Can you imagine Germany’s round of the World Rally Championship without the cars ripping through the vineyards and down the country lanes? Looks like you’ll have to this season. October’s ADAC Rallye Deutschland will be held entirely within the Baumholder military area.
Two days dodging the hinkelsteins in Panzerplatte might well be enough to strike fear into the heart of most drivers, but it’s a necessary precaution as Europe looks to avoid a second wave of coronavirus.
Germany has COVID-19 restrictions in place regarding mass gatherings and DirtFish understands Baumholder is the event’s best opportunity to restrict numbers and control the flow of fans across the 12,000-hectare tank-testing range.
Germany’s WRC round has previously included mileage on the vineyards on the banks of the Mosel River and through the Saarland countryside. Those roads will not feature this time around.
There is plenty of variety on offer within the confines of Panzerplatte, from the broken concrete and seemingly never-ending series of junctions and corners in Arena Panzerplatte to the wider faster roads which lead to the famous Gina’s Jump section.
One source told DirtFish: “This is all Germany can do. It’s a shame, everybody loves the challenge of the vineyards and it won’t really feel the same without doing those stages, but if this is what we have to do to make a round of the WRC, then this is what we must do.”
The Bostalsee-based round of the championship, set to run from October 15-18, will be shrunk to two days.
