Autoball are so far very seldom and for show purposes, called competitions of a ball sport of the type goal game , in which two or more people compete against each other with the aim of scoring more goals with their cars than the opponent and thus winning the game. However, there are no associations, leagues or infrastructure that would make Autoball a regular sport.
history
At the beginning of the 1930s, Karl Kappler (1891–1962), a successful automobile racing driver, presented an automobile ball sport in Karlsruhe , Baden . On June 16, 1933, the superior Kappler competed in a Mercedes-Benz on the soccer field of FC Frankonia Karlsruhe in the first ever car ball game against Willy Engesser in an Opel ; a photograph of the match between Kappler and Engesser, followed by several hundred spectators, does not exist. Kappler was also able to win three more games, including against the eagle driver Gieske . A game with four vehicles took place once for demonstration purposes. On behalf of Kappler, Continental developed a play ball with a diameter of around 120 centimeters. In addition to a Mercedes-Benz Type 290 and a Mercedes-Benz Type 200 Terrain , a Wanderer W 10 Cabriolet was also used as vehicles. After Kappler's retirement from motor racing in 1935, Autoball fell into oblivion.
In Brazil , autoball was a popular motor sport in the early 1970s, especially in Rio de Janeiro , where a championship was held at times. However, in the face of the oil crisis , like some other motor sports, it was banned.
In the seventh edition of Schlag den Raab on November 3, 2007, the sport was revived in Germany. Stefan Raab won against the candidate Sonja Bartelt in the third game of the evening "Autoball" 6-0 after seven minutes of play. As a result it became its own show (see below). However, Autoball was already played in the May 22, 2005 episode of the popular British TV show Top Gear . Two teams, each with five Toyota Aygos, competed against each other to demonstrate the vehicle's agility. About a year later, in the episode broadcast on June 4, 2006, five Aygos competed against five VW Foxes .
On July 7, 2015, the computer game Rocket League was released, which implements the sport along with some less realistic features.
TV totally Autoball
After playing Autoball at Schlag den Raab, four so-called Autoball European and World Championships have so far been organized by TV total . The Autoball championships were broadcast as live television broadcasts lasting several hours in connection with the soccer, European and world championships taking place in the respective year .
Eight nations have participated in the previous championships. However, the participants are not high-performance motorsport athletes; instead, a more or less talented prominent driver from that country competes for each country; Stefan Raab started for Germany every time. First a preliminary round is played in two groups of four, of which the two best players qualify for the semifinals. The two winners of the semi-finals then compete against each other in the final.
regulate
In the Autoball sport, the drivers play 1 on 1 in basically normal cars (usually a VW Polo), as they also drive in normal traffic, with a large ball against each other. The playing time is five minutes, in the final eight minutes. If there is then a tie in a knockout game, there is a sudden death penalty shoot-out, i. H. as soon as one of the two drivers scores and the other does not, the game is over. There is no fixed number of penalties like in football . So far, the penalty rule only had to be applied to the final of the 2010 Autoball World Cup. Since the Autoball European Championship 2012 there has been two minutes of extra time after regular playing time. If it is still a draw after that, there is sudden death overtime until someone scores a goal. The time is stopped if the game is interrupted or goals are scored. If a goal is scored a few seconds before the end of a game, the clock is usually left running.
According to ProSieben, the ball weighs around 15 kg and has a diameter of over two meters. Since the shell of the ball is very thin, it often breaks; therefore, a sufficiently large number of balls is always provided. To prevent the balls from bursting, the playing surface is carefully cleaned, especially after collisions with damage to the cars, so that there are no sharp splinters lying around. In addition, sharp parts and edges on the cars that arise after accidents are masked.
Furthermore, penalties are imposed for behavior contrary to the game: Deliberate clashes can result in a free kick or a yellow card. If the driver receives another yellow card, there is a penalty. A referee is responsible for observing the rules.
The drivers can switch to a second and third car at any time in the event of technical defects or excessive damage. Each driver can decide for himself when. If a car is defective, the driver can indicate this with hand signals, then the game is interrupted and the car is examined. If it turns out that there was no technical defect, i.e. the car is drivable, the opponent is awarded a penalty. At the 2014 Autoball World Cup, Turkey only received a yellow card for this violation.
If a ball falls over the border of the playing field, the ball is thrown in again at the same place. In order to drive the cars on and off the field, one of the gates is pushed aside.
Special features of the shows
If a player scores a goal with his car, a passage from a song that is always the same with reference to his country is played. For example, when a goal was scored for Ireland, the song An Angel by the Kelly Family , for Italy Pizza wunderbar by De Höhner , for Germany I love Germany by Verna Mae Bentley-Krause , for England Football's Coming Home by The Lightning Seeds .
Championships organized by TV totally
European Championship 2008
On Friday, June 6th, 2008, one day before the opening of the European Football Championship 2008 , Stefan Raab hosted the TV total Autoball European Championship 2008 in the Kölnarena . A total of eight national teams with a prominent cast determined the first European Autoball champion in the Kölnarena. In addition to Stefan Raab (Germany), Patrick Nuo (Switzerland), Thomas Muster (Austria), Dariusz Michalczewski (Poland), Giovanni Zarrella (Italy), Bülent Ceylan (Turkey), Sergej Barbarez (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Raab's rival Joey Kelly (Ireland) one of the party.
In the first semi-final Barbarez was eliminated by Kelly, in the second semi-final Raab won against Zarrella. In the final, Stefan Raab defeated Joey Kelly 2-1 and became the first Autoball European champion. The program was moderated by Oliver Welke . Matthias Opdenhövel and Sonya Kraus were on site as reporters. Frank Buschmann was the commentator .
- Group A
- Group B
- Final round
World Championship 2010
The second Autoball event, the TV total Autoball World Cup 2010 , took place on June 4, 2010, one week before the start of the 2010 Soccer World Cup . The venue was again the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. Participants were Stefan Raab (Germany), Giovanni Zarrella (Italy), Joey Kelly (Ireland), Daniel Aminati (Ghana), Ross Antony (England), Aílton (Brazil), Harry Wijnvoord (Netherlands) and Henri Leconte (France). The event was moderated by Matthias Opdenhövel , Elton and Sonya Kraus . Frank Buschmann was the commentator .
- Group A
- Group B
- Final round
European Championship 2012
The third Autoball event, the TV total Autoball European Championship 2012 , took place on June 2, 2012, around a week before the start of the European Football Championship 2012 , in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne with the following nations (represented by):
Ireland ( Joey Kelly ), Germany ( Stefan Raab ), Italy ( Giovanni Zarrella ), Portugal ( Manuel Cortez ), England ( Ross Antony ), Austria ( Christian Clerici ), the Netherlands ( Harry Wijnvoord ) and Turkey ( Eko Fresh ).
The show was hosted by Steven Gätjen , field reporter Elton and commentator Frank Buschmann .
In the final between “defending champion” Germany and “world champion” Italy, Italy won and became the new and for the first time ever European Autoball Champion.
- Group A
- Group B
- Final round
World Championship 2014
The fourth Autoball event, the TV total Autoball World Cup 2014 , took place on June 7, 2014, around one week before the start of the 2014 Soccer World Cup , in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne with the following nations (represented by):
Ireland ( Joey Kelly ), Germany ( Stefan Raab ), Italy ( Giovanni Zarrella ), Ghana ( Hans Sarpei ), England ( Ross Antony ), Brazil ( Aílton ), USA ( Bam Margera ) and Turkey ( Eko Fresh ).
The show was hosted by Steven Gätjen , field reporter Elton and commentator Frank Buschmann . Bernd Heynemann acted as referee .
- Group A
- Group B
- Final round
Audience ratings
| Event
|
date
|
Spectators
total audience
|
Total audience
market share |
Viewers
14 to 49 years
|
Market share
14 to 49 years
|
| European Championship 2008
|
June 6, 2008
|
1.91 million |
10.2 percent |
1.44 million |
17.9 percent
|
| World Championship 2010
|
June 4th 2010
|
2.71 million |
14.7 percent |
1.97 million |
25.1 percent
|
| European Championship 2012
|
June 2, 2012
|
2.01 million |
09.9 percent |
1.44 million |
17.8 percent
|
| World Championship 2014
|
June 7, 2014
|
1.43 million |
8.3 percent |
0.99 million |
15.5 percent
|
Individual evidence
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↑ a b Karlsruhe - Cradle of the Autoball ( German ) In: karlsruhe.de . Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
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↑ Never mind the World Cup - what happened to autoball? , The Daily Telegraph, June 2, 2002
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↑ SCHLAG DEN RAAB 03.11.2007 Autoball Game 3 ( German ) In: video.google.de . Archived from the original on August 1, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
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↑ Spiegel-Online: Scrap bower battle as EM replacement satisfaction ( Memento from April 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
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↑ Pro Sieben: The TV total Autoball European Championship 2008 ( Memento from July 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
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↑ Lanxess Arena Events
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↑ Raab's Autoball EM celebrates a successful premiere ( German ) In: quotenmeter.de . Retrieved August 30, 2012.
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↑ “Autoball-WM” becomes a hit ( German ) In: quotenmeter.de . Retrieved August 30, 2012.
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↑ "Autoball-EM" clearly shows ( German ) In: quotenmeter.de . Retrieved August 30, 2012.
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↑ Despite the lowest values: "Autoball World Cup" wins ( German ) In: quotenmeter.de . Retrieved June 8, 2014.
