The 21st edition of the Ennstal-Classic, which takes place from July 17 to 20, 2013 starting from Gröbming, once again has some exciting highlights to offer.
International and well endowed
206 teams from 16 nations on 51 brands start at the usual challenging Ennstal-Classic, 31 cars take the Chopard Racecar Trophy under their wheels.
The Racecar Trophy celebrates its premiere in 2013. At four venues - Stoderzinken (Thursday), Niederöblarn airfield and Dachstein toll road (Friday) and Moosheim-Gröbming (Saturday) - 31 cars, some of the fastest and most expensive ever, will be battling it out for tenths of a second.
Among others on the starting grid: Mercedes SSK, Lea Francis Hyper, Marmon-Roosevelt, Maserati 4CL Grand Prix racing car,Ferrari 121 LM (in which Castellotti even overtook Stirling Moss at the start of the 1955 Mille Miglia), Porsche RS-Spartan RS-Spyder, Porsche 908/03, Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, Abarth 1000 SP, McLaren M12, Plymouth, CanAm-Lola, Chevron-BMW (with Dieter Quester) as well as Lancia Stratos and 037 Rally.
Famous steering wheel stars
This year's participants include Sir Stirling Moss, Lady Susie Moss, Karl Wendlinger, Reine Wisell, Nanni Galli, Maria Teresa de Fillippis, Teddy Pilette, Dieter Quester, Jo Ramirez, Richard Lietz, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Rauno Aaltonen, Andi Aigner, Rudi Stohl, Tobias Moretti, Christian Clerici, Rudi Roubinek, Klaus Kröll and the Swiss Formula 1 racing team pope Peter Sauber, who is also very well known in Austria.
New route chosen for the Ennstal-Classic
Thursday's route covers 380 kilometers, from the Stoderzinken over the Sölk Pass to the first highlight, a special stage on the Red Bull Ring. The route continues over the Triebener Tauern to Rottenmann, then via Pürgg, Bad Mitterndorf, Pötschenpaß and Postalm to the finish in Schladming. A total of eleven special stages are on the program for the first day.
The Friday marathon will be a nine-hour ordeal over 452 kilometers with nine special stages in which the 50-mile average will be monitored down to the hundredth of a second.
The route through Gesäuse and Wildalpen justifies our slogan "Driving in the last paradise". For the first time, the cars enter a time control in Lunz am See, and the car city of Steyr awaits the field on the beautiful main square.
The highlight will be staged in Gröbming on Saturday. The cars of the Chopard Racecar Trophy will drive a special stage from Moosheim to the Sir Stirling Moss traffic circle and then five demo laps through the town. Also in the convoy: Sir Stirling Moss in a Ferrari 750 Monza and Karl Wendlinger in a classic Mercedes-AMG.
This is followed by the start of the final stage of the Ennstal-Classic, where the overall victory will be decided. The start is in Moosheim, and on the 3.9-kilometer course through Gröbming, the drivers have to keep to the hundredth of a second at seven light barriers.
Preciosities and rarities
The oldest car at the event is the La France Open Tourer from 1917, if Ingo Strolz can get it back on the road in time after the Peking-Paris Rally. The Ferrari 750 Monza, which will be driven by Stirling Moss, and the Ferrari 121 LM racing sports car, which will compete in the Racecar Trophy, are both breathtakingly beautiful and rare. Only four examples were built in 1955.
The most powerful car in the field is a Lola T310, which was built in 1972 for the Canadian-American Cup and will compete in the Racecar Trophy. Its 8.1 liter Chevy V8 produces around 800 hp.
The weakest engine is a Puch 700C with just 25 hp from 643 cubic meters of displacement.
You can also look forward to the Morgan 3-Wheeler Super Sports, built in 1934, with an 1100 JAP engine.
Probably the most successful car on the grid in racing terms is a Porsche 908/03, the original car in which Pedro Rodrigueuz/Leo Kinnunen finished second in the 1970 Targa Florio, behind Siffert/Redman in an identical car. The 908/03 weighed just 540 kilos and was only used four times by the factory in 1970 and 1971, with three overall victories: in the Targa Florio (1970) and in the 1000-kilometer race at the Nürburgring (1970 and 1971). The racing Porsche starts in the Chopard Racecar Trophy.
Sherlock Holmes at the Ennstal?
No, of course the novel character Sherlock Holmes cannot be at the start in Grödming, but a Mercedes-Benz 38/250 SSK, which was delivered on July 13, 1928 to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous doctor and writer who became world-famous with the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", can....and the unique Rolls Royce 17EX Torpedo, which was handed over to the Maharaja of the Indian principality of Jammu and Kashmir in December 1928.
So a more than interesting menu has been prepared, more about this on the event website.
