Matthias Kahle und Christian Doerr gewinnnen die 24. Ausgabe der Internationalen ADMV Lausitz-Rallye. Den zweiten Platz belegt das norwegische Duo Anders Grondal und Marius Fuglerud vor Daniel Chwist mit Co-Pilot Kamil Heller aus Polen.

At the beginning of the second day of the rally, the close fight at the top continues. Matthias Kahle starts - according to Friday evening's ranking - in third position and marks the best time on "Nochten 1" 1.4 seconds ahead of Erik Cais and 3.8 seconds ahead of Anders Grondal. The special stage had to be cancelled after Wieslaw Zagon (POL) in the Renault Clio had a heavy crash. Co-driver Marek Zakrewski was injured and taken to hospital as a precaution. The crews that have not started yet will be diverted directly to SS 6. For Fabio Schwarz the rally ends here with a technical defect on his rally Fiesta.

"Sprey 1", the sixth special stage, was won by Erik Cais in 10:12,4 minutes. Kahle lost 7.5 seconds, Grondal 9 seconds. On the following two special stages Cais extended his lead bit by bit, so that by the lunch break he was 22.7 seconds ahead of Anders Grondal. With a gap of 27.4 seconds, Matthias Kahle remains within striking distance in third place.

Martin Vlcek (CZE) was stranded on SS 8 with a technical defect on his Hyundai i20. Martin Savruk (CZE, Skoda Fabia) and the strong driving Jan Sykora (CZE, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) also dropped out. The two Germans Pierre Günther in a Honda Civic and Stefan Dammaschke in a Renault Clio were also eliminated.

The afternoon loop - consisting of two runs of the stages "Reichwalde" (with 20.79 kilometres the longest stage of the Lausitz Rally) and "Bärwalder See" (16.96 kilometres) - brings the two pursuers closer to Cais again. The leader allowed himself a spin on this special stage, which cost him about 10 seconds. Matthias Kahle wins his favourite special stage in Reichwalde by a hair's breadth ahead of Anders Grondal. But on the next special stage Cais was again ten seconds faster and restored the old gap.

Great drama on the last metres
On the two final stages, as darkness fell, Erik Cais first consolidated his lead. Then the big drama broke out when his engine blew up and caught fire on the last special stage. The special stage was cancelled, making Matthias Kahle the five-time Lausitz Rally winner.

The final standings are as follows:

1st Matthias Kahle / Christian Doerr (DEU / DEU, Skoda Fabia R5) 1:31:53,6
2nd Anders Grondal / Magnus Fuglerud (NOR / NOR, Ford Fiesta R5) +00:01,1
3rd Daniel Chwist / Kamil Heller (POL / POL, Hyundai i20 R5) +03:51,2
4th. Björn Satorius / Lina Meter (DEU / DEU, Ford Fiesta R5) +05:51,3
5th Peter Scharmach / Dietmar Moch (NZL / DEU, Skoda Fabia R5) +07:05,1

Turkish success in FIA European Rally Trophy finale
The final of this year's international European Rally Trophy is won by the crew Mustafa Cakal with co-driver Ozgur Akdag.

Finally, spectators are allowed on the tracks again and they cheer on their favourites loudly and creatively. A total of 42 teams finish the Lausitz Rally, which can be counted among the demanding rallies this year. The rain of the previous days caused some wet surprises. Large puddles of water and washed-out ruts were less of an issue for the powerful all-wheel-drive vehicles, but a real challenge for the vehicles in the smaller classes.

Author: Björn Fröbe
Photo: Bastian & Frank Hartmann