Both in the Gravel Cup and in the ADMV championship the Lausitz-Rallye is not only the final round but also the sporting highlight of the season, where drivers can also collect particularly many points thanks to high coefficients. At the same time the Lausitz-Rallye, with around 120 gravel kilometres, is the toughest event of the year. That is why all preliminary calculations come with the caveat: “If you want to win, you first have to make it onto the finish ramp.”
That is by no means a given. In 2020 Dark Liebehenschel had victory in his class, in his group and in the Gravel Cup in sight when he struck a boulder between the finish and the stop of the penultimate stage. Three years earlier the four title contenders retired one after another, so that Sebastian Vollak, who had already become stranded first in the arena on Friday, learned of the Cup win by telephone later at home in Solingen!
Gravel Cup finale with three top contenders
For the gravel-cup finale 30 teams have entered. Third-placed Swede Stig Andervang is absent; his Hyundai is due to be sold this week. Points leader Dark Liebehenschel arrives at Boxberg, but the Skoda driver faces an extremely tough task because in his class RC2 all the top drivers from the DRM and the FIA European Trophy are gathered. The young Finn Rasmus Tuominen therefore starts from the best position; after his four commanding wins in class NC1 he has a good chance to leap from second to first in the standings with a class podium.
The third serious contender for the Cup is Yannik Keller, who in the Ford Fiesta is among the favourites in the 2-litre class NC3. The gearbox damage in Havelland cost him a dropped result and several long nights in the workshop, but a class win could put the 24-year-old from the Erzgebirge back on the winners’ track. Keller has the Gravel Cup junior classification all but secured, although the just-turned 18-year-old Ian Hayn in the Suzuki Swift still has a theoretical chance.
Four ADMV decisions still open
Raphael Ramonat and Karina Derda travel to the ADMV championship finale with a comfortable lead. If the colourful Mitsubishi Evo 10 is on the finish ramp both evenings, they will have the title secured. Behind them it is extremely close; for place 2 there are almost a dozen contenders, led by Torsten Brunke (Golf) and juniors Yannik Keller and Moritz Wagner (Suzuki).
In that pack Norbert Meyer (Volvo 940) and André Raupach (Toyota Yaris) are also fighting for place 1 in the Group-G special classification. In the U25 juniors Yannik Keller starts as clear leader ahead of Moritz Wagner and Ian Hayn for the finale. Last but not least: in the Saxony Championship Keller and title defender Pierre Günther, who this time starts in a Renault Clio Rally5, are locked in a head-to-head battle for the winner's trophies. With 23 registered teams the ADMV entries are hard to miss.]
Spectacular visuals for rally fans
Plenty of gravel means lots of fun for spectators with jumps and drifts. The Lausitz-Rallye runs almost entirely over the LEAG company grounds and the military training area. Spectators are strictly prohibited there. Instead the RRWC is again setting up a number of spectator zones that are well signposted.
The central locations are new this year: the service park moves from Bärwalder See to the old bus station in Boxberg, directly accessible from the B 156 opposite the power plant, with its own spectator car park. The start-finish ramp will be erected in the middle of Boxberg in front of the municipal administration and will also be visited after every service break.
More info for fans atwww.lausitz-rallye.de
