Eifel Rallye Festival: Impressive variety

• Fortieth anniversaries for Blomqvist, Demuth and for Röhrl's Monte victories
• Some spectacular opening cars with Zeltner, Schelle, Schleimer and Sampl
• Programme booklets and tickets all available to order now

The entry list for the Twelfth Edition of the Eifel Rallye Festival that is published today shows just how colourful and diverse the starting field is going to be. Between August 15th and 17th, 2024, one hundred and sixty historic rally cars will reverberate the forests of the Volcanic Eifel around Daun. Cars from makes such as Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Audi, Citroën, Ferrari, Ford, Hyundai, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Trabant, Triumph, Volvo and VW will be represented. In addition, there are the different vehicle types to be considered, many of which are variants and evolutions that emerged during a particular car’s years of use.
In total, there are thirty different car manufacturers, ninety-five different models and one hundred and forty-five variations of livery. "We are very proud that our participants are giving us and the fans such a diverse field," says Reinhard Klein, who as the head of Slowly Sideways is responsible for the vehicle line-up for the Festival. "The quality of these either original or faithfully reproduced rally cars has yet again increased. Thanks to this, we – the organisers and the participants – are making a joint contribution to preserving the history of rallying."

Fortieth anniversaries for Blomqvist, Demuth and for Röhrl's Monte victories
"Of course, the cars are the stars of our Festival, but we are also very happy when their former drivers find their way to our big class reunion of global rallying," says organisation manager Otmar Anschütz from the organising MSC Daun, who is looking forward to welcoming the 'human' stars of the scene as well as the rally cars. With Marcus Grönholm, Harri Rovanperä, Bruno Thiry, Nicky Grist, Kalle Grundel, Herbert Grünsteidl, Mike Kirkland and Yvonne Mehta, the VIP lounge is going to be well filled.
Two of these top drivers are also celebrating an anniversary in Daun. Stig Blomqvist achieved his greatest success forty years ago when he won the World Rally Championship. To celebrate that, Audi Tradition is providing him with the original Quattro A2 in which he competed – and emerged victorious – in Sweden in 1984.
Harald Demuth won his second title in the 1984 German Rally Championship driving both Audi A1s and A2s. For the anniversary, he will be driving the original Sport Quattro S1 from their treasure trove, which Walter Röhrl drove at the 1985 Monte. "That fits really well," says Demuth, looking forward to the event, "because I had the honour of driving the last official WRC event for Audi with the short Quattro at the 1986 RAC Rally. “Demuth is an avowed fan of the Festival and has been at every edition, "I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone again, because you just can't live without the Eifel."
It is also exactly forty years since Walter Röhrl celebrated the last of his four victories at the Monte Carlo Rally. For this reason, the cars driven by the VIPs will be followed over the stages by seven faithful replicas of the cars that 'the Tall One' drove to victory at the Monte. These include, of course, the four winning models: Fiat 131, Opel Ascona 400, Lancia Rally 037 and the Audi Quattro A2.

Some spectacular opening cars with Zeltner, Schelle, Schleimer and Sampl
The opening cars who drive the stages ahead of the main field do not have to comply with the strict regulations and specifications of the others. For the fans, however, they are the perfect way to get in the mood for the parade of historic rally cars that follows. This is guaranteed above all by the head of the field, which is led by two-time German rally champion Ruben Zeltner. He will be driving his legendary 'Zebra', a Porsche 996 GT3. "After I twice unfortunately had to cancel my attendance at the Festival, my entire team is delighted that we can finally be here," explains Zeltner. For him personally, there is another highlight: "In my first rally career as a co-driver, I was able to take part in two Group B cars, a Lancia 037 and a long Quattro. I'm really looking forward to seeing cars like these again live."
The front-wheel drive faction, a.k.a the 'Little Screamers', is led by Niki Schelle (Suzuki Ignis S1600), Christoph Schleimer (Opel Corsa S1600) and then Roman Schwedt in a Suzuki Swift S1600. "It's great fun to be part of this illustrious group," says Schelle, as he looks forward to the Eifel. "As there is no time classification, it's all about putting on a great show for the fans. We will certainly be pushing each other to the limit."
Austrian and paralympic skiing star, Reini Sampl, has something special in store this time: "The fans can look forward to a cool Audi S1 body with modern technology under the bonnet. It's also perfect that we can drive this piece of jewellery in the great company of Ruben and Niki."

Advance sales of programme booklets and tickets are underway.
Following last year's positive experience, the sale of the programme booklet and tickets will be organised via the RallyWebShop again this year. This means that it is once again possible to offer day tickets in advance as well as weekend tickets. The RallyWebShop also offers payment options via PayPal or credit card. All details can be found here: https://www.rallyandracing.com/rallywebshop/eifel-rallye-festival-2024/.

Eifel Rallye Festival 2011-2022 - The official book
If you want to bridge the time until the next Festival in an entertaining way, you can do so with the official book about the first ten editions of the Eifel Rallye Festival: The highlights of each year are described on more than three hundred pages. There are rally cars that have never been seen since they last competed. In addition, there is a unique cross-section of rally history with the classics from Mini and Volvo PV544, to Group 4 legends like the Stratos and Ascona 400, then the unforgettable Group B monsters, the stars of Group A from Lancia to Subaru and finally the spectacular World Rally Cars. The book’s bilingual text (German and English) and the many photos are completed by numerous tables and overviews of starters and rally cars. The Festival’s long-time patron, Walter Röhrl, summarises his impressions of the Festival in a foreword. Here is the ordering link to obtain copies of this remarkable book from the RallyWebShop:
https://www.rallyandracing.com/mcklein-store/buecher/eifel-rallye-festival-2011-2022-das-offizielle-buch?c=1194

Info for all journalists:
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https://www.eifel-rallye-festival.de/en/Accreditation-Info.html

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