June 02 - 05, 2010
40 years of racing
An international Gaisberg Race was held on the Gaisberg - Salzburg's home mountain - for forty years. Baron von Preuschen, the former president of Salzburg's Automobile Club, was the initiator of the first race on September 6, 1929. The race was broadcast on the radio for the first time in 1930 and the last race prior to the Second World War took place in 1933.
The first timed race after the war was held on October 19, 1952 and the first "Austrian Hill Climb Championship" before 25,000 enthusiastic spectators launched international motor sports races on the Gaisberg in 1957.
The end of an era
The Gaisberg Race was primarily an event for automobiles, although occasional motorcycle races - including European Hill Climb Races - also took place. Over the years the number of fatal accidents was one of the reasons the event was discontinued.
The last Gaisberg Race took place on September 7, 1969 before a dwindling number of only 10,000 spectators.
The Gaisberg race today
The Gaisberg Races held in Salzburg again since 2003 are more easy-going but no less spectacular. The races are organized as regularity runs for classic cars combined with events in the historic city center ("Salzburg City Grand Prix ") and at the Salzburgring. Touring cars, racecars and sports cars in the categories "prior to 1945" and "from 1946 to 1969" are at the starting line each May.
There is a free choice of speed during the race at the Salzburgring (reference lap). Drivers may not fall short of the allocated time on the Gaisberg, averaging approx. 50 kph. The winners are established by adding up the timed runs. Drivers must achieve the target time down to the hundredth second, the winner coming closest to the allocated time. 165 vehicles participated in 2008.
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