#haasenstein

"Kommt nur das Beste rein" — Haasenstein im Ost-Porsche ŠKODA 110 R rund um die Ostsee (Baltic Sea Rallye 2013).

The time of our lives

The heroes are back and here is the final résumé of our drivers.

  How’d it go?

Kristina: To say it in one word: megasupergigantocool

Aleks: Yeah, it was great. The team spirit especially made it a very special and unforgettable trip.

Timm: And don’t forget: I fell in love. Of course the ŠKODA and me had some difficult moments, but retrospectively this binds us together even more.

  What do you personally take with you from the trip?

Aleks: I’ve learned a lot. For example, you always have to improvise even if you are prepared very well.

Kristina: Camping isn’t that bad. But to be honest I still prefer a real bed ...

Markus: A very muscularly gas foot.

  What was the toughest moment?

Timm: The second breakdown of the drive shaft. As the wrecker took our Ost-Porsche the second time, I could have cried.

Kristina: Pure hopelessness.

Aleks: But we never gave up – thats another thing we’ve learned on the rallye.

  Could you tell us about your personal highlight?

Markus: The crazy Finnish guys who saved our ass. At the beginning they seemed to be very unmotivated but one and a half days later we had a new old drive shaft which brought us back to the main pack  – and to Berlin finally.

Aleks: True. And the northern coast of Norway is the killer. Just awesome.

Kristina: The people. Besides our great team the other crazy rallye people were fun too.

Timm: Don't forget the salmon with honey mustard sauce Aleks made for us with a camp cooker.

Markus: Did I mention we’ve taken the 22 place? Not bad if you consider our technical problems.

  Final question: Where will you be next year if the rallye takes place?

Timm: Come on? Are you kidding?

Aleks: What rallye?

Good to be back.

Here we are. Finally. What a trip. We still can not believe that we’ve made it.

We are at the foot of Tropical Island. It’s a huge hall where once airships should be have been built and where now people escape from the grey summer. Tropical Island would probably be more successful if more people drove thousands of kilometers for it like we did.

Maybe we'll go right in. For relaxation. The only thing we want to do is sleep. And sleep. And sleep.

But first we want to say thank you.

Many, many thanks to the

great people who have helped us during the trip,

the great teams that we have come to know,

our sponsors,

the organizers,

and last no least of course our support from home.

In response...

Guess who's back!

There's life in the old dog yet. We and our ŠKODA are back on track. YEAH! 

48 hours full of anxiety, hope and despair, but also an incredible amount of encouragement and support lies behind us. Outstanding experiences that are enough for several rallies and rallye blogs. The lovely people of the Finnish village Sodankylä charged their karmic account for years. We're still touched by this. Thank you!

When we‘ve stranded here our ŠKODA was de facto dead: broken drive shaft. Little hope for parts. But fate smiled on us: it sent three manic mechanics and a car – a forgotten, rusted ŠKODA. You can see all four on the pictures. This quartet has saved us. Three tireless surgeons and a now drive-shaft-less orange organ donor. Thus, our ŠKODA got implanted a new drive shaft.

In the meanwhile we were offered help from countless people, here in Finnland and Europe. A special thanks to Frank Heinze of Skopart.de for his technical know-how and advice or the amazing Thomas Küster for sending a complete drive train from Sweden.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Finland the beautiful

Car-Putt

A rallye is like life: up one minute – down the next.

Yesterday we fixed our famous Ost-Porsche with some indefinable replacement parts, improvisation skills and a lot of love. We were ready to roll up the field from behind.

Back on the track our ŠKODA seemed to be indestructible – for almost one hour. Once again the drive shaft is broken. Nothing works anymore. Now we are waiting in the middle of nowhere – Sodankylä, Finland, to be more precise. Waiting for a miracle – and suitable replacement parts again.