Hauzenberg to be the centre of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup

• The world’s only fully-electric rally series will set up shop on the WRC platform at Staffelberg

• Competitors depart the Service Park for the routes on the Saturday and Sunday (19th/20th October)

• Zero-emission cars pay flying visit for Sunday shopping in front of the town hall

The ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, together with the World Rally Championship, stops off in Hauzenberg town centre as the shops make an exception and open on a Sunday. Delighted to welcome the all-electric rally series are (from right): town mayor Gudrun Donaubauer, Theresa Lenz (business development), Andre Dünnbier (Chair of Hauzenberg aktiv e.V.), Reinhard Asbeck (Deputy Head of Organisation for the Central European Rally), deputy mayor Rudi Hirz and CER Managing Director Andreas Bachmeier.   (Photos: CER)

Hauzenberg. The granite town of Hauzenberg will be home to the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup: the only fully-electric, one-make rally cup in the world will once again feature at this year’s Central European Rally (CER), which takes place as part of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) from 17th to 20th October. The teams in the electric series will be in action on the Saturday and Sunday, as they tackle the special stages in the districts of Passau and Freyung-Grafenau, as well as neighbouring Upper Austria. At the heart of the action will be Hauzenberg.

After Hauzenberg actively applied to be part of the World Rally Championship, there will now be another highlight in the town area, as well as a special stage on the Saturday (“Granit und Wald”). “During the various events linked to the World Rally Championship – including our running sponsorship for the sports secondary school as part of the Heimat Trails – somebody came up with the idea of possibly integrating Sunday shopping in the event,” says CER Managing Director Andreas Bachmeier. “As the organisers were already looking for a suitable area for the Service Park, where the cars are maintained and charged, we simply joined forces.” The cars will now be housed at the driver training area at the Staffelberg stadium. “That fits in perfectly with a time checkpoint on the town hall square (Rathausplatz), which the cars approach at walking pace.” The cars will pass this point at two-minute intervals and the teams will be available for short interviews and photos. They then head out onto the final stage of the day, “Passauer Land”, which ends at Nordisches Zentrum Jägerbild (near Breitenberg).

Town mayor Donaubauer: “It will definitely be of great interest to many people”

“Our deputy mayor Rudi Hirz is a self-confessed car fan and proposed the idea to the town council,” says the head of the town hall, Gudrun Donaubauer. “We then decided to make our roads available for a special stage. The idea of combining this event on a Sunday shopping day with the parade of electric rally cars will definitely be of great interest to many people,” Donaubauer believes. The proposal came from Andre Dünnbier, chair of advertising association Hauzenberg aktiv e.V.: “We are delighted that the collaboration is working out and the cars will roll through streets lined with people. That is a highlight.” Rudi Hirz, Hauzenberg’s “Rally Mayor”, adds: “With the Saturday’s spectacular special stage up the Oberfrauenwald, we have a very special route and one of the highlights of the entire rally!”  

On a par with Monte Carlo, Finland and Sweden

DThe Central European Rally is one of 13 races that form the World Championship, along with such rally institutions as Monte Carlo, Finland and Sweden. More than 125,000 spectators flocked to the routes for last year’s successful premiere of the event in the tri-border region, which is organised under the motto “Beyond borders” by automobile associations the ADAC, ACCR and AMF in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. The rally centre for the WRC cars, which are powered by hybrid engines and run on synthetic fuels, is at the Karpfham festival site in Bad Griesbach. The rally gets underway on Thursday 17th October from in front of Prague Castle. From there, the cars head out onto the first special stages around the Czech capital. The Czech Republic hosts the rally teams on the Friday too, before they move onto the roads in Bavaria and Upper Austria. The presentation ceremony takes place on Sunday 20th October at the town hall square in Passau. In the thick of it all: the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, which will head into the biggest event in the tri-border region from its new home in Hauzenberg.

Start times* for the special stages on Saturday and Sunday in Bavaria and Austria:

Saturday, 19.10.24:

SS Granit und Wald  (Hauzenberg/Waldkirchen/Sonnen/Jandelsbrunn) 08:00 and 14:30

SS Beyond Borders (Wegscheid/Kollerschlag/AUT)  09:00 and 15:30

SS Schärdinger Innviertel (Bezirk Schärding /AUT)   10:30 and 17:00

Sunday, 20.10.24:

SS KNAUS TABBERT am Hochwald (Jandelsbrunn/Neureichenau)  09:00 and 11:30

SS Passauer Land (Neureichenau/Breitenberg) 10:30 and 13:00

(>> Shuttle service between the two special stages)

Presentation ceremony at the town hall square (Rathausplatz) in Passau  14:30

(*subject to minor changes)