Eifel Rallye Festival: Differences from A to Z / Rallye

“The starting point will be colorful and diverse,” is how Reinhard Klein (Cologne) describes the entry list for the 12th edition of the Eifel Rallye Festival. When more than 150 contemporary witnesses of public history turn the Vulkaneifel near Daun into a giant demonstration museum from 15 to 17 August 2024, fans will experience an interesting part of the sport’s history.

“There will be more than a few types of cars that are represented twice. From A to Alfa Romeo or Alpine to Citroën, DAF, Hyundai, MG, Peugeot and Rover to VW, almost all brands that have ever participated in rallies are represented. “For plus, there are many interesting types of cars,” says the head of Slowly Sideways, pleased with the results of the entry.

But as interesting as the list of more than 200 received is, it causes problems for the organizer. “It is not easy to reject many people who have submitted an entry. More than 150 teams do not allow Daun’s possibility and this year diversity is the first priority when choosing participants, we owe it to our fans.” However, fans will have to wait until the beginning of July, when the full list of participants will be published. The first ‘tools’ will be available on social media channels in May.

Also there: Blomqvist, Rovanperä and Demuth

“The preparations are in full swing and, above all, completely organized,” explains Otmar Anschütz (Daun), who leads the preparation team as organizing chairman MSC Daun eV at ADAC. “We receive a lot of support from the regions and responsible administrations, which really helps in putting together such a big event year after year.”

The declared aim of the Eifel Rallye Festival is to provide a platform for authentic or faithfully reconstructed cars from the sport’s history. This gives fans the opportunity to enjoy these, some of those irreplaceable, unique pieces where they are at home: on the fairways in Vulkaneifel. Without the pressure of sports competition, car owners can present their ‘treasures’. “This is one of the rarest opportunities to see cars in action that otherwise only exist in museums or collections,” explains Anschütz.

It has become a tradition for Audi Tradition to add a field of participants and treasures from its collection. This year too, two unique pieces from the ‘holy halls’ in Ingolstadt will be initially in Daun – to be announced later. However, the two pilots have already been decided and are ‘old friends’ of the festival. Stig Blomqvist, the 1984 world champion, and Harald Demuth, the two-time German rally champion, celebrated their greatest success with Audi. So who would be best suited to present Audi Tradition cars?

When the name Rovanperä is mentioned in a meeting, almost everyone thinks of Kalle, the 23-year-old world champion. However, Harri, his father, comes to Daun. It’s Finn’s first visit to Vulkaneifel: “I’ve heard a lot about this festival and I’m happy to finally be able to participate in it myself.” Harri Rovanperä was competing in the World Cup from 1993 up to and including 2006. He drove cars for Seat, Toyota, Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Škoda teams. His biggest achievement was victory in Sweden in 2001 in his Peugeot 206 WRC debut. In the Eifel he will drive the Peugeot 307 WRC, which he achieved two podium finishes in the 2004 season with second place in Australia and third place in Acropolis. When asked if he would bring his ‘young’ son with him to the Eifel, there was still no conclusive answer.

Advance sales of programs and tickets are ongoing.

After a good experience last year, the sale of the program booklet and tickets will also be organized this year through RallyWebShop. This makes it possible again to issue day tickets in advance as well as weekend tickets. RallyWebShop also offers payment options via PayPal or credit card. All details can be found here:

Eifel Rallye Festival 2011-2022 – Official book

If you want to connect the time to 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 300 pages. of rally history and classics from Mini and Volvo PV544 to legends of Group 4 such as Stratos and Ascona 400, as well as unforgettable monsters of Group B, stars of group A from Lancia to Subaru. as well as interesting World Rally Cars. Bilingual text (German and English) and many pictures are complemented by many tables and overviews of beginners and cars. Longtime patron Walter Röhrl summarizes his impressions of the festival in the preface. Here is the order link at RallyWebShop: