Event Highlights

This year too the participants will have to conquer breathtaking routes with a total length of around 1,000 kilometres over stunning Alpine passes, along panoramic roads with a multitude of bends and through picturesque scenery. The reward: applause and recognition from thousands of spectators waiting along the route, at the time and passage control points and also at the start and finish in Bad Kleinkirchheim, garnished with a fringe programme which is well worth visiting.

The Alpine Rally was and has been a special challenge for man and equipment throughout the years, in 1910 just as it is now around 100 years later. Who has not seen the typical pictures of those legendary Alpine passes (in those days non-asphalted), where cars drove uphill backwards and the passenger had to weigh down the driving axle to improve the traction, or the gravel tracks with their many bends where the dust from the car in front swallowed up its rivals? If it was the snow at the Monte Carlo Rally and the heat at the Mille Miglia, then it was these pass roads which characterised the flair of the Alpine Rally and established its world reputation even in its early days.

When it was revived in 2002 (after a short break due to the 1973 energy crisis) it was clear that the International Austrian Alpine Classic Rally was no bed of roses. Indeed, a sporting challenge awaited the teams with around 1,000 enthralling kilometres and many special stages. No one counts the bends and gear changes between the start and the finish, but you just need to bear in mind that the drivers’ upper arms take the place of power-assisted steering and the gearbox can usually only be persuaded to change gear by double-declutching.

Whether it’s the Großglockner, the Nockalm Road, the Turracher Höhe, the Katschberg, the Nassfeld, the Kreuzberg, the Plöcken or Wurzen pass, the legendary Alpine passes have lost none of their attraction. The cars have to wind their way up to summits as much as 2,500 metres above sea level and back down again. If they are lacking in performance on the way up, then on the way down it is usually brakes that are in short supply, because if you don’t economise on the old drum brakes carefully you will burn them up. And the old rally saying still applies today: “If you want to finish first, you have to finish first”.

But that’s not everything: Just as in times gone by, the clock still ticks mercilessly and special stages have to be tackled. But nowadays instead of top speed, absolute precision is called for. Average speeds and driving times, some of them with secret time controls, have to be met precisely and demand the utmost concentration and precision from the teams.

So all that is missing now is the gravel on the tracks to once again give the teams that ultimate sensation the way it was 30 or more years ago. But there is no doubt at all that the drivers’ and passengers’ faces will look just the same as those of their predecessors when they got out of their (now vintage) cars after 1,000 kilometres: marked by the strain, but happy! “The real feeling is back!”

Further information and guide to the 2012 route at www.alpenfahrt.com