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Greatest Group B show with three World Champions
Thirty years after they were banned from international rallying, the Group B cars will celebrate their greatest show ever at the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 21-23, 2016). The MSC Daun, organisers of the three-day demonstration event, are proud to announce that they have, by now, confirmation that 65 Group B and Group S cars will attend the Festival. This will make it the biggest collection of top-class Group B cars ever in the history of the sport. The venue for this unique show is the beautiful Vulkaneifel region just south of the world-famous Nürburgring race track.
The Group B cars entered for the Eifel Rallye Festival come from twelve different manufacturers and range from the Opel Manta 400, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo to the real supercars such as the Audi Sport Quattro E2, Ford RS200, MG Metro 6R4, Peugeot 205 T16 E2 and the Lancia Delta S4. As well as those beasts that fought for WRC victories between and 1983 and 1986, several prototypes will make their way to the city of Daun, the heart of the event, including the only Ford Escort RS1700T that is still running today.
"I had always hoped that this would happen but never really believed it. In fact, all top-class Group B cars will be present on the Eifel Rallye Festival with just one exception. The Citroën BX 4TC is the only supercar missing in our entry list. For a long time, we have been looking for a BX but unfortunately could not locate one that is still running today", says Reinhard Klein, the head of Slowly Sideways. "Still, the line-up for this year is simply sensational. With this Festival, we are experiencing a new attitude towards the history of rallying. While most of the original Group B cars which are unique and often also unaffordable are sitting at home, there are more and more replications emerging which keep the memories of those days alive."
Also helping to keep the memories of those days alive will be a triumvirate of former World Champions that will be taking part in the 2016 Eifel Rallye Festival. Apart from regular visitors Walter Röhrl, 1980 and 1982 World Rally Champion and today the patron of the Festival, and Stig Blomqvist, 1984 World Rally Champion in a Group B Audi Quattro, the organisers will for the first time welcome Massimo 'Miki' Biasion to their demonstration event. The Italian will drive the ultimate supercar made in Turin, a 450 bhp Lancia Delta S4 painted in Martini colours. It was in this type of car that Biasion was promoted to become an official Martini Lancia works driver and in which he clinched his first WRC victory at the 1986 Rally Argentina. Later, in 1988 and 1989, Biasion was twice crowned World Champion at the wheel of a Group A Delta Integrale. The S4 that Biasion will drive in the Eifel is prepared by hill-climb ace Bruno Ianniello who will also provide another Delta S4, this one painted in black and gold Esso colours, to former Suzuki JWRC works driver Niki Schelle. "For me and my co-driver Thomas Fuchs, this is like a dream coming true", says Schelle.
With the confirmation of Biasion and Schelle, the number of confirmed VIP drivers has grown to six and includes Harald Demuth (Audi Sport Quattro S1) and Mike Kirkland (Nissan 240RS). The full list of VIP drivers for the 2016 Eifel Rallye Festival will be published alongside the official start list on July 1st.
Highlights: Autostadt Welcome Evening and Bosch Super Stage
While the theme for the 2016 Eifel Rallye Festival is new, the successful concept for the demonstration event has remained as it was and offers a good show for the spectators. On Thursday night, for example, the Autostadt once again hosts the "Welcome Evening" which tunes spectators and drivers in ready for the days of activity that will follow. For this open-air event, Austrian film-maker Helmut Deimel will have once again delved into his archive and will show some amazing film footage featuring the VIP drivers present. On Friday, the main attraction will again be the Bosch Super Stage. This, the only all-gravel stage of the Festival, features a water splash, a jump and plenty of opportunities for great sideways action.
A new service for spectators
To give the fans an even better idea of what they can expect during the Eifel Rallye Festival, the organisers are now offering a new and unique service. On the official website, they have published videos showing most of the spectator areas set up for the Festival. Especially in order to make these videos, chief organizer Peter Schlömer, got behind the wheel of his Talbot Sunbeam Lotus to give a preview of what the fans can expect. To go to the videos, click on this link: http://eifel-rallye-festival.de/en/spectator-points.html
Spectators who are keen to visit the Eifel Rallye Festival can still obtain their tickets and programmes no matter in what European country they are living. This makes it easier for them to plan their trip and avoid queuing on the day of the Festival. And the rush for tickets is bigger than ever before. "Vacant hotel beds in and around Daun are getting scarce and the pre-sales are literally booming. At the moment, we have received twice as many reservations as last year."
While a visit to the 'Rally Mile' in the heart of Daun is free of charge, there are various admission tickets needed for those who would like to see the action on the special stages. The range offered goes from one-day tickets right up to full weekend tickets.
The pre-sale of tickets and programmes is open until July 08, 2016 from http://www.eifel-rallye-festival.de/en/rallye-shop.html.