The Tunnock’s guide to… ADAC Rallye Deutschland
The Tunnock’s guide to… ADAC Rallye Deutschland
Welcome from Rally Germany organisers:
Again Trier, Germany’s oldest town, be the centre of our event. The teams and drivers will be presented to the public on Thursday evening in front of the fantastic Porta Nigra, before the competitive element with three days of rallying starts on Friday morning.
On Friday the route goes to the north where the well-known special stages Sauertal and Waxweiler take place before it comes to the traditional vineyard stages along the Mosel river.
Saturday’s itinerary presents special stages which characteristics could hardly be more different and represents the special attraction of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. It starts with Grafschaft, one of the twisty vineyard stages, than it goes to the northern Saarland area with one of the faster stages Bosenberg. On the military camp of Baumholder, we have the shortest stage: Arena Panzerplatte and the longest stage: Panzerplatte Long.
On Sunday the rally ends with the stages Stein and Wein and Dhrontal along the Mosel river.
Dates and data:
FIA World Rally Championship round 9/13
WRC – WRC2 – FIA R-GT Cup – Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy
Date: 20.08.15 – 23.08.15
Based: Trier
Service: Messepark, Trier
Stages: 21
Competitive distance: 374.43km (232.67 miles)
Liaison distance: 1020.07km (633.87 miles)
Total distance: 1394.50km (866.54 miles)
Longest stage: Panzerplatte Long (SS13/16) 45.61km (28.34 miles)
Shortest stage: Arena Panzerplatte (SS11/12/15) 2.87km (1.78 miles)
Currency: Euro
Time difference: BST+1/GMT+2/UTC+2
Languages: German
Finland population: 81 million
Capital: Berlin
Shakedown:
The same stage as last year will be used – that was the one made famous by Thierry Neuville, who rolled into the vineyards on Thursday morning and then recovered to win on Sunday. The stage is 10.46km (6.49 miles) from service and 4.55km (2.82 miles) long. Shakedown runs from 0930-1300.
Itinerary:
Thursday August 20
Start Porta Nigra 2050
Friday August 21
SS1 Sauertal 1 14.84 km(9.22 miles) 0830
SS2 Waxweiler 1 16.40 km (10.19 miles) 0943
SS3 Moselland 1 23.24 km (14.44 miles) 1105
SS4 Mittelmosel 1 13.67 km (8.49 miles) 1150
Service Messepark 1310
SS5 Sauertal 2 14.84 km(9.22 miles) 1440
SS6 Waxweiler 2 16.40 km (10.19 miles) 1553
SS7 Moselland 2 23.24 km (14.44 miles) 1715
SS8 Mittelmosel 2 13.67 km (8.49 miles) 1800
Service Messepark 1920
Saturday August 22
SS9 Grafschaft 1 18.35 km (11.40 miles) 0734
SS10 Bosenberg 1 17.13 km (10.64 miles) 0902
SS11 Arena Panzerplatte 1 2.87 km (1.78 miles) 1032
SS12 Arena Panzerplatte 2 2.87 km (1.78 miles) 1045
SS13 Panzerplatte Long 1 45.61km (28.34 miles) 1105
Service Messepark 1351
SS14 Grafschaft 2 18.35 km (11.40 miles) 1531
SS15 Arena Panzerplatte 2 2.87 km (1.78 miles) 1706
SS16 Panzerplatte Long 2 45.61km (28.34 miles) 1726
SS17 Bosenberg 2 17.13 km (10.64 miles) 1847
Service Messepark 2042
Sunday August 23
SS18 Stein & Wein 1 19.59km (12.17 miles) 0707
SS19 Dhrontal 1 14.08 km (8.74 miles) 0811
Service Messepark 0911
SS20 Stein & Wein 2 19.59km (12.17 miles) 1031
SS21 Dhrontal 2 14.08 km (8.74 miles) 1208
Finish Porta Nigra 1500
Changes from last year:
Just the Waxweiler stage (SS2/5) remains completely unchanged from last season. Sauertal (SS1/5) runs in the opposite direction to 2014; Grafschaft (SS16/18) starts 850 metres later than last year. The rest of the stages have tweaks with new or returning sections introduced and there are no completely new stages.
Last year…
Thierry Neuville went from zero to hero, taking his – and Hyundai’s – first ever World Rally Championship win four days on from rolling his i20 WRC into the vineyards at shakedown. The rally was another shocker for Volkswagen, with Sebastien Ogier crashing out twice in 24 hours and Jari-Matti Latvala dropping it out of P1 on the final day. Andreas Mikkelsen’s third place was some sort of reward for the home team. Hyundai ensured fans of German-based world championship teams weren’t disappointed, however, as the Alzenau bunch backed Neuville’s victory up with second place for Dani Sordo. Kris Meeke was another final-day retirement; the DS 3 WRC driver led briefly following Latvala’s shunt, before he too slipped off the road. Swede Pontus Tidemand took WRC2, edging fellow Ford Fiesta R5 driver Ott Tanak by just 1.8 seconds at the end.
Result: 1 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsou (Hyundai i20 WRC) 3h07m20.2s; 2 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +40.7s; 3 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +58.0s
Top 10 running order (day one):
1 1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
2 2 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
3 4 Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (Citroën DS 3 WRC)
4 9 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
5 7 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC)
6 3 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroën DS 3 WRC)
7 5 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)
9 6 Ott Tanak/Raigo Mölder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)
8 20 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC)
10 8 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC)
Championship positions…
1 Ogier 182 points; 2 Latvala 93; 3 Østberg 69; 4 Mikkelsen 83; Neuville 70; Meeke 54
Leading WRC2 runners:
33 Max Rendina/Emanuele Inglesi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X)
34 Quentin Giordano/Valentin Sarreaud (Citroën DS 3 RRC)
35 Jourdan Serderidis/Frederic Miclotte (Citroën DS 3 R5)
38 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (Škoda Fabia R5)
39 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Škoda Fabia R5)
40 Armin Kremer/Pirmin Winklhofer (Škoda Fabia R5)
42 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Peugeot 208 T16)
43 Julien Maurin/Nicolas Klinger (Ford Fiesta RRC)
44 Eric Camilli/Benjamin Veillas (Ford Fiesta R5)
45 Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler (Škoda Fabia R5)
Championship positions…
1 Lappi 70 points; 2 Jari Ketomaa 67 points; 3 Yurii Protasov 62; 4 Pontus Tidemand 61; 5 Al-Attiyah 60; 6 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari 57
Scoring from 6 of their first 7 registered rallies
Leading R-GT Cup runners:
24 François Delecour/Dominique Savignoni (Porsche 911 GT3)
25 Romain Dumas/Denis Giraudet (Porsche 911 GT3)
DDFT championship positions…
1 Marius Aasen 76 points; 2 Tom Cave 68; 3 Max Vatanen 67; 4 Kevin van Deijne 26; 5 Gus Greensmith 25; 6 Ghislain de Mevius 23.
Tunnock’s key stage:
Panzerplatte Long 45.61km (21.36 miles)
Saturday August 22, SS13/16 1105/1726
This stage simply never stops turning and the grip level never stops changing. It fills a pacenote book on its own and the frontrunners will be in there for 25 minutes, but half-an-hour or more’s not uncommon for mere mortals. The key to this stage is to remain patient, stay away from the hinkelsteins (enormous slabs of concrete designed to keep tanks on the road) and try to look after the tyres. Some sections can be so abrasive and, if the weather turns out to be hot – as it often can do – then a hard tyre will likely be the only choice. But, with a tyre zone before Panzerplatte, there could be some gambling on softer boots. Either way, it’s a seemingly endless epic.
Weather with you:
After a cloudy start to the week, the temperatures will rise to the high twenties once the event’s underway. Typically for this event, the potential for rain and changeable conditions won’t be far away – with Sunday tipped to be the wet one. Temperatures should range from 24-29 celsius.
The media week:
Tuesday August 18
1400 Accreditation opens
1400 Media centre opens
Wednesday August 19
0800-2000 accreditation open
0800-2130 media centre open
1730 Volkswagen meet the crews and BBQ (service park)
1815 M-Sport Happy Hour (WRC 5 Gaming Station – opposite M-Sport, service park)
1730 Photographers’ briefing (photographers’ room)
Thursday August 20
0800-1800 accreditation open
0800-2200 media centre open
0930-1300 shakedown
1310 meet the crews (top three drivers at shakedown)
1340 FIA pre-event press conference
2050 ceremonial start
Friday August 21
0730-1400 accreditation open
0730-2330 media centre open
Approximately 2000 top three drivers interviewed (WRC Stage, service park)
Saturday August 22
0800-1800 accreditation open
0800-2200 media centre open
Approximately 2100 top three drivers interviewed (WRC Stage, service park)
Sunday August 23
0600-0000 media centre open
1500 podium finish ceremony
1615 FIA post-event press conference
1700 provisional final classification published
Where’s the?
Accreditation… same place as last year: Messepark Trier, In den Moselauen 1, D-54294 Trier
Media centre… same place as last year, Messepark.
Media zone… not the same place as last year. It’s alongside the media car park this time – alongside McDonald’s before you go through the tunnel.
Press car park… same place as last year – don’t forget to print off the piece of paper giving access to accreditation.
Snowballs? They're coming. Promise…
Tunnock’s Restaurant recommendation:
Quo Vadis (www.quovadis-trier.de +49 651 9941800)
ADAC Rallye Deutschland… a potted history
This event was run as a round of the European and German Rally Championship before its arrival in the WRC in 2002 – and won by such stars as Hannu Mikkola (1984 Audi Sport Quattro) and Michele Mouton (1986 Peugeot 205 T16 E2). Having run from Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz, the event relocated to Trier in 2000 and ran as a candidate event in 2001 – won by Philippe Bugalski in a Citroen Xsara WRC. Since then it has remained in Trier and, while the stages have moved around the region, the nature of the event with military roads, country lanes and vineyard stages has never changed. The event did not run as a round of the WRC in 2009, due to the FIA’s policy of rotating events at the time.
Recent winners ADAC Rallye Deutschland:
2004: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën Xsara WRC)
2005: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën Xsara WRC)
2006: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën Xsara WRC)
2007: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC)
2008: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC)
2010: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC)
2011: Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C4 WRC)
2012: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën DS 3 WRC)
2013: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroën DS 3 WRC)
2014: Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC)
Most successful driver on Germany’s round of the WRC:
Sébastien Loeb (9 wins)
Stuart Loudon says…
This is the World Rally Championship round which I have done the most in my time. I’ve been to Germany three times, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. And I have to say, it’s not been a rally which has been all that kind to me.
I’ve only finished it once and John MacCrone and I had a big accident there in 2011, when it was both of our first ever round of the world championship. This was the first time we’d ever done a full-blown recce and it was the recce that let us down. The grade of corner wasn’t right – we hadn’t added the word ‘turn’ to the notes. When the road went around to the left, we didn’t turn into the junction and carried on what would obviously become an escape road. Obviously, because we found a van parked where it shouldn’t have been…
That was a huge lesson learned for John and I. A year later things were looking much better, we were leading the Juniors even with a bent rear beam. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again. We still managed to finish third, though – it was great to get on the podium.
Most recently, when I was with Rob Barrable, we cut a corner, damaged the radiator and cooked the engine. Like I said, not the kindest event for me.
But, it’s one that I really enjoy. It’s really technical and then in the vineyards it’s so fast and there’s just not a second to think, it’s corner-corner-corner all the time.
Stuart Loudon is a semi-professional co-driver who has started 52 rallies, 18 of which are rounds of the World Rally Championship and one of which was with an Ashes-winning English cricketer. He makes biscuits in the family business when he’s not working towards his dream of becoming a factory co-driver in the WRC.
Pictures courtesy of Red Bull Media House/Volkswagen Motorsport
Sandra Evans
sandra@wordspr.com
44 (0) 7887 693993
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