Dinkel/Winklhofer produce a sensation at the Tiefenbach Easter Rally

Dominik Dinkel and co-pilot Pirmin Winklhofer (Pocking) produced a sensation last weekend at the 13th Tiefenbach Easter Rally by finishing second overall in their Brose ADAM R2.

The teams set off from the campus of the company Ginger in Tiefenbach on Saturday afternoon. Given the technical defects that have dogged Dinkel so far in the 2015 season, expectations were on the low side: a place on the podium in the RC4 division. 104 rally teams lined up on the first trial (“Antesberg”) in the battle to post the best time. This year’s Easter Rally attracted a top-class field. Dinkel/Winklhofer started in eleventh and set about demonstrating their abilities.

They chalked up the fifth-best overall time – just 5.6 seconds behind Rudolf Reindl/Michael Ehrle (Lohkirchen/Schmalkalden) in a Mitsubishi EVO 7. The second trial on the “Gaißatal” circuit also went excellently. Dominik Dinkel and co-pilot Pirmin Winklhofer reached for a place on the podium for the overall winners. On the 15-kilometer trial, the young driver from Rossach lost a mere 15 seconds over the more powerful competition and recorded the third-best time to move into third overall.

Dominik Dinkel and Pirmin Winklhofer had to give their all to maintain their 15-second lead over fourth-placed Robert Schilcher/Stephan Schwendt (Wildsteig/Neuburg-Donau) in an Audi TTRS. The rain then began to fall, giving the almost twice as powerful four-wheel drive vehicles the chance to exploit their advantage to the full. Yet Dominik Dinkel not only irritated the competition, but also clocked his first best overall time of the event. Despite the adverse conditions as a result of the rain and sleet, Dinkel/Winklhofer produced the best time in the fifth trial (“Antesberg 2”). The young pilot laid the foundation for a top-class result here. In the end, he did not lose ground – as could have been expected due to the weather conditions – but was able to stretch the gap over fourth by a further three-and-a-half seconds to 20. The final placements were decided shortly before the end of the day. Dinkel was able to cross the line in second, trailing the leaders Rudolf Reindl and Michael Ehrle in their Mitsubishi EVO 7 by a narrow margin of 29 seconds and 26 seconds ahead of third-placed Robert Schilcher and Stephan Schwerdt in an Audi TTRS.

That was an incredible result given all the technical problems in the last events. Dominik Dinkel and Pirmin Winklhofer proudly picked up their trophies after finishing first in the RC4 division, group winners and above all second overall. A beaming Dinkel thanked his sponsors Michael Stoschek, the EX-FIA Historic European Champion and his Brose Group, and Kaspersky, without whom this season would not be possible.

Dinkel and Winklhofer now travel to Hesse with a good feeling and sense of achievement to take part in the ADAC Vogelsberg Rally from April 17 to 18. The two aim to stage an all-out attack again in the third race in the 2015 German Rally Championship.

You can find further results at: www.asc-tiefenbach.de Information on the team: www.dominik-dinkel.de