– 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 must also have felt like „a darn long time ago“ that several hundred motorcycles and sports cars burned rubber on the asphalt on this demanding track, which has since been modified several times. It has been a long three years since the Solitude Revival last took place here. The collectors and drivers of historic vehicles must have missed something, because the response to the call for entries 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 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.
The drivers undoubtedly enjoy the „demo runs“ in their racing cars, which belong to the „golden era“ of racing at Solitude: Here, F1 and F2 cars, GTs and sports cars from the 50s and 60s thunder through the left-hand bend at the Glemseck, leaving the old Bosch finish tower behind them, up the winding track to the Frauenkreuz, 120 m higher up (15% gradient!). The subsequent sections over the Dreispitz and Schatten bends are among the fastest sections of the route. Several chicanes slow down the vehicles here. The circuit is completed by a wonderfully exciting section through the scenic Mahdental valley. This is the section where you can no longer hear the exhaust below you and have the feeling of gliding through the valley. Only shortly before the finish tower, as you approach the grandstands with the enthusiastic spectators, does reality catch up with you again: 11.3 kilometers of legend building lie behind you: Dan Gurney, Jim Clark and Jo Bonnier reached a good 250 km/h on the high-speed parts of the course; today, the organizer limits the speed in these sections to 180 km/h - fast enough for a de-mo run! cke and ambience. The spectators roam through the various paddocks without the usual 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 group of pre-war racing cars was also well represented: the beefy Mercedes SSKL attracted attention, as did the Bugatti T35 or the thoroughbred and extremely fast Maserati 6CM racing cars. The displacement giants of the CanAm series were surprisingly well represented; all six have their garages 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!
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Photos: Klaus Teching, Jürgen Gadke, Porsche AG Archive