Allgäu-Orient rally

The Allgäu-Orient-Rallye was a motorsport event that started annually on the first weekend in May in Oberstaufen im Allgäu and ended in Amman in Jordan . It could best be compared with a classic car and youngtimer rally . The only exceptions were for certain special stages, for example in the Jordanian desert. Another difference was that this event is for a charitable cause.

A team from the Allgäu-Orient-Rally during the special desert test (2008)

rally

The event started annually on the first weekend in May in Oberstaufen and ended until 2010 after around ten days in Amman, Jordan. Due to the civil war in Syria , the duration had been extended to approx. 18 days, as Syria could no longer be crossed. During this time, the teams had to do a lot of tasks, similar to a " paper chase ".

In 2011, due to the civil war , the event could not be held via Syria as usual . Since it was not possible to bring the participants to Jordan by ferry via Israel or Egypt, the organizer broke off the event on May 14, 2011 in Turkey after an 80-hour ferry journey across the Mediterranean.

In 2012 the route was changed. As before, the start was in Oberstaufen, the goal was, because of the ongoing unrest in Syria, but in Baku , Azerbaijan .

In 2013 Syria could not be crossed either, so Syria was circumnavigated from the Turkish port of İskenderun to Haifa in Israel . This was the first time that Israel was driven through by the Allgäu-Orient rally.

Syria had to be bypassed again in 2014, again through the passage of vehicles from Iskenderun to Haifa. Since the ferry could only carry a few passengers, the majority of the participants had to be transported to Israel by plane. For the first time, a multi-day program in Israel became possible this year before the event ended with an award ceremony at the Dead Sea in the presence of the Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein.

In 2016, the destination was located in Dalyan in southern Turkey for organizational reasons. Intermediate destinations were Tbilisi in Georgia and Mount Ararat. The originally planned destination Tehran had to be abandoned after the change in the security situation in southeastern Turkey in 2015.

On May 7, 2017, the twelfth and final Allgäu-Orient rally began in Oberstaufen and ended after three weeks in Aquaba, Jordan .

The event will continue under the new name Europa-Orient-Rallye from 2018 .

regulate

A team consisted of six members (rule change from 2011; until 2010 and since 2016 teams with four people were also allowed). A car was only allowed to be occupied by two people (at the start). One or all cars could be replaced by two motorcycles with one driver each. In 2016, teams with 4 participants and a corresponding number of cars and / or motorcycles were again admitted.
The vehicles had to be 20 years old or were not allowed to exceed the value of € 1,111.11 (according to the market value of TÜV-Süd).
The cars became the property of an aid organization after the event. Aid projects were financed from the proceeds from the sale of the vehicles.
The accommodation costs on the trip were not allowed to exceed € 11.11 per person per night (average).
No navigation or other GPS devices were allowed to be used. Exceptions were GPS devices, which document the route but are not used for navigation.
It was not allowed to use motorways, ferries or other toll routes.
A maximum of 666 km per day could be driven.
Only teams that arrived with at least one vehicle and all people were rated.

Grand Prize

The winner of the event received a camel as the main prize . The camels usually stayed in Jordan and were given away to local and destitute Bedouins or farmers. The only exception in 2006 was the Outlaw Airforce team. The team wanted to import the animal to Germany, but failed because of the import regulations.

Winners and placements

2006: Rank 1: Outlaw - Rank 2: Rockn Rooster - Rank 3: WC-Sprolli2
2007: 1st place: Motorhacke Racing Team 2: ABE Racing
2008: Rank 1: Scuderia Silencio - Rank 2: Str-AMM - Rank 3: Globetrotter Oberallgäu
2009: 1st place: KRBO e. V. - 2nd place: Mikado Allgäu - 3rd place: Styrian Speed Sisters
2010: Rank 1: King Ludwig's camel catcher - Rank 2: Desert Swabia - Rank 3: Str-AMM
2011: 1st place: Roud Léiwen Asbl - 2nd place: Ulmer Spatzen Bus - 3rd place: Oriental Proms
2012: 1st place: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - 2nd place: The Transporters - 3rd place: Motorsport Arena
2013: Rank 1: Desperate ATDs - Rank 2: Team Technik Museum - Rank 3: Spätzle Arabica
2014: 1st place: Geisterfahrer.in - 2nd place: Racing Maddäsle - 3rd place: Brezenflitzer
2015: 1st place: Getriebesand 77 - 2nd place: Südheide
2016: Rank 1: No Camel - No Cry - Rank 3: Südheide
2017: Rank 1: Stars of the Mordenland

Charitable cause

The teams' vehicles were handed over to an aid organization and sold at the end of the event. The proceeds until 2009 were used to set up a cheese dairy. This project is part of an aid project of the Jordanian government, the Bedouins , who want to settle down, should create the basics like water and electricity for a village in the desert . So that the Bedouins can use the milk, a cheese dairy is set up with the help of the teams and their sponsors. The proceeds (2006: around € 60,000, 2007: around € 40,000, 2008: € 80,000, 2009: around € 50,000) went to a blocked account of the WFP. The money was earmarked for the projects of the Allgäu-Orient-Rallye and disbursed according to the progress of the project.

The German-Jordanian non-profit company founded for this purpose has bought a piece of land in the desert village of Al Rabiat , 60 km from Amman, on which the cheese factory was built. Cheese is produced there by several Bedouin families. The sale of the products secures their livelihood.

The proceeds have been distributed differently every year since 2010.

In addition to the main goals, it had become customary for many teams to sponsor their own aid projects along the way. In the course of the last few years, participants have repeatedly raised doubts about the use of the donation proceeds. The use of the social network and the increased exchange of information among the participants revealed ambiguities and inconsistencies that call into question the non-profit nature of the event.

Similar events

An event comparable to the Allgäu-Orient-Rally is the Banjul Challenge .

literature

Some of the participants also published books, some of which were written as diaries:

Behrendt, Mike: The Allgäu-Orient-Rallye 2013 - On the way from Germany to Jordan , BoD - Books on demand, Norderstedt 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-8272-2 .
Wysniewski, Birte et al. a .: Our way to Amman: Insights into an automotive adventure - The Allgäu-Orient-Rallye 2010 , tredition GmbH, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86850-673-0 .
Hoëcker, Bernhard : Miles away for no camel: An unusual journey from the Allgäu to the Orient , rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 2010, ISBN 978-3-499-62639-5 .