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Motorsport is pure passion. Motorsports are emotions that are packed in tin cans. Motorsport is an elixir of life and you have to live motorsport. If you want to approach this wonderful mixture without the dangers of competitive sports, you should try a classic rally. For example the Hamburg-Berlin classic. AUTOHUB starts 2015 on a Skoda Rallye 130 RS and at the wheel of the sevenfold German rally master Matthias Kahle!
Day 1 of HBK 2015 - heaven, hell, hallelujah
The first problem occurred before the start. Motorsport athletes are “athletes”, wide hips are rare, hip gold is even rarer. But the author of these lines and Matthias Kahle's co-driver is not narrow. No. And the Sandtler bucket seats are cut for a press fit.
At 13:30 on Thursday the start time. A new seat? Sure, let it fly in. How about Formula 1? No. Of course not. Classic rallies also thrive on the talent of the participants to improvise. Find solutions. A bucket seat is deep. So what to do to balance the depth? A pillow?
If 125 kg live weight sit on a down pillow, then such a pillow does not compensate for anything. Another solution had to be found. Team 155 Skoda Auto Deutschland started on the way to the hardware store and reshaped the seat on the passenger side with a styrofoam plate.
Bucket seat construction using the express method. Seat depth eliminated, the passenger now sits enthroned in the rally RS130
Heaven - the start of HBK 2015
The start of the Hamburg-Berlin Klassik, driving again this year from Berlin to Hamburg, was simply great cinema. People stand in double rows on the side of the road. Wherever the colorful rally Skoda drives by, there is cheering and waving. People know that this rally Skoda RS 130 with the starting number 155 is not just for anyone, the seven-time German rally champion sits in this car. Even if his roots are not quite as eastern as those of the Skoda, every child in the former East of the Republic knows Matthias Kahle. The first kilometers of the 255 km long first day lead through remote villages, small country roads, a quiet, decelerated world. And Matthias Kahle may have won seven German rally championships - he is a very calm one on public roads. A level-headed driver, he has simply lost his calm. His co-driver is different. I.
I drove the HBK for the first time two years ago and I first have to get used to the “road book”, Chinese symbols and special stages. How do you convert meters to seconds to km/h? What is the difference between 6,10 and 6:10? But the professional's calm radiates a little.
Who comes up with that? #hbklive #hbk2015 skoda #155 A photo posted by Bjoern Habegger (@habegger) on
And the heat is weary.
Hell - Day 1 in retrospect
What is that man saying about heat? As we left Berlin and headed west, the sky became cloudy. It was getting cooler. Later even really wet. Shortly before Wolfsburg, the world even wanted to end for a moment. Yes, all of this may apply to the world “about the rally RS130”, but not to the car that is worth around €100.000 today. Air conditioner? He does not have. It was clear. But a functioning ventilation also had to be removed for weight reasons. What's left? Two tiny openings in the side windows. With no insulation material at all, not only does the engine noise hit the occupants, but the heat from the water cooler at the front and the engine at the rear also hits the sparse cabin. Whenever possible, Matthias and I open the doors. Fresh air! Cool or at least not so hot fresh air.
Noise and temperatures exhaust the “non-professional”. And then bad luck comes along.
The instrument panel fails shortly before the WP6. And the wipers. And when it rains. The Tripmaster is also down - a problem that will soon cost us more time. Matthias drives right. Hangs upside down under the dashboard. A fuse has passed. We lose almost 10 minutes.
Matthias wants to catch up. For the first time, he lets the Rally 130 fly. The 100 kW of the 1.3 liter four-cylinder now finally produce thrust in addition to heat.
And then we missed a clue. Lack of concentration leads to a navigation error. For Matthias the chance to show how to become a rally champion. Handbrake turns in the Altmark. We have to reorient ourselves. Always on the country road speed limit, we fly over a dirt road. Second gear, initiate drift. Matthias is looking for the way by orienting ourselves more through the side window.
Back on the “right path,” Matthias turns the 130 RS off. Competitors are becoming smaller in the rearview mirror. Of course, this HBK is not about “top times”, but more about brains – but in the end we want to get back our lost time.
Shortly before the last special stage of the day, the engine sputters. Three cylinders. Out of. We roll onto a grass verge. The engine chokes. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down. Because even if this is all just supposed to be “fun”, there are times at the check points that we have to stick to. And at some point the final car comes and then a rally like this is over. We count the seconds.
The service car comes. A cable from the ignition coil to the distributor has come loose. The repair takes less than 2 minutes. It is now dark. Matthias and I, we are under pressure. The last special stage - Matthias lets the Rallye Skoda fly through the Altmark.
Hallelujah!
Without time penalty. Just in time, we arrive at the goal. The first results come online three hours later, just before midnight.
Team Kahle / Habegger # 155 still has every chance with a 15th place overall. I'm relieved. The day offered more action than I can take. It is dead tired in the hotel room. Tomorrow will be attacked, Matthias and I are sure - concentrated in the top 5 - that must be our goal now!
