It's served, the grand finale can begin. The 58th ADAC Knaus Tabbert 3-City Rally is the culmination of a high-class and exciting season in the German Rally Championship.
The seventh and last DRM round also counts for the Czech state championship, the FIA European Rally Trophy and the Mitropa Rally Cup. The first electric one-make rally cup, the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, is also celebrating its season finale in Lower Bavaria. The international starting field with the best pilots from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic consists of almost 120 teams. In the top class DRM, a record-breaking number of 26 vehicles are chasing overall victory.
The Space Drive Ford Fiesta Rallye2 celebrates its premiere in the DRM with the future technology steer-by-wire, piloted by young talent Fabio Schwarz. The rally car, which manages without any mechanical connection between the steering unit and the steering gear, was developed by the engineers at Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH
A title duel decides the DRM crown on the demanding special stages in the Czech Republic, Austria and Lower Bavaria. The championship leader Philip Geipel and co-driver Katrin Becker-Brugger recently underlined their title ambitions with their third win of the season in Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein and want to end the season in the Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo with a win. "I'm expecting a phenomenal season finale with demanding stages. In the past, the special stages on the Austrian side in particular provided a thrill. You braked towards branches that were about 50 to 60 meters downhill on the other side. In the championship it's going to be tough despite our current lead as there's a drop result, which is a shame because we finished all the rallies in top places, but still we have to deduct one result, currently fourth place points, while others can drop a retirement. But that's a dream of the future. We want to have fun in the car and enjoy the rally. It's worked three times so far, why not a fourth time," says 35-year-old Philip Geipel from Plauen.
Marijan Griebel has the best cards in the fight for the title with his co-driver Tobias Braun in the Citroën C3 Rally2. The current German Rally Champion: "If you include the discarded result, we're up ten points. But that's a deceptive lead and we can't rest on our laurels, because Philip is having a very strong season. Too much tactics doesn't help and can even do it be harmful. That's why we have to be up front right from the start. I don't know the tracks, the organizer hasn't published anything that you could have looked at on the map. Especially the stages on Friday, which take place exclusively in the Czech Republic, are tough and will be tough. I'm counting on an exciting season finale right down to the last meter."Up to the ADAC Rallye Cimbern it was a three-way battle for the DRM title. After the retirement of Julius Tannert and Frank Christian (VW Polo GTI R5) in northern Germany, the championship train is as good as gone. "There is still a minimal chance, but then the vehicles in front of us would have to retire and we wouldn't wish that on anyone. We gave everything, but we were a bit lacking in luck throughout the season. But we're not frustrated because of that, we want to finish show everyone what we can do and say goodbye with a win," explains the 32-year-old from Zwickau.
Martin Christ (Opel Corsa Rally4) won the title in the DRM2 classification early at the ADAC Cimbern Rallye. Second in the standings and brand colleague René Noller, who is starting with Stefan Kopczyk in Lower Bavaria, has good prospects of becoming runner-up. Raffael Sulzinger and his co-driver Lisa Kiefer (Ford Fiesta Rally4) can also be expected. The local hero won the ADAC Rallye Masters, the predecessor of the DRM Nationals, last year and wants to win at home in the DRM2 class as well. High tension is announced at the DRM Nationals, the three top pairings are close together. Sebastian Wolf and Andreas Luther lead the table in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X with a lead of six points. Andreas Dahms and Paul Schubert took second place. The Porsche team in the 911 is already the winner of the DRM Classic and has so far been able to impress with great consistency. After strong performances in the BMW E36 M3, Rafael Klein and Sina Hildebrandt fought their way up to third place. With a deficit of seven points on the leading duo, even the title is possible with a win in Lower Bavaria. The Pirelli Junior classification is also highly competitive. René Noller leads just ahead of Nico Knacker and Jonas Ertz.
The 58th ADAC Knaus Tabbert 3 Cities Rally is stopping off in three countries this year. 14 special stages with a total of 168.5 kilometers await the almost 120 participants. The start will take place on Friday at 2.30 p.m. in the rally center in Waldkirchen, after which the fight against the clock will take place exclusively in the Czech Republic. On Saturday it starts again at 7.45 a.m. in Waldkirchen, the first special stage starts at 8.23 a.m. in the Bavarian town of Sonnen. The road book then guides the rally entourage to Upper Austria before finally returning to Breitenberg in Bavaria. The finish is scheduled for 18:00. Spectator points with signposted visitor guidance and parking spaces are set up everywhere along the routes. Tickets are available on site, they are valid for all fan zones (Friday: 10 euros, Saturday: 15 euros, entire weekend: 20 euros), children up to the age of 14 have free admission. The service area and the rally center are again on the fairground in Waldkirchen. All information is available online at: 3-staedte-rallye.de.
The highlights of the German Rally Championship can be seen exclusively on n-tv on free-to-air television. Every weekend after the racing events, the news channel broadcasts the 30-minute DRM magazine "PS - DRM Deutsche Rallye-Meisterschaft" on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Alternatively, the magazine can be accessed free of charge at any time in the n-tv media center or the RTL streaming platform.
