Almost like 31 years ago
07/21/2017
No, this photo was not taken in Portugual, San Remo or Greece. And it is also not 31 years old, although the car is, of course.
1986 was the last year in which the Group B cars competed for world championship points, before the cars were banned because they were too fast in the eyes of the rule-makers. Today's WRC cars, however, are significantly faster and, with their electronically controlled chassis and computer-controlled differentials, they iron out even the worst tracks. What did Walter Röhrl say in a recent interview? "With modern cars, anyone can drive fast. It wasn't like that in the past, when it was easier for the good guy to win. For me, Ogier is a poor guy. He has a hard time because they can all drive fast."
And because today's cars are fast, but no longer look as spectacular as they did back then, rally fans like to make the pilgrimage to historic events such as the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival, which has been running around Daun since yesterday.
"The documentation of rally sport from six decades characterizes the starting field of this year's ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 20 - 22, 2017) in Daun. 172 contemporary automobile witnesses from 33 manufacturers form the huge backdrop, with participants from 17 nations coming to the Vulkaneifel. The organizers announced the event as follows: "Everything is represented here, from the early models that achieved their success in regularity races to the latest cars that thrill fans today in downright high-speed spectacles".
What they probably hadn't reckoned on were the disagreements that developed between spectators and the stewards at the shake-down on the first evening, which led to an interruption of around an hour. One man's bad luck, another man's good luck. For the photographers, the extension of the event meant changed lighting conditions, which led to some wonderful shots, as the photo of the Peugeot 205 T16 impressively shows ...
P.S. Of course, we will be reporting on the Eifel Rallye Festival soon with lots of photos.
