Press Information

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival: An unforgettable weekend full of fun

he typical Eifel weather showed who was boss at the thirteenth edition of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 24th to 26th, 2025). Before the event, the traditional group photo with over one hundred and sixty original or faithfully reproduced rally cars and their teams was taken in the rain. However from then on, through the ensuing technical inspection to the final rally party on Saturday evening, it remained dry. Indeed the sun shone down on the international field of starters and the fans who had also travelled from all over Europe. <br>Just Europe? No! The James Blakemore/John Buffum team travelled from Vermont in the USA with their Ford Escort MK2. Geoff Mayes flew in from Kenya, making him the photographer who had travelled the furthest.

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival: 166 cars that, in their day, were driven by 86 stars

The entry list for the thirteenth edition of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival is extremely diverse and top-class. From July 24th to 26th, the Vulkaneifel region around Daun will be rocked by one hundred and sixty-six original or faithfully reproduced cars from rally history, all of which were previously driven by eighty-six different stars of the rally scene as it then existed. “Our idea of showing the cars of various stars this time around was a real hit. We never expected such diversity,” says Reinhard Klein, head of Slowly Sideways and the man responsible for putting the entry list together.

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival: Audi Tradition will bring two Dakar winners to Daun

Audi Tradition will be bringing more highlights to fans of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 24th–26th, 2025) held in the Eifel region. Jutta Kleinschmidt, the 2001 Dakar winner, will be driving the Audi RS Q e-tron with which Carlos Sainz won that classic rally-raid in 2024. Sitting alongside her will be Fabrizia Pons, also one of the most successful women in rallying. Two-time German Rally Champion Harald Demuth will team up with Christian Fellinger from the Ingolstadt treasure trove to drive the Audi Sport Quattro in which Walter Röhrl finished second in the 1985 Monte Carlo Rally.

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival: Early entry deadline is on February 28th, 2025

This year too, the entry list for the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 24th to 26th, 2025) has to be closed early. “Less than three weeks after the opening of the registration portal, we already have over two hundred entries, but we can only accommodate around one hundred one hundred and sixty rally cars in the centre of Daun. For this reason, we are definitively closing the entry list on February 28th, 2025,” explains Reinhard Klein (Slowly Sideways) with a smile but also a sad eye. “The huge interest from the international friends of historic rallying is inspiring. The variety and quality of the registered vehicles are impressive. We are closing the entry portal to keep the number of rejections down”.

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival 2025: The maxim has been established

Every year, fans eagerly await the maxim that guides the basis of selection for the line-up at the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival. On the weekend of July 24th to 26th, 2025 the focus will be on the selection of historic rally cars driven by famous drivers. ‘We will try to get the cars of as many great rally drivers as possible to the start. From Aaltonen to Zasada, the number of different cars of these former drivers in the entry should be as extensive as possible,’ explains Reinhard Klein (Cologne) who, of the organising team, is the one responsible for putting together the entry list. ’To ensure the great variety that is desired, we will not be able to allow absolutely identical cars. But we also look forward to entries of rare automotive witnesses of rally history that may not have been driven by the front row of WRC stars.’

Rally history at your fingertips

The twelfth edition of the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (August 15th to 17th, 2024) is now history. It was another weekend on which the largest rolling rally museum of over one hundred and sixty cars from rally history brought the Volcanic Eifel around Daun to life. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans from all over Europe celebrated alongside the crews. The atmosphere was fantastic, with participants and fans beaming in the sunshine. As the head of Slowly Sideways, Reinhard Klein (Cologne), is responsible for putting together the entry list. He draws a positive conclusion from this weekend: “With this twelfth edition of our Festival, we have taken another big step towards modernisation. For example, we now also have Super2000 and WRC vehicles included, despite the fact that it is often not easy to keep their technology ready to drive.

Eifel Rallye Festival:Preparations are in full swing

reparations for the twelfth edition of the Eifel Rallye Festival are now in full swing. Participants, fans and the organisers are all looking forward to the weekend of August 15th/17th 2024. The Festival traditionally begins with a shakedown for the rally cars and their crews which will once again be held around Bodenbach on Thursday from 3:00pm onwards. The Festival’s Welcome Evening on Daun's Laurentiusplatz just adjacent to the Rally Mile and which starts from 8.30pm is an event that has achieved cult status. The introduction of the stars, who will be giving a lot of internal details and background information about their careers, will be accompanied by suitable film clips from the archive of specialist filmmaker, Helmut Deimel.