First published on curbs-magazin.com
Originally published on curbs-magazin.com – now part of slickpix.de.
– SOLITUDE REVIVAL 2022 – Surely the historian among the numerous guests will recall that in the summer of 1922, a hill climb for automobiles was held for the first time on a race track near Solitude Palace near Stuttgart.
But for most participants, it probably also felt like „a damn long time ago“ that several hundred motorcycles and sports cars burned rubber on the asphalt on this challenging course, which has since been changed multiple times. It’s been a long three years since the Solitude Revival last took place here. Collectors and drivers of historic vehicles must have missed something, because the response to the call for this year's SOLITUDE REVIVAL 2022 was huge. The old Solitude race track, one of the few natural race tracks remaining from the legendary era of motorsport, is not open for fast car driving every day.
Again and again, the organization of the event, a club of enthusiasts, must passionately fight to revive memories here and allow thousands, spectators and participants alike, to experience a weekend with motorsport legends among selected classic racing and sports cars. In one paddock or another, Corona has left slight braking marks, but these did not prevent the event from being a success. This year, the asphalt wasn't the only thing glowing – with temperatures exceeding 30° C, many a radiator experienced pre-start incontinence. Only on the course, which led through shaded forest for long stretches, did machines and drivers return to their normal operating temperatures.
There’s no doubt that the drivers enjoy the „demo runs“ in their race cars, which are part of the „Golden Age“ of racing at Solitude: Here, F1 and F2 cars, GTs, and sports cars from the 1950s and 1960s thunder through the left-hand curve at Glemseck, leaving the old Bosch finish tower behind them, up the winding track to the Frauenkreuz, 120 meters higher (15% gradient!). The subsequent sections through the Dreispitz and Schatten curves are among the fastest parts of the track. Several chicanes slow the cars down here. The circuit is rounded off by a wonderfully thrilling stretch through the scenic Mahdental valley. This is the section where you can no longer hear the exhaust beneath you and feel as though you’re gliding through the valley. It is only just before the finish tower, as you approach the grandstands filled with enthusiastic spectators, that reality catches up with you again: 11.3 kilometers of legend-making lie behind you. Dan Gurney, Jim Clark, and Jo Bonnier, however, reached speeds of well over 250 km/h on the high-speed sections of the track; today, the organizer limits the speed in these sections to 180 km/h—fast enough for a demo run! The spectators wander through the various paddocks without the usually clinical distance of modern motorsport events, lingering in front of an iconic Porsche 917-30 or the very rare Nomad MKI, before perhaps turning their attention to the Ferrari 512M. The pre-war racing cars were also well represented: the beefy Mercedes SSKL drew just as many glances as the Bugatti T35 or the thoroughbred and extremely fast Maserati 6CM racing cars. Surprisingly numerous were the big-displacement giants of the Can-Am series; all six are based in Germany!
The results from SOLITUDE REVIVAL 2022
Alright, the starting grid was also filled with VW Karmann Ghias and Honda S800s, which perhaps evoked fond memories of youth for some spectators. Visitors surely got goosebumps when they stood face-to-face with the numerous legends of earlier motorsport events: Walter Röhrl, Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Christian Geistdörfer, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, and others had come to be close to their fans and to once again casually enjoy the special atmosphere of the SOLITUDE REVIVAL 2022 myth.
The organizers„ motto, “By enthusiasts – for enthusiasts,„ is fitting and pays off! Exciting cars, interesting participants, engaged spectators, and the numerous “no winner – races," all set within a charming atmosphere that is also shaped by hundreds of always friendly helpers, are the attractions for everyone involved.
Too bad, we have to wait another two years until the Solitude Revival 2024 – but the wait will be worth it!
Photos: Klaus Teching, Jürgen Gadke, Porsche AG Archive