The heat is on!

On 22 August, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland officially begins with a ceremonial start in front of the Porta Nigra in Trier. For us, the event has started already: since the beginning of the week, recceing is on the schedule. The reconaissance of the track includes 23 stages, with tests in the vineyards above the Mosel river on the first day, followed by stages on the Baumholder military training ground on the second day in the Hunsrück region plus the loop in the Northern Saarland area north of St. Wendel on the final day.

The stages add up to a total of 416 kilometres, with the overall length of the event covering 1449 kilometres.

I am not used to practice for motorsport events because in cross country rallying, the tracks are secret and we simply discover them by contesting them when the rally has started! So in the past years, I only did practice sessions in circuit racing, for instance in the Nürburgring 24 Hour race and a Porsche Supercup event.

I am eagerly awaiting the WRC round and the audience. I would be glad to see as many of you as possible along the tracks. You can find all the vital information for spectators on the official web site  www.rallye-deutschland.de. I just wish all of you a pleasant event!