Central European Rally, the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship season, is set to run two weeks earlier than planned due to scheduling issues with its service park location.
The three-nation event, which encompasses stage mileage in southeast Germany, northern Austria and southwest Czechia, had been based in the German city of Passau on its WRC debut last season.
But due to issues securing the same site for its service park in 2024 during its original WRC calendar slot of October 30 to November 3, CER has changed its location and also requested to amend its date, which requires approval from the FIA and also Germany’s national motorsport federation ADAC.
“For organizational reasons, the CER will not be held on the originally scheduled All Saints’ Day weekend,” read a statement from CER organizers.
“Since the Dreiländerhalle in Passau, which was used as the service park last year, was already booked up for other events for the new dates, the CER organizational team had to look for an alternative location that had areas that were large enough.
“They found what they were looking for in Bad Griesbach – the service park will set up camp on the site of one of the biggest Bavarian fairs in the Karpfham district, where the ADAC 3-Städte-Rallye was based up until 2017 as part of the German Rally Championship (DRM).
Thierry Neuville won the inaugural edition of CER last year
“The rally control centre and the media centre will be set up in the nearby hotels Maximilian and König Ludwig.”
Bad Griesbach is only 30 minutes south of previous host city Passau, meaning the change is primarily logistical and won’t affect the competitive stages being used.
Passau will still remain part of the rally, hosting the podium ceremony at the conclusion of the rally. As was the case in 2023, the ceremonial start will take place in Prague, as will the opening superspecial of the rally.
“After highly constructive discussions with politicians and the fair organizers, we are delighted that we were able to find this solution for 2024,” continued CER’s statement.
“We would also like to thank the city of Passau for its amazing support and are looking forward to including the City of Three Rivers as a rally destination once again for this year’s event. Our thanks also go to the district of Passau and the city of Bad Griesbach. The whole region is pulling together for the rally.”
