Man Oman, this maybe be a very short TR! :)

[Cossie]

I had to get back to Berlin by 5pm Sunday, so I left the spectator spot and drove for a couple of hours to reduce the drive next day. Being a slow learner, I drove too late, then had issues finding a bed, closed or full. Stopped in this town, no room but it would be nice to go back to one day. Grünberg


Took a detour the next day because I didn’t believe the gps! I was heading to Wartzburg, which is on the way south. Cost me about 100km extra. Being a Sunday, very few trucks, only those with perishables allowed on the road.

All the road side stops are like this.

 

[love_the_life]

Grünberg certainly looks gorgeous and worth checking out. Had to look it up on Google maps.

 

[Cossie]

Grünberg certainly looks gorgeous and worth checking out. Had to look it up on Google maps.

Grünberg - Where A Brew House Counts As A Cultural Activity

Grünberg isn't one of those big tourist destinations. Still, old castles, one of the oldest botanical gardens in all of Germany, a 700 year old brew house, and theater events are all just minutes away.

www.mygermancity.com

Didn’t see much, sigh. Next time swmbo is coming with me and it will be at a much slower pace, although I’ll still drive at 140+ when I can,

 

[Cossie]

Some shots from Weiz in Austria, it was 3 rallies in one, European Historic, Austrian Cup and Opel Electric Cup.



Nothing done to these, just cut down using snip.

 

[Cossie]

Some of the historics, including the whitish Sapphire that is no more.

The Alfa from Finland was fun, they are an elderly couple and they were having a ball. The Ferrari is being driven by Sir Andrew McAlpine

 

[Cossie]

Saturday morning, some of the crowd and important ingredients for rally fans, beer and goulash soup on the go.




For those that know my name, I had to take this photo! We had a chuckle over the wheeled implement.

 

[Cossie]

It difficult to get close to take photos these days, a "press" or "media" pass would be nice, but you can't get one easily, you need to be a published photographer, and posting photos on internet forums does not count, sigh. Most of these have been taken with a 70-200 2.8 Canon lens with a 1.4 extender, ok when it is sunny!

 

[tgh]

I covered( words and pics) a bit of International equestrian endurance, mostly because nobody else would do it..
The difference between a pleb and a press pass is almost beyond measure, it almost made the hassle of it all..fun...

 

[Cossie]

It’s ok when you are close as in the first photos, but even the real photographers were looking straight on the cars as they came into that corner.
There was a nasty accident at Eifel 3 years ago, so all the spectator points seemed to get pushed back even further. Taken with an ipad, to give you an idea. The next day wasn’t as bad, but still an issue. I also can’t stand still, so if I do have a good spot, often I’ll move.

 

[Cossie]

So I have been busy planning next trips and haven’t done anything with rally photos. I think I missed posting from Ceske Budejovice, where the real Budweiser beer is from.



Pizza was good, beer better, nice town to walk around.

 

[Cossie]

Back a few days to Colditz, as usual I drove too late and had trouble finding a room. You can stay at the castle, but there wasn’t anyone about. Next time.
So I found myself at a gasthaus nearby. Too late for food, but they did rustle up some soup and we discussed the differences in borsch. SWMBO doesn’t use beetroot in hers, which was her mother’s recipe originally. Maybe where they lived in the Ukraine, beetroot was unavailable. Again, a couple of beers, good conversations with an English guy that lives in Colombia and an American from Atlanta, both riding motobikes.
Dare say this place could tell a few stories!


Likewise with this place.

 

[Cossie]

This was part of the timing team at Rallye Weiz, I talked to them briefly, they had over 20 people present. Accomodation, travel from Croatia and other expenses must be quite large.
As a lot will know I have a connection with RallySafe that does the timing for the WRC, ERC, all rallies in NZ, most rallies in Australia, South Africa, Canada and the States. They normally only send 1 person to run events and get help from organisers, I think they have 5 for a world rally round, and this is also to help cope with any issues that may arise, in fact it can all be done from Ulverstone online, but the promotor of the WRC and ERC insist on people on the ground.



This not a criticism of that company, nor the Lithuanian company that did the timing at the Eifel Rally. Both these systems work and provide the required result.

 

[drron]

It's a small world. An American at breakfast was telling the staff he had driven from Poland to Austria with his father who is a rally driver. Left him in Austria as he was competing in a rally. I immediately thought of this TR.

 

[learningtofly]

this is the first trip report I have read....awesomely entertaining, thank you

 

[Cossie]

Some shots for Rallye Weiz, a bit of an oopsy though recovered well. Blasted photographers........

 

[Cossie]

Not the Sierra Sapphire that caught fire, spitting it though! It was another DNF with a collapsed wheel bearing.




I have one of these in my driveway, also from Hungary originally, but it is a track car, not a rally car and wouldn't be able to compete with that beast.




And given that I need to lose about 20kg and fix my back, it's way too difficult to get into and out of!