Laurin & Klement took part in the Austrian Alpine Rally 110 years ago. Between 1910 and 1914, five editions of this rally, which was up to 2,932 kilometers long, took place - making it one of the most demanding challenges that man and machine could face at the beginning of the 20th century. The models of the car manufacturer Laurin & Klement were able to prevail against the renowned international competition each time, also thanks to the strong performance of racing driver Count Alexander 'Sascha' Kolowrat-Krakowsky.
A challenge for man and machine
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Alps with their unpaved, winding mountain passes provided the backdrop for some of the most challenging racing events in the world. These included the famous hill climb on the Semmering, which connects Lower Austria with Styria. On September 20, 1908, barely three years after the start of automobile production in Mladá Boleslav, Laurin & Klement celebrated an outstanding motorsport success on this ten-kilometre track. The brand won in all three categories in which it competed with its special racing and touring cars, and also took numerous second and third places.
An even greater challenge came a little later with the Austrian Alpine Rally, which took place for the first time on June 26, 1910. From Vienna, the route went through Lower Austria and Styria, Carinthia and the Salzburg region. After three days or 867 kilometers and numerous sections through difficult high mountain terrain with many climbs, including the Katschberg Pass, only 14 of the 23 participants arrived back at the starting point.
A Czech from the USA
The team from Mladá Boleslav competed with three 20 hp 95 x 130' Laurin & Klement market touring cars. The near-series vehicles had a 20 hp (14.7 kW) engine with a cylinder bore of 95 millimetres and a piston stroke of 130 millimetres. One of these vehicles was driven by Count Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky. The US-born Czech, who went down in history as the founder of the Austrian film industry and the discoverer of Marlene Dietrich, was also a passionate motorcyclist and car racer.
He managed to finish the Alpine tour without a single penalty point. The two other Laurin & Klement vehicles, driven by the Croatian Count Paul Drašković and Laurin & Klement chief designer Otto Hieronimus, also reached the finish line. This enabled the car manufacturer from Mladá Boleslav to win the coveted team classification and ultimately also win the five-kilometer special stage outside the gates of Vienna with an outstanding average speed of 104.985 km/h. During this special stage, the organizers used the speed driven to ensure that the vehicles were not equipped with a shorter overall gear ratio, which would have given them an advantage on the climbs in the mountains.
Bureaucracy hasn't just been around since today...
In 1911, Laurin & Klement entered the Alpenfahrt to defend their title. The distance was already 1,421 kilometers and the route led over the Loibl Pass with a gradient of up to 30 percent. The strict regulations stipulated that the vehicles' engines had to run without interruption during the day's stages. Penalty points were awarded for repairs carried out en route, driving too slowly or deviating from the prescribed route, among other things. A sports commissioner from the Austrian Automobile Club watched over each car to ensure that everything ran according to the regulations and specifications. Important parts and assemblies bore official seals and all vehicles had to be parked in a closed, guarded area at the stage finishes. Neither the crews nor mechanics had access to this parc fermé during the night break. Despite this, all five Laurin & Klement cars reached the end of the 1911 Alpenfahrt without penalty points and Otto Hieronimus secured the 'Silver Shield'.
Hieronimus again took first place in 1912 and the works team, which also included Count Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky and Paul Drašković, again had not a single penalty point to its name. One year later, the 1913 Alpenfahrt covered seven stages and a total distance of 2,667 kilometers. Laurin & Klement once again sent production cars into the race, while Rolls-Royce, for example, relied on the six-cylinder Silver Ghost, which had a special four-speed gearbox with a shorter overall gear ratio. The British team had had to pass on the steep climbs the year before. Hieronimus once again won the silver plaque and he and Count Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky once again crossed the finish line without penalty points.
Success follows success
As the last major automobile race before the First World War, the 1914 Alpenfahrt once again provided a great spectacle. From 14 to 23 June, 2,932 kilometers and 30 Alpine passes were on the agenda. Only 50 of the 75 starters crossed the finish line, 19 of whom remained penalty-free - including Count Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky. This achievement made him one of only five racers to achieve this for the third time in a row and thus claim the Grand Alpine Challenge Prize. The organizers hurriedly procured four more trophies in an identical style. The Kolowrat-Krakowsky trophy can be seen today in the ŠKODA Museum in Mladá Boleslav. The Bohemian manufacturer's works team had brought at least one car to the finish without penalty points in all five editions of the Alpine race, something no other manufacturer had managed to do.
Proof of performance capabilities
Five days after the fifth Alpine tour, the shots were fired at the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, triggering the First World War. ŠKODA was only able to celebrate successes at the Alpine Rally again later - for example in 1955, when the sports version of the new 440 'Spartak' won silver and bronze medals in the displacement class up to 1.3 liters at its international racing debut on 17 June. Four years later, three ŠKODA vehicles crossed the finish ramp without a single penalty point.
Another class victory followed in 1968, this time won by a new-generation model with a rear engine and rear-wheel drive. With these and similar results on challenging tracks and in front of an international audience, ŠKODA impressively demonstrated the performance of its cars, strengthening the brand's position both on the Austrian market and far beyond.
