Rally Weiz

Hot duel after storm let two drivers celebrate

Hermann Neubauer wins in Weiz(Bild: Harald Illmer)

Hermann Neubauer and Simon Wagner fought a thriller of seconds at the Weiz Rally! In the end, both drivers were able to celebrate - one with the victory, the other with the title win in the national championship.

There was little sign of calm after Friday afternoon's storm at the Rally Weiz on Saturday, as the thousands of fans were served up some exciting fare!

Chaos reigned in the paddock on Friday(Bild: Günther Knobloch)

On Friday, a storm had caused utter devastation in the paddock, destroying tent shelters, damaging equipment and even injuring people. The event was abandoned after three of five special stages. As a result, there were many tired faces in the paddock on Saturday morning when the rally resumed at 7.50 am.

Open exchange of blows
Hermann Neubauer and Simon Wagner - who were in the lead at the same time - had an open exchange of blows. Four-time Weiz winner Neubauer won all four classifications in the morning, but Wagner remained hot on his heels and was never more than eleven seconds behind in the overall standings. In the afternoon, Wagner even won two classifications and went into the final stage just 6.5 seconds behind.

+4

Fotos

However, Neubauer was once again faster there and clinched his fifth Weiz victory. Simon Wagner finished in second place, eight seconds behind, but was able to console himself with his fourth state championship title in a row. Brother Julian completed the podium and another triple victory for Skoda.

Styrian armada put up a good fight
They were followed by a Styrian trio: Fabian Zeiringer (4th), Kevin Raith (5th) and Günther Knobloch (6th), who even handed over his Porsche to co-driver Andi Aigner for two special stages in the afternoon.

As in the previous year, Hungarian Tibor Erdi won the European Championship race for historic vehicles in a Ford Sierra, while Lower Austrian talent Luca Pröglhöf won the Opel Electric Cup.