Rally sport in Austria is accompanied by countless names. Many disappear into oblivion, some remain in the memory. And some of them are simply an integral part of the scene. One such name is Sepp Haider. The spectacular style with which the Salzburg-born driver thrashed his cars through the stages in the 70s and 80s has an aura of uniqueness. Sepp Haider's fast-paced adventure began on October 9, 1974 at the ÖASC rally, where he celebrated his cross-driver premiere with Jörg Pattermann in the passenger seat of a VW Beetle with start number 54.
Big celebration
Keyword celebration! Sepp Haider, who turned 71 in September, is not really into birthday parties. However, when friends confronted him with the idea of a personal day of honor for half a century of motorsport fascination with the title "Sepp Haider - 50 years transverse", even the jubilarian was taken with it.
So far, so fixed! On Monday, October 28, 2024, there will be a talk round and a fantastic meeting with Austria's rally elite at Salzburg Airport in "amadeus terminal2". The discussion about Sepp Haider and his companions will be hosted by Formula 1 expert Andreas Gröbl, starting at 7 pm. Franz Wittmann, Wilfried Wiedner, Herbert Grünsteidl, Rauno Altonen, former ORF reporter Peter Klein, Christian Geistörfer, Stefan Eichhorner, Jörg Pattermann, Rudi Wallner, Raimund Baumschlager, Achim Mörtl, Gaby Husar, Heribert Werginz, Franz Mikes, Helmut Deimel, ex-ORF Salzburg director Prof. Siegbert Stronegger, Dr. Gerhard Kuntschik, Gerhard Nöhrer, Silvio Carenini, Fritz Lehensteiner, Reinhard Hainbach, Ronnie Leschhorn, Helmut Lämmle, Michael Weinzierl, Alois Drexler, Gebrüder Harlander, Rolf Schmidt, Harald Manzl, Klaus Demel and Rudi Stohl.
And this exclusive list is set to grow. Red Bull Lady Mikaela Ählin-Kottulinsky, for example, has also signed up. Sepp Haider managed the granddaughter of the late 1980 Paris-Dakar winner Freddy Kottulinsky at the Audi Race Academy. Last year, the 31-year-old Swede became world champion in the Extreme E series in Nico Rosberg's X-RacingTeam!
With exhibition
For rally fans, press and photographers, the "amadeus terminal2" will of course be open from 4 p.m. on October 28, because in addition to the motorsport personalities present, a whole armada of original rally cars will also be on display, from the legendary Group B to new and current R5 models.
A detailed list of the cars, an interview with Sepp Haider and a presentation of the 21 co-drivers that the winner of the WRC rally in New Zealand in 1988 and the German Championship in 1989 "used up" during his exciting career will follow before the sensational event "Sepp Haider - 50 Years Across".
Further information can be found on the Facebook page for the event.
Tickets can also be purchased there for EUR 20.00. Attention, there is no box office!