Patrik Dinkel / Tamara Lutz: Victory in Grönegau in the final metres

The Grönegau Rally is considered one of the top national rallies in the north - so year after year, drivers from all over Germany are drawn to this event. Patrik Dinkel and Tamara Lutz entered their Brose Mitsubishi Evo 9 RS in the list of participants and were celebrated as overall winners in the evening after an exciting rally. Changeable weather conditions with frequent rain showers made for a real tyre lottery at the 13th edition. Looking at the rain radar, Dinkel and Lutz decided to change from dry to rain tyres shortly before the start and made it to the start park at the last minute. Nevertheless, a high-speed slip due to aquaplaning caused a longer stay in a field with a time loss of about 40 seconds.

After a controlled and fast start in the two opening stages "Sehlingdorf 1" and "Barkhausen 1", Patrik and Tamara led the event. At the start of the sprint stage "Hoyel 1", Peter opened the floodgates and put the track under water. "We were the first car to enter the stage, lost the car on a straight at about 150 km/h and spun backwards into a field. There it first got dark and we were stuck in the bean field, which was about 2 metres high. Thanks to four-wheel drive, we were able to free ourselves from the awkward situation after what felt like an eternity," the visibly surprised youngster explained the incident during the half-time break. "We are 20.9 seconds behind in fifth place overall - now we have to push in the second run, then everything is still possible," the co-driver looked positively ahead.

But the other favourites also struggled with problems: The main competitors Walter Gromöller / Klaus Brökelmann had to retire after SS 1 due to a technical defect on their Opel Ascona 400. The brothers Thomas & Max Plum retired the ex-Otterbach BMW M3 after fast times at the halfway point.

Lots of driving fun with three best times and victory in the final sprint

The second run went according to plan: after SS 4, the duo moved up to third place. With a clear best time in SS 5 "Barkhausen 2" they pulled to within 2.3 seconds of the lead and took it over with the fastest time in SS 6 and a lead of 4.7 seconds over the brand new Toyota Yaris GR of Christoph Hilmes / Marius Hassheider. Heinz-Otto Sagel and Richard Lüke completed the podium in the Porsche Cayman S. "This is a really great rally - beautiful stages with very few cut-blocks. The rally is very compact, well organised and the people are all nice and helpful - highly recommended," the overall winners were enthusiastic in the packed hall at the rally centre.

Next event at the Rally Mittelrhein on former "Germany stages”

In just over a month, there will be a highlight on the calendar: the new ADAC Rallye Mittelrhein (01/02 July 2022) with start and finish in Wittlich will take place on the former special stages of the Rallye Deutschland. In addition to the vineyard stages, challenging routes in the Eifel are also to be on the agenda - the motivation to start in the German Top League is huge.