Audi 50 in 9th place deserve special mention, proving once again that horsepower is not everything.
Carsten Meurer, whose Ford Escort RS 2000 failed to start and the rally was over for him before it had even begun, was one of those who had reason to be annoyed. Rolf Droste in a beautiful Porsche 911 RSR fell victim to the slippery conditions on Friday evening - fortunately, both driver and car are in good health. The weather forecast for the following Saturday was better and all the teams were excitedly looking forward to the remaining 140 km.
Saturday - Green Hell but backwards!
As on Friday evening, the issue of tires was crucial on Saturday. Even though no new rain was announced, the roads in the forests and valleys were still wet, as if it had just rained. As always, the atmosphere among the numerous spectators from near and far was very good.
Georg Berlandy once again dominated the action on the first three special stages on Saturday morning. In the still wet conditions and on the short gravel sections, he had a clear advantage over the high-powered Porsches and made full use of his driving skills.
Special stage 5 was something very special: around 21 km long, it went through the infamous "Green Hell", but - and this is the very special thing - in the opposite direction. No matter which drivers and co-drivers you spoke to beforehand, everyone agreed: even the absolute Nordschleife experts pointed out that you are very surprised by some combinations of bends that you don't really notice in the "right" direction. This stage was therefore a challenge for everyone, especially because the conditions and grip levels were extremely varied from this special stage onwards.
Georg Berlandy summed it up at the finish: "In conditions like these, you never know what it will look like after the next bend. Either wet and slippery or already slightly dry and difficult to drive on the intermediate tires."
This problem persisted on all the upcoming stages, making this year's edition of the rally one of the toughest events in recent years despite the seemingly good weather - everyone agreed on that.
When in the afternoon, in addition to the historic "southern loop", some typical Eifel stages were also taken under the wheels, the participants' premonitions were confirmed once again. It was wet in the forests and almost dry on the wider country roads. These conditions were the cause of two accidents that occurred on special stages 8 and 9.
The first was the co-favorite Edwin Wolves in an Opel Kadett, whose co-driver Ferdi ter Maat was taken to hospital as a matter of routine, but was quickly released and is in good health. In another accident on special stage 9, a track postwoman was injured. However, she is doing well under the circumstances.
Fortunately, the events had a mild outcome and the organizers acted quickly and effectively. With the exception of the last two, the other special stages were able to continue and the spectators were treated to an exciting afternoon in which Michael Küke even managed to beat Berlandy's fastest time.
As a result, the spectators witnessed happy participants at the finish in Mayschoss and the beaming winners Georg Berlandy and Peter Schaaf. The podium was completed by Michael Küke and Joachim Carl in the Kremer Porsche 911 RS and Rainer and Steven Hermann in the Opel Ascona B400.
Many participants have already announced that they will be taking part again in 2014. We agree and say "see you next year"!
