Lavanttal Rally

Waldherr chases the legacy of his father’s accident

Luca Waldherr drifts towards his third podium finish in the third race in the Lavanttal.(Bild: Daniel Fessl - rallyepics.at)

Three, two - and now one? Luca Waldherr finished on the podium at the first two stages of the national championship, and on Friday and Saturday he will be competing for his first victory at the Lavanttal Rally around Wolfsberg. It would be a particularly emotional one: 15 years ago, his father Andreas, who died in 2011, celebrated his last triumph here.

A short test and inspection were still on the agenda on Thursday, although the Krumbach native already knows the route all too well anyway: last year, Luca celebrated victory in the 2WD classification in the Lavanttal, in which he later defended his national championship title. "The Lavanttal always suits me," Waldherr is convinced. This year, however, everything is one size bigger: with the all-wheel-drive Citroen C3 Rally2, the 29-year-old is competing for the "real" national championship title for the first time; after finishing third (Jänner-Rallye) and second (Rebenland), he is only 13 points behind defending champion Simon Wagner in second place overall.

Luca Waldherr (left) with his "mentor", former world champion Manfred Stohl.(Bild: Waldherr Motorsport)

So the first victory would come at just the right time: "Of course, after three and two, the only thing missing is the one," laughs Waldherr, "but everyone knows how difficult that is. In terms of my motivation, the car and the team, nothing speaks against it." But: "When you see Simon and Hermann Neubauer, you know that the road to victory goes through them."

The champion and runner-up are superior in terms of experience with their Skoda Fabia Rally2, but the weather seems to be on Luca's side: It should stay dry this time. "You could see in the Rebenland that I'm still lacking something against them in the rain." His official goal? "Of course, the podium! And if we want to finish second in the national championship, we can't be eliminated under any circumstances."

A triumph would be particularly emotional for Luca, and not just because of the premiere: in 2009, his father Andreas celebrated his last victory in the Lavanttal in a VW Polo S2000, two years later he tragically had an accident in his garage. "I knew that dad was always fast here. Of course, that's another reason why a win here would be amazing - but if I manage it in five years, that would be nice enough."