Rally radar from the ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2017 20.08.2017: An unforgettable ride: Heiko Maas, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, was given a taste of rallying on the Wadern

An unforgettable ride: Heiko Maas, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, was given a taste of rallying on the Wadern-Weiskirchern special stage on Friday: the politician, who visited the rally to watch the show start and the opening stage on Thursday, was taken for a 'taxi ride' in a Ford Fiesta WRC by Dutch rally star Kevin Abbring. Speaking afterwards, the federal minister said: "That was awesome! A ride that I will never forget!" Watch the video at Youtube
 


ADAC committee visit rally en masse: The German round of the World Rally Championship is the ADAC's largest collective motorsport effort: all 18 regional clubs are involved, with more than 3,000 volunteers helping to stage the event. This year, the ADAC committee visited one of the largest motorsport events in Germany en masse:




ADAC President Dr. August Markl, Matthias Feltz (First Vice President), Hermann Tomczyk (ADAC Sports President), Jens Kuhfuß (Vice President for Finance), Ulrich Klaus Becker (Vice President for Traffic), Thomas Burkhardt (Vice President for Technology), Kurt Heinen (Vice President for Tourism), and general legal advisor Christian Reinicke followed the thrilling rally action on site, alongside ADAC board members Alexander Möller and Lars Soutschka.
 




Pit stop for Andrea Kaiser: TV presenter Andrea Kaiser paid a flying visit to the ADAC Rallye Deutschland on Saturday, to support her husband Sébastien Ogier in the battle for the lead in the World Rally Championship. Kaiser then headed straight from the Bostalsee to Hamburg, where she will present the SPORT BILD Award on Monday evening.
 


Achtung Kontrolle: This autumn, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland will feature in the popular real-life documentary series "Achtung Kontrolle" on TV station Kabel Eins.



Two camera teams have been accompanying WRC driver Marijan Griebel and Andreas Bachmeier, who is heavily involved in organising the rally as Head of ADAC Automobile and Motorboat Sports, offering fascinating insights behind the scenes of this major event from a driver and organisational perspective. The series will be broadcast in the autumn.
 



Volunteers' contribution acknowledged:


Markus Schmidt was given a special honour, on behalf of the 2,000 plus volunteers helping out at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland: the 46-year-old, who has been volunteering for 15 years, took his place alongside M-Sport driver Armin Kremer in the Ford Fiesta WRC 17 for the Shakedown, and was given the taxi ride of his life. "It is incredible how fast the guys are.



The fact that they are still able to observe the signals they receive from us marshals is impressive in itself," said Schmidt after his ride.
 


Spectacular Panzerplatte: The Baumholder military training ground is once again one of the hotspots at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland in 2017. In glorious weather, thousands of spectators flocked to the famous rally venue on Saturday, where they created a wonderful stadium atmosphere.



As well as the rally action, they were also treated to a breath-taking Red Bull Freestyle Motocross Show. Also in hot demand were the signatures of rally stars Mads Østberg and Henning Solberg, who were at the Panzerplatte to sign autographs.
 


Milestones for the ADAC Rallye Deutschland: 35 and 15 - the ADAC Rallye Deutschland is celebrating these two 'birthdays' this year. The event was held for the first time under this name in 1982 and has featured on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar since 2002.
 




Festival feeling by the lake: The new service park at the Bostalsee lake has been a visitor magnet during the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. The mix of facilities and live music in the evening attracted many fans from around the world to the 150,000-m² area. The largest group of fans were those of Belgian WRC star Thierry Neuville.
 
            
 
 
Peter Linke,  photos ADAC   Red Bull / Christian Baur