What the four-time national champion just can’t seem to achieve at the January rally in the Freistadt district, he has managed to do in the Perg district: On Saturday, Wagner won his fifth Mühlstein Rally and celebrated his fifth home victory in a row. The Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver and co-driver Sigi Schwarz set the fastest times on all eight special stages, with a lead of 46.9 seconds over the young Czech Filip Kohn and 1:17.5 minutes over Albert von Thurn und Taxis.
“It was a great rally, lots of fans came to the routes, which were very demanding this year. We were also able to try out a few things for the upcoming Barum Rally,” says Wagner, who gave the OÖN a glimpse into the cockpit during test drives two days before the home race. You can find the video here:
Failures of Rossgatterer and Lengauer
The Upper Austrian challengers Martin Rossgatterer and Michael Lengauer were less fortunate. “Rossi” came off the track on the very first test and crashed into a tree. Rossgatterer and co-driver Andreas Thauerböck were uninjured. “I drove into the meadow in fifth gear during a fast section and then lost control of the car,” says the Mühlviertler.
Photo: Harald Illmer
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Photo: Harald Illmer
For January Rally winner Michael Lengauer, the Mühlstein Rally ended on the fourth special stage. The Grünbach native had to park his Subaru Impreza WRX STI M1 from the Bamminger car dealership due to a technical defect.
Rene Kiehtreiber (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V) won the ARC classification of the Austrian Rally Challenge ahead of the fast juniors Marcel Neulinger and Lukas Dirnberger in their Ford Fiesta ST. In the Austrian Rally Trophy, Christoph Zellhofer was successful in the ART1 and Raphael Dirnberger in the ART2. In the ARCH (Historic), the overall winner was Patrick Gaubinger in an Audi quattro.
