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Harri Toivonen gives you a ride through the "Manta hole" in an Opel Manta

Exclusive co-drive

The "Mantaloch" stage (English: Manta hole) came to fame in 1993 when no less than seven Opel Mantas crashed at the same corner and ended up in the same ditch within a few minutes. Now, Harri Toivonen will try to defeat this curse on the Eifel Rallye Festival (July 20-22, 2017) and you as his co-driver get the chance to experience first-hand that it is possible to finish the stage without being swallowed by the "Manta hole".

Toivonen, who is renowned for his spectacular sideways driving style, will give you a ride of your lifetime in one of the extremely rare Opel Manta 200s which was homologated into Group B just like his bigger brother, the Manta 400.

The co-drive over the 5.47 km shakedown stage will take place on Thursday, July 20th 2017, between 15.00 and 19.00 hrs and will be auctioned on eBay. The proceeds achieved during the auction will not only serve a good purpose, they will be doubled by the car owner, Wolf-Dieter Ihle, and then given to a local charity project called "Verein zur Förderung der Jugendarbeit im Landkreis Vulkaneifel e.V.".


When the auction is over, the organisers of the Eifel Rallye Festival will inform the highest bidder about the procedure for their participation at the Shakedown.

  • During the ride, the co-driver is obliged to wear a helmet and safety clothing that comply with currently valid FIA or DMSB standards. Both helm and clothing are supplied by the organisers of the Eifel Rallye Festival. Additional, the co-driver has to fill out and sign an Exclusion of Liabilty. If the co-driver is not yet of legal age, the Exclusion of Liability has to be signed by his or her legal guardians.

  • Contestants should note that a prerequisite for taking a co-drive is that they can be properly located in the co-driver's seat and fitted with the full harness seat belt so as to comply with the safety requirements of the event.

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