The countdown is on, the tension is mounting. After two coronavirus-related cancelations, the anniversary edition of the ADAC Eifel Rally Festival will finally take place on July 21, 2022. The 10th edition of the largest rally museum on wheels will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Rally Championship. After the new Shakedown on Thursday (21/07/2022; 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm) in the Kelberger Land between Bodenbach and Borler, the Welcome Evening will start at 8.30 pm. The large stage on Laurentiusplatz in the middle of Daun will be transformed into an open-air rally cinema.
Moving and, above all, moving images from the history of rallying by cult rally filmmaker Helmut Deimel frame the interviews on both anniversaries. During the technical inspection of the vehicles on Friday (22/07/2022) from 08:00 in the Rally Mile, fans will be able to get up close to the automotive witnesses of rally history.
From 11.00 a.m., the top drivers of the festival, including world champion Stig Blomqvist, Thierry Neuville, Harri Toivonen, Kalle Grundel, Harald Demuth, Jochi Kleint, Fabrizia Pons and Niki Schelle, will be available on stage for an hour to sign autographs. Demerath is the new sporting center on Friday afternoon and evening. The afternoon stage between Demerath and Steineberg starts at 14:33 and, with its 36 percent loose surface, makes for spectacular driving scenes. The evening show with the second stage starts at 19:48 in the opposite district of Demerath.
The participants and fans can also look forward to a new route on Saturday (23/07/2022). In addition to the classics 'Risselberg' and 'Lehwald', it will be the first time around the 'Hochkelberg'. All three stages will be completed in the morning and afternoon. As always, the rally mile in Daun attracts spectators during the extended lunch break. There are few better opportunities to get so close to the historic rally treasures and their drivers in the open paddock. A paradise for photographers and autograph hunters. The grand finale starts at 7.30 pm at the rally party around the stage on Laurentiusplatz with live music.
Eifel Rallye Festival: home of the historic rally scene
Even if the famous drivers are often in the foreground, the real stars of the Eifel Rallye Festival are the vehicles. Nowhere else are there so many originals or faithful replicas of the automotive contemporary witnesses from rally history. "At the anniversary of the 50th season of the World Rally Championship, we can show a unique cross-section of the history of this series," explains Reinhard Klein (Cologne), who, as the head of Slowly Sideways, the Europe-wide association of owners of historic rally cars, is responsible for putting together the starting field, which is limited to 155 vehicles. "Awareness of the tradition of this fascinating sport is also slowly increasing in rallying. With the Eifel Rally Festival, we have created a home for this scene over the past ten years, which makes us really proud."
As always, there are minor changes to the starter list, often made necessary by corona-related illnesses. Sitting alongside Harri Toivonen (#1, Lancia Delta S4) will be Juha Paajanen, who not only used to sit in the 'hot seat' with him, but also with his brother Henri. Fred Walter (#62, Lancia Beta Coupe) will have a prominent co-driver for some of the stages. Simo Lampinen, who used to be a works driver for Saab, Lancia, Peugeot and Triumph, will navigate him. The current list can be found on the event website.
Another top star of the current WRC scene has announced his attendance. As soon as the exact time is known, fans will be informed via the organizer's social media.
The rally scene supports the flood victims in the Eifel
Around a year ago, the flood disaster caused much suffering in the Eifel. The participants, fans and friends of the Eifel Rallye Festival supported the flood victims with an overwhelming willingness to donate. "We were able to make 50,000 euros in donations available to the flood victims. This great sum shows the solidarity of all those involved with the region in which we are once again able to celebrate our festival this year," explains Otmar Anschütz, Chairman of the organizing MSC Daun. There was countless support in connection with the flood, one of which will come to an end for the time being at the Eifel Rallye Festival.
In the Ahr valley, a hall containing a wonderful collection of vintage cars was flooded. A team led by Volker Thull and Florian Treitz removed the 17 vehicles from the hall and distributed them throughout Germany, as many people had responded to a short appeal to help repair the flood damage. One of the cars was also taken over by MSC Daun. 15 of the cars were saved and have now been restored to their pre-flood condition. The entire operation was accompanied by a TV team from SWR. In the presence of SWR, three of the vehicles will now be handed back to their owners on Thursday, 21.07.2022, from 19:30 before the Welcome Evening on Laurentiusplatz in Daun.
The rebirth of the 1975 Munari Strato
Sandro Munari and his co-pilot Lofty Drews took second place in the Safari Rally in 1975 after an exciting event with the Lancia Stratos. The legendary story is that Drews drove up to the service as co-pilot of a private car and loudly demanded tires while swearing. Packed with three spare tires, he made his way back to Munari, who had had to park the Stratos with only one complete tire left. In 1976, the Stratos was used as a training car and crashed.
The Kenyan Sergio Lolli bought the crashed car, dismantled it and wanted to rebuild it. The parts were in his garden, and the photo from 1990 is legendary, when his dogs used the Stratos cockpit as a noble shelter. In the meantime, parts of the Stratos were stolen from the garden, but Lolli was able to buy some of them back from the thieves, including the carburettors. His son Ezio sorted out the chaos, collected all the parts and shipped them from Nairobi to a restorer in Italy.
17 (!) years later, the work has now been completed and the Stratos is back as it was for the 1975 safari. 47 years later, it is celebrating its first major outing after its rebirth at the Eifel Rallye Festival in Daun.
Drews, now 82 years old, does not miss this opportunity and travels all the way from his new home in Australia. He will take his place alongside Ezio Lolli in the Stratos with starting number 140 at the festival.
From 'down under' to Daun
Australian Darryn Snooks, who is driving the 1977 Datsun Violet 710 together with Tracey Dewhurst, has the longest journey to the Volcanic Eifel. Snooks "stumbled across" a Datsun 710 SSS in excellent condition in New Zealand in 2005. And so began a long project to build a faithful copy of the original factory cars. A worldwide search for parts meant the build took almost eight years before he also found one of the very rare twin-cam engines to complete the project perfectly.
Darryn: "When we started building the car, we had a vague dream of maybe taking it to Europe one day. Living and growing up in Australia and watching legends like Stig, Ari, Henri and Walter, it was a dream to one day be there too." After 2019, the 'Aussie' has now shipped his Datsun again in a container to take part in the Eifel Rallye Festival - welcome Tracey and Darryn!
Support from the far north
It has become a tradition that the festival receives a lot of support. The 'ADAC Team Nord' around Jürgen von Schassen (Neustadt/Holstein) is almost a regular guest. While there were just over ten heads at the beginning, this time the northern lights are making the 680-kilometer journey to the Volcanic Eifel with 25 people.
"We are bringing licensed and experienced team members to Daun to actively strengthen the festival. The fun of it all has brought us together from the various ADAC clubs here in the north and we are supporting this unique event to the best of our ability." The expert support is very welcome in Daun.
The Eifel Rally Festival timetable
- Thursday, 21.07.2021
15:00 - 19:00: Shakedown in Bodenbach
from 20:30 hrs : Welcome evening in the Rally Mile Open-air rally cinema with cult filmmaker Helmut Deimel - Friday, 22.07.2021
From 08:00 am : Vehicle scrutineering, rally mile in Daun
11:00 - 12:00: Autograph session with many stars
From 14:30 : Peugeot Super Stage with gravel sections between Demerath and Steineberg
from 19:45: proWIN spectator circuit Demerath-Winkel by night - Saturday, 23.07.2021
08:30 - 17:00: Asphalt stages in the Vulkaneifel region
In between: Daun rally mile with many attractions
from 19:30: Rally party with awards and prize-giving ceremony
Further up-to-date information can be found on the Eifel Rally Festival website.
