More than half of the 81 starters in the 37th Truck Friends on the Road January Rally powered by Wimberger, which will be held in the Freistadt area from January 5th to 7th, 2024, come from Upper Austria.
Image: MARKUS PRINZ
One of them is Johannes Keferböck from Pregarten, who was the first person from Mühlviertel to win the 2018 rally. The 50-year-old was able to achieve an excellent fourth overall place in the WRC Masters (for drivers aged 50+) in the World Rally Championship last season – following only driving four races.
For the January rally, the Pregartener has strengthened itself – as in Croatia, at the autumn rally and at the Central Europe Rally – with the latest rally variant of the Skoda Fabia. The father of the family is sharing his team “Keane Motorsport” with master baker Ernst Haneder for the first time in his 16th January rally. “It’s nice to be driving in the same team with the Ernstl,” says Keferböck. The co-driver icon Ilka Minor remains the co-driver. Keferböck: “Never change a winning team.”
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“Wanting to force a specific placement in a January rally rarely ends well. We want to drive well and then see what happens for us. One goal would be to be there longer than last year,” says Keferböck, who took part in the event last year SP8 slipped off the road and retired.
Image: private
Win a ride at the rally test
The OÖNachrichten is giving away a ride with Johannes Keferböck in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 as part of his test drives on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024, in St. Oswald near Freistadt. The winner will be notified by Monday, January 1, 2024, 6 p.m.
The 43 Upper Austrians at the January rally
- # 1: Simon Wagner (TBA)
- #6: Michael Lengauer (Skoda Fabia Rally2)
- # 7: Julian Wagner (Skoda Fabia Rally2)
- # 8: Martin Rossgatterer (Citroen C3 Rally2)
- #9: Johannes Keferböck (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo)
- #11: Ernst Haneder (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo)
- # 12: Martin Fischerlehner (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
- # 20: Johann Seiberl (Mitsubishi Evo 6 RS)
- # 22: Markus Stockinger (Mazda 2 Proto)
- # 23: Manuel Wurm (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo)
- #25: Markus Steinbock (Hyundai i20 Rally2)
- # 34: Stefan Traxler (Ford Fiesta MK7 Proto)
- # 35: Rudolf Leitner (Ford Fiesta Proto)
- #37: Reinhold Neuer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5)
- # 39: Philipp Haneder (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
- #40: Martin Desl (Ford Fiesta Proto)
- # 41: Robert Zitta (Subaru Impreza WRX)
- # 42: Patrik Affenzeller (Subaru Impreza WRX)
- # 43: Sebastian Satzinger (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
- # 44: Günther Königseder (Lancia Delta Integrale 16V)
- # 45: Patrik Gaubinger (Audi Quattro)
- # 46: Horst Stuermer (Audi Coupe Quattro)
- # 47: Horst Höllwirth (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V Proto)
- # 48: Jürgen Reisinger (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)
- # 50: Raphael Dirnberger (Opel Corsa Rally4)
- # 52: Simon Seiberl (Peugeot 208 Rally4)
- #55: Lukas Dirnberger (Ford Fiesta ST)
- # 59: Marcel Neuer (Ford Fiesta ST)
- #60: Nico Neuer (Ford Fiesta ST)
- # 64: Peter Wagner (VW Golf 1)
- #65: Mario Klopf (Ford Escort RS2000)
- # 66: Gerhard Fragner (Mazda 323 BG 4WD)
- # 67: Markus Oßberger (Audi Coupe Quattro)
- # 68: Gerhard Birklbauer (Mazda 323 BG Turbo)
- # 69: Jürgen Pilz (Mazda 323 GT-R)
- # 71: Jan Dolzer (Subaru Impreza)
- # 75: Erwin Kollingbaum (BMW 325i E30)
Kristof Klausner Memorial
- # 102: Michael Weissinger (Volvo 740)
- #103: Manuel Pilz (Audi Quattro Coupe)
- # 105: Bernhard Grasserbauer (BMW E36)
- # 106: David Gebesmair (Audi 90 Quattro)
- # 107: Hannes Gründlinger (Mitsubishi Evo VI)
- # 109: Christian Mitterlehner (Audi S2 Quattro)
Author
Markus Prinz
Online Editor
Markus Prinz
