240 classic automobiles at the start
- ercedes-Benz Classic Days from September 4 to 11, 2005
- Paul Daimler Trophy for cars from Alfa Romeo to Porsche
- 500 participants from 18 nations
- Highlights: Gaisberg hillclimb on Wednesday, Concours d elegance on Saturday
One of the major classic car events is currently being staged in Salz-burg: the sixth Mercedes-Benz Classic Days from September 4 to 11, 2005. This is the fourth time that Salzburg hosts the international Mer-cedes-Benz club event, having attracted more participants this year than ever before. For the one-week event, 220 Mercedes-Benz classic teams registered, plus 23 historical racing and sports cars from the Alfa Romeo, Delahaye, Porsche, Bugatti, La Pintat, Bentley, BMW and Mercedes-Benz brands, which will compete in the Paul Daimler Tro-phy on Wednesday, September 7.
The lineup comprises 36 automotive gems built before 1940; the oldest car is a rare 10/40/65 hp two-seater Mercedes sports car from 1923 en-tered by Richard Graf from Germany in the Paul Daimler Trophy. The Classic Days will be attended by participants from 18 nations, among them three teams from Australia, two from North America and six from Russia.
The program
As before, the program consists of two parts and begins with sporting competitions (Monday – Wednesday), i.e. practice and regularity trials on the Salzburgring and on the Gaisberg mountain. Some 100
Mercedes-Benz classic teams have registered for these competitions. For visitors, Wednesday, September 7, 2005, is likely to be one of the most interesting days, with trials on the Gaisberg mountain and on the Salzburgring, as well as with the Paul Daimler Trophy.
Another 120 teams will exclusively participate in the tourist program on Thursday and Friday. They will arrive on Wednesday afternoon and enjoy the 250 kilometer outings to Salzkammergut and Steiermark to-gether with the sporty group. The highlight will once again be the Concours d elegance on Saturday, September 10, 2005, staged with all the 220 Mercedes-Benz classics on Salzburgs Residenzplatz
(Residence Square) from 11 am until 2 pm.
Over and beyond this, the evenings are dedicated to culinary and cul-tural delights, culminating in the DaimlerChrysler gala evening at the Salzburg Residence on Saturday.
Paul Daimler Trophy on the Gaisberg mountain
For the first time, owners of brands other than Mercedes-Benz ac-cepted the invitation extended by the organizer, Mercedes-Benz
Classic Car Club International, to the Mercedes-Benz Classic Days 2004 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Gaisberg race.
The positive feedback from Mercedes-Benz Classic Days participants, media and spectators were a clear vote in favor of staging the hill-climb duel once again in the form of the 2005 Paul Daimler Trophy.
Nine different brands compete in the Paul Daimler Trophy: Porsche (again with two works vehicles), Alfa-Romeo, Delahaye, Bugatti, La Pintat, BMW, Triumph, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz. Special rarities are the 10/40/65 hp Mercedes already mentioned, the Alfa Romeo 8C Monza of Peter Reck, the Mercedes SSKL of Peterheinz Kern, the Bugatti 51 of Rudolf Geray, the La Pintat monoposto of Klaus Rei-chenberger, the works Porsche 356 B Carrera Abarth driven by Klaus Bischof and the Bentley Le Mans of Horst Thome.
The program for the Paul Daimler Trophy begins with the participants arrival on Tuesday afternoon and a convivial evening in an alpine hut. On Wednesday (September 7, 2005), the participants compete in three heats one on the Gaisberg mountain and two on the Salzburg-ring. The winners ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday evening as part of the drivers evening in the Classic marquee.
The program in detail:
Sunday, September 4 Arrival of Classic Days participants, group 1
Monday, September 5
10 am – 12 noon
2 pm – 5 pm
Regularity trials on Salzburgring
Regularity trials on Salzburgring
Tuesday, September 6
9 am – 12 noon
2 pm – 5 pm
In the afternoon
Regularity trials on Salzburgring
Regularity trials on Salzburgring
Arrival of participants in the Paul Daimler
Trophy
Wednesday, September 7
9.30 am
2 pm – 5 pm
In the afternoon
Start of Manfred von Brauchitsch Memorial und Paul Daimler Trophy in Guggenthal
Paul Daimler Trophy: trials on Salzburgring
Arrival of Classic Days participants, group 2
Thursday, September 8
9.00 am – 4 pm
Tourist outings to Salzkammergut and Steier-mark (Start: Salzburgring)
Friday, September 9
9 am – 4 pm
Tourist outings to Salzkammergut and Steier-mark (Start: Salzburgring)
Saturday, September 10
10 am
11 am – 2 pm
Departure from Salzburgring
Concours d elegance on Residence Square
