Austrian State Rally Championship 2007
The Austrian State Rally Championship 2007 was held from January 11th to November 10th 2007 as part of eight races.
 
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Venues of the Austrian State Rally Championship 2007 |
Season course
IQ January rally
In 2007 the IQ January rally celebrated its 25th edition. Over 280 test kilometers were covered on 18 special tests. There was no snow, but there was a lot of dirt on the track. The Czech Václav Pech coped well with the conditions and won the first of a total of eight rallies. Second was the German Hermann Gassner sen. who was able to improve more and more in the course of the rally and also benefited from the failures of Pavel Valoušek and Raimund Baumschlager . On the three days Franz Wittmann jun. and in the end drove up to third place. Johannes Keferböck achieved seventh place and was thus the second best Austrian. Raimund Baumschlager caused circuit problems at the end of the rally and Josef Semerád was eliminated in fourth place on the 16th special stage after a rollover. On the three days of the event, 95,000 visitors came to the rally slope.
Pirelli Lavanttal Rally
Despite the bad weather, around 50,000 visitors came to the Pirelli Lavanttal Rally . Raimund Baumschlager, Achim Mörtl and partly also Franz Wittmann junior fought for victory . However, Mörtl fell behind on the second day. In the end, the Austrian Raimund Baumschlager won after 14 special tests. Franz Wittmann jun. and third was Mario Saibel. With ninth place overall, Beppo Harrach took the victory in vehicles powered by natural gas.
Bosch Super plus rally
The battle for overall victory in the Bosch Super plus rally remained open for a long time. At the top there was a duel between Raimund Baumschlager and Franz Wittmann junior. Baumschlager was leading Wittmann by 3.8 seconds after the first day. After 13 special stages, Franz Wittmann jun. win ahead of Raimund Baumschlager and Andreas Waldherr, who pushed Toto Wolff out of third place on the last stages .
Castrol Judenburg-Pölstal rally
The previously successful drivers Achim Mörtl, Franz Wittmann jun., Toto Wolff and Hermann Gassner sen. did not start at the Castrol Judenburg-Pölstal rally . Therefore, Mario Saibel, Raimund Baumschlager and Andreas Waldherr fought for the lead up to the twelfth special stage. For two of these drivers, however, the rally ended prematurely shortly before the end. Andreas Waldherr had to park his VW Golf IV Kit Car because of oil temperature problems in order to avoid engine damage, and Mario Saibel rolled out in Führund lying down with engine damage in the 14th and final special stage. Raimund Baumschlager won the rally ahead of Willi Stengg junior. and Beppo Harrach . At his first rally, the Austrian Harald Proczyk surprisingly finished seventh. The event was attended by around 35,000 spectators.
BP Ultimate rally
On the first day of the 16th edition of the BP Ultimate Rally, it rained continuously for several hours. At first it was unclear whether the rally could even be held, but the organizer approved it. On the second day the weather conditions improved. The Austrian Raimund Baumschlager was the dominant driver in the field in every phase and won nine of the 14 special stages. In the eighth special stage, Andreas Waldherr, who was able to keep up with Baumschlager before, dropped out. After 16 special stages, Raimund Baumschlager won the rally. Second was the German Hermann Gassner Sr., who improved especially on the second day after the moderate start of the rally, but could not jeopardize Baumschlager's victory. Beppo Harrach crossed the finish line in third, 0.1 seconds behind Gassner. Willi Stengg jun. struggled with clutch problems and still came fourth. Kris Rosenberger and Hannes Danzinger followed in fifth and sixth .
ARBÖ Rally Styria
From the first to the last day, Raimund Baumschlager's victory at the ARBÖ Rallye Styria was not in danger and he won the state championship title early. He achieved seven best times out of 14 special stages and at the end of the rally had a lead of 57.2 seconds on second place. This was achieved by Andreas Waldherr, who also delivered a very good performance and won three tests. Gerwald Grössing , who was seen as a secret favorite, was able to meet expectations with third place overall. Kris Rosenberger achieved four best times and reached fourth place overall. On the other places followed Georg Reitsperger , who had to bury his chances of a podium position due to a drive shaft damage on the first day, and Hannes Danzinger. Beppo Harrach, on the other hand, had a difficult rollover in the fifth special stage, which he and his co-driver survived unharmed. An estimated 28,000 spectators came to the rally.
Ostarrichi rally
The Ostarrichi Rally was a chaotic rally because there was heavy snowfall. Several special stages had to be canceled. There were some serious accidents, but no serious injuries, only the Austrian Kris Rosenberger broke two ribs in his accident. Despite the bad weather, the 18th edition of the Ostarrichi rally could be held. On Friday evening Raimund Baumschlager had a serious accident and after the accident of Franz Wittmann jun. A preliminary decision was made in favor of Beppo Harrach on Saturday morning. With the seven-year-old Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, he achieved the first overall victory for a natural gas-powered rally vehicle. In second place came Mario Saibel, who drove a good second stage after problems on the first day. With third place Willi Stengg jun. the runner-up. On the last special stage, Andreas Waldherr set the fastest time and at the end of the rally he finished fourth after five stages. Hans Weijs jun. drove to fifth place despite technical problems. With a 20 year old Audi quattro , Christof Klausner surprisingly came in sixth.
OMV Rallye Waldviertel
The fastest at the 27th edition of the OMV Rallye Waldviertel was the Austrian Manfred Stohl , who won 13 of 17 special stages and at the end of the rally had a lead of 1: 50.7 minutes over the initially second-placed Štěpán Vojtěch . However, Stohl was denied the victory because a non-homologated clutch was objected to on his vehicle. Thus, the victory subsequently went to Vojtěch. Second was Michał Kościuszko from Poland in the Fiat Grande Punto S2000. The front right drive shaft of Beppo Harrach's vehicle broke on the 14th special stage, so that he fell back to third place behind Kościuszko. 50,000 spectators attended the event.
Results
| rally | space | driver | vehicle | total time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 IQ January rally11-13 January 2007 |
1. |
 Václav bad luck
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 2: 49: 12.6 h | |
| 2. |
 Hermann Gassner Sr.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +1: 44.7 min | ||
| 3. |
Franz Wittmann jun.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | + 3: 18.4 min | ||
|
Pirelli Lavanttal Rally 30.-31. March 2007 |
1. |
Raimund Baumschlager
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 2:08:42.7 h | |
| 2. |
Franz Wittmann jun.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | + 54.2 s | ||
| 3. |
Mario Saibel
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | + 2:39 min | ||
|
Bosch Super Plus Rally 18th-19th May 2007 |
1. |
Franz Wittmann jun.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | 1: 39: 06.7 h | |
| 2. |
Raimund Baumschlager
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | + 18.5 s | ||
| 3. |
Andreas Waldherr
|
VW Golf IV Kit Car | + 47 s | ||
|
Castrol Judenburg-Pölstal Rally 15. – 16. June 2007 |
1. |
Raimund Baumschlager
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 1: 21: 34.6 h | |
| 2. |
Willi Stengg jun.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +1: 29.1 min | ||
| 3. |
Beppo Harrach
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | + 1:57 min | ||
|
BP Ultimate Rally 7th-8th September 2007 |
1. |
Raimund Baumschlager
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 1: 27: 22.9 h | |
| 2. |
Hermann Gassner Sr.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +1: 32.2 min | ||
| 3. |
Beppo Harrach
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +1: 32.3 min | ||
|
ARBÖ Rallye Styria 28.-29. September 2007 |
1. |
Raimund Baumschlager
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 1: 33: 17.6 h | |
| 2. |
Andreas Waldherr
|
VW Golf IV Kit Car | + 57.2 s | ||
| 3. |
Gerwald Grössing
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | + 2: 35.4 min | ||
|
Ostarrichi Rally 19. – 20. October 2007 |
1. |
Beppo Harrach
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | 58: 24.9 min | |
| 2. |
Mario Saibel
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | + 47.7 s | ||
| 3. |
Willi Stengg jun.
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +1: 06.1 min | ||
|
OMV Rallye Waldviertel 9. – 10. November 2007 |
1. |
Štěpán Vojtěch
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 1: 50: 03.3 h | |
| 2. |
 Michał Kościuszko
|
Fiat Grande Punto S2000 | +1: 04.3 min | ||
| 3. |
Beppo Harrach
|
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | +1: 49.3 min | ||
Ratings
Points were awarded after each rally for the top ten drivers with vehicles from the respective division according to the following scheme:
| space | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 12 | 10 | 8th | 7th | 6th | 5 | 4th | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Driver ranking Division I
In Division I, drivers with vehicles from groups N4 , A7, A6 and A5 were rated.
Web links
- Report and result of the IQ January Rally 2007
- Report and result of the Pirelli Lavanttal Rally 2007
- Report and result of the Bosch Super plus Rally 2007
- Report and result of the Castrol Judenburg-Pölstal Rally 2007
- Report and result of the BP Ultimate Rally 2007
- Report and result of the ARBÖ Rallye Styria 2007
- Report and result of the Ostarrichi Rally 2007
- Report and result of the OMV Rallye Waldviertel 2007
- Results on eWRC-results.com
