The history of the Gaisbergrennen from 1929 to 1969 - records, heroes, mishaps
02/19/2011
The Gaisberg Race is one of the most famous racing events in German-speaking Europe and looks back on a long history . As early as 1929, Mercedes and Bugattis roared up the newly constructed 11.9 km road to the Gaisberg and climbed the 800 meters of altitude on the occasion of the First International Gaisberg Race. This event was held annually until 1933, when the chaos of war and other priorities forced a break. It was not until 1952 that the race was resumed nationally, and in 1957 internationally . Between 1957 and 1969 , the Gaisberg race was part of the European Mountain Championships.
The Gaisberg race was characterized by capricious weather conditions and influences, the hunt for records, heroic drivers, but also breakdowns. Innovative vehicle conceptswere also repeatedly tested on the Gaisberg, with Mitter and Stommelen competing with the Porsche 909 Bergspider without a fixed fuel tank, which was only used a few times, and Dieter Quester driving a super-light BMW sports car with a large wing up the Gaisberg.
With ever faster vehicles, the drive up the Gaisberg became an ever greater risk, rocks formed the boundary of the track, the right-hand side went down into the hole, only trees stopped the vehicles leaving the road, and all this at average speeds of over 140 km/h. This is how top-speed racing came to an end in 1969. We have summarized the years 1929 to 1969 in a detailed report.
In 2003, the Salzburg Rally Club took up the idea of the Gaisbergrennen again and since then has held a classic car event every year , attracting thousands of spectators and around 140 to 160 enthusiastic classic car drivers. The "new" Gaisbergrennen consists of scoring runs on the Gaisberg, on the Salzburgring and a city Grand Prix. It is always run on the basis of uniformity. The registration deadline for the 2011 event is March 1, 2011.
