The rush for the 12th edition of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival from August 15 to 17, 2024 around Daun in the Volcanic Eifel is huge again: 89 entries within the first 24 hours. After 100 hours, there were already 127 registrations for the largest rally museum on wheels. This year's motto "Rally Cars from A to Z" seems to be particularly inspiring for the participants.
"It is already clear that we will have a very diverse field of starters. There are already some exotic cars on the list so far. But of course we are looking forward to more entries from the colorful world of rally sport," says Reinhard Klein (Cologne). The head of Slowly Sideways, the Europe-wide association of owners of historic rally cars, is the member of the organizing team responsible for the composition of the starting field. "Our declared aim this year is to present the fans with an unprecedented variety from the history of rallying."
"Bosse" comes to the Volcanic Eifel
Double world champion Marcus Grönholm is also known as 'Bosse' in his Scandinavian homeland. As a so-called Finnish Swede, he is a true Scandinavian. It is also fitting that his first WRC start took place at his home round in Finland in 1989 and that he last contested a WRC rally in Sweden in 2010. In addition to his two WRC titles in 2000 and 2002 in the Peugeot 206 WRC, he has driven for almost all the top brands on the scene in his 152 WRC appearances. However, all of his 30 WRC victories came with co-driver and brother-in-law Timo Rautiainen and he is the best "non-Frenchman" behind the two Sebastiéns (Loeb and Ogier) in third place on the all-time list of the best.
"I've heard a lot about this festival. I'm glad that I can be there this time," says Grönholm, looking forward to his trip to Daun. "We're really looking forward to 'Magic Marcus' taking part," said a beaming Otmar Anschütz, Head of Organization at the organizing MSC Daun. "We are still in promising talks at the moment. The fans can look forward not only to a very diverse field of starters, but also to one or two surprises."
Slowly winter meeting in Bremen
What do the owners of historic rally cars do on the long winter weekends when the noble sports equipment is in hibernation? The Slowly Sideways team organizes the annual winter meeting. This time it took place as part of the Classic Motorshow in Bremen. Some participants had their vehicles with them, which not only adorned the Slowly stand, but also caught the eye of other exhibitors. Away from the daily hustle and bustle of the fair, the almost 50 Slowlys met in the evenings for a cozy get-together. Thomas and Manuela Griesche's Opel Ascona 400 was one of the cars on display.
Eifel Rallye Festival 2011-2022 - The official book
If you want to pass the time until the next festival, you can do so with the official book about the first ten editions of the Eifel Rallye Festival: The highlights of each individual year are described on over 300 pages. Cars that have never been seen before and a unique cross-section of rally history with classics from Mini and Volvo PV 544 to Group 4 legends such as Stratos and Ascona 400, the unforgotten Group B monsters, the stars of Group A from Lancia to Subaru and the spectacular World Rally Cars.
The bilingual texts (German and English) and the many photos are complemented by numerous tables and overviews of starters and vehicles. Long-time patron Walter Röhrl summarizes his impressions of the festival in a foreword. Available from the RallyWebShop
