Rally champion donates 10,000 euros to Caritas

Thierry Neuville triumphs at the 1st Central European Rally and shows big heart. As a thank you for the wonderful cups of the Wolfsteiner Werkstätten there is a cheque. Employees hand over the trophies at the award ceremony on Passau's town hall square.

Maybe Thierry Neuville really thought: If there are already such beautiful trophies and I want to support these people who created them, then I also want to take home the biggest one. The Belgian and his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe were unbeatable at the 1st Central European Rally and took first place at this WRC round. And for this they received the unique trophies, created by the Caritas Wolfsteiner Werkstätten Freyung, from the hands of the Bavarian Minister of Transport Christian Bernreiter.

"These trophies are unique, beautiful and very special," said Neuville when meeting the employees in front of thousands of fans at the ceremony in Passau's Rathausplatz. The Belgian motorsport idol supports a social project or a charitable institution at every World Championship event and donates part of his prize money depending on his placing. And that is why there is now 10,000 euros for the Caritas Wolfsteiner Werkstätten for the victory. "We are already so incredibly proud that we have the honour of producing the World Cup trophies," says Andreas Manthey (deputy workshop manager and production manager) happily. "The fact that we are now receiving such a large sum is simply unbelievable and we can only thank Thierry and his team most sincerely."

The cooperation with Caritas goes back to the 3-Städte-Rallye organised by ADAC Südbayern e. V. as the predecessor of the Central European Rally, for which trophies were produced for the first time in 2019. "This cooperation is now ready for the WRC and we want to expand this as an example of lived inclusion within the entire ADAC in various areas," emphasised ADAC Sport President Dr Gerd Ennser. Transport Minister Bernreiter, Passau's Lord Mayor Jürgen Dupper and Freyung-Grafenau District Administrator Sebastian Gruber also agreed at the award ceremony: "This is a nice social sign and shows what great achievements people with disabilities are capable of." As part of the cooperation, all employees of the Caritas Wolfsteiner Werkstätten were also invited to the rally. 200 of them followed the action on the Knaus Tabbert Bavarian Forest special stage in Neureichenau. There alone were 7,000 spectators on each of the two laps in the morning and evening.

All in all, 125,000 fans were at the tracks on the four days of this innovative three-country event with the start in the Czech capital Prague as well as tracks in Austria and Bavaria. They made for the biggest motorsport spectacle ever seen in the region. Next year in autumn there will be a new edition. The CER will once again be on the WRC calendar and the border triangle will once again be on a par with rally meccas like Monte Carlo, Chile or Japan - and in the middle of it all, the Caritas trophies - made in FRG.