The ADAC Rallye Deutschland has been on the World Rally Championship calendar regularly since the 2002 season. Previous events have been hosted in places such as Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz going back as far as 1982. Beginning in 2000, it was relocated to the region around Trier. The second asphalt rally of the 2010 season, Rally Deutschland is held in Germany’s wine-producing Mosel region, near the historic city of Trier.
It may be a pure asphalt event, but it has one of the widest variety of sealed surfaces on the calendar. As such, it's a tricky rally that demands the very best from drivers.
The stage conditions are different on each day. Friday is made up of narrow and dirty vineyard access roads that feature a mix of straights and hairpins, making handbrake turn skills essential. Saturday’s stages are held on the rough concrete roads of the Baumholder military ranges, with the ever present hazard of huge concrete blocks designed to stop tanks straying from the road.
The final day features smooth, fast bitumen-coated roads and the ‘Circus Maximus’ Superspecial that runs right through the heart of Trier’s old city. All-in-all, it’s a challenging mix.
First included in the WRC in 2002, the Trier-based event has proved a happy hunting ground for Sebastien Loeb, who has won it on every occasion so far. This year the rally is back in the WRC calendar after a year out in 2009 in accordance with the FIA's event rotation system. Rally Deutschland is the first of two rallies this year to be eligible for all three WRC support championships: the J-WRC, P-WRC and S-WRC.
WRC - Germany 2011