Is the Auerberg Klassik hillclimb the finest vintage motorcycle event in Europe? If you were there, as I was this year, it certainly felt like it. Good vibes, great bikes, perfect weather, charming village, challenging course, excellent organization, beautiful outfits, smiles and rising throttles and German beer and what else could you want? We’ll follow up with a proper story on the event, but for now, photographer Uwe Rattay was kind enough to share some of his photos from the weekend. It’s bi-annual, so mark Sept 2021 on your calendar, and be there!10,000 reasons why he liked it: Paul d’Orleans and Sandra ‘RetroCat’ with the incredibly rare 1925 Sunbeam ‘Crocodile’ overhead-camshaft 500 he rode, courtesy the Hockenheim Museum Collection [Uwe Rattay]Mid-course, a series of straights, gentle bends, tricky decreasing-radius corners, and hairpins, made for a challenging regularity run. [Uwe Rattay]Women and men raced, solo and sidecar, and all were given an enthusiastic send-off, and cheers from the crowds lining the course. [Uwe Rattay]Sidecars from pre-war BMWs to post-war ‘worms’ made for exciting spectating in the tight corners. [Uwe Rattay]Vintage dress is encouraged, making the Auerberg the Bavarian version of the Goodwood Revival, with no ‘tiered access’, no velvet ropes, no helicopter billionaires, no look-at-my-money bullshit. An event for the people. [Uwe Rattay]How fast can you go? As fast as you want, if you can be consistent, and don’t crash! There were few ‘incidents’, and the event ran smoothly. [Uwe Rattay]The lady in disguise – no flaming silver torpedo? Amelie Mooseder is normally on the start-line, but her Spitfire dragster is post the 1979 cutoff date for the Auerberg. [Uwe Rattay]Not quite original, but definitely period. Berhard Elflein’s Indian 101 Scout with real brakes! [Uwe Rattay]Another day, another Sunbeam. This Model 9 gets a shove from Salzburg restoration expert Gernot Schuh (who revived my old supercharged Zenith ‘Super Kim’ – read the story here). [Uwe Rattay]It’s all in the details. ‘Revolutions in the Hundreds’ sounds like a history of the 1960s. [Uwe Rattay]The reception from the crowd made for an all-smiles event. [Uwe Rattay]Neither aerodynamic nor a safety feature, a grand beard is nonetheless a welcome accessory on an ancient machine. [Uwe Rattay]Between the bales: lots of good viewpoints along the route, if you wanted to climb the hill! [Uwe Rattay]The mix of riders’ ages was refreshing, from young to old, and plenty in between, with men and women taking the handlebars, even of sidecars. [Uwe Rattay]The landscape is incredible: from gently rolling farm country to mountains, with a 1000-year old church at the summit, and an inn serving lunch to racers at the end of the climb. [Uwe Rattay]Check out more of Uwe Rattay’s photography here!
