German Motorsports - Rumble Strips

Day Three:
With the sun finally shining in the rolling hills of central Germany, we headed out for something with more of a grassroots flavor. The Bergrennen Eichenbhl is an amateur hill climb series that takes place on closed-off public roads. These two-lane winders are typical of most German roads that follow the geography with no particular direction. The course is less than a mile long with few guardrails and absolutely no runoff. While not quite Pike's Peak, these hill climbs occur all over the continent and attract most gearheads without the budget to get on track.

It's a family event without the pomp and frills of a professional race. The adjacent soccer field wafts with the smells of beer, Wurst, exhaust, and gear oil since it serves as both campground and service pits for the wide variety of vehicles and families attending. The more expensive, open-wheel prototype and DTM racers on airjacks occupy the rare spots with paved asphalt while the rest of the field, consisting mostly of old-school Opels, NSU (one of the rings in Audi's four rings) TTs, and BMWs camped out in the mud. To get the slick-shod cars to the starting line, most resorted to wrapping their tires with Saran Wrap left over from breakfast. The tailgate atmosphere is clear, with drunken crowds lining the hillside fighting for a glimpse of the action like Group B rallies of old. The frequency that the pace car headed up the hill with sirens flashing also meant these weren't professional drivers.

While the platforms are different, the passions run the same. It only took three days in Germany on and off track to see that grassroot European motorsports is nothing to scoff at. Whether rich or poor, the Germans are as hard-core as any of us-in terms of technology and passion.