Annual gala in Kasern

A motoring evening dedicated to the champions

BMW works driver and IMSA fixed star Philipp Eng (left) with car slalom title winner Herbert Perwein.

(Bild: Walter Hofbauer)

This year it was finally Salzburg's turn again. On Saturday evening, the local motorsport association AMF hosted the annual awards ceremony for its athletes and champions at the Palfinger Training & Demo Center in Salzburg-Kasern. Almost 400 invited guests made for a successful event.

The sporting "who's who?" of the local scene gathered at the old location where cranes were once produced. The association, led by the former head of Salzburg University Hospital, Dr. Harald Hertz, invited its 85 title winners and best athletes to the annual awards ceremony on the outskirts of the city of Mozart. And the boss was quick to point out: "The events with the biggest audiences in Austria are motor events. Over 300,000 at Formula 1, 150,000 at the Moto GP and 120,000 at the WRC. We are one of the few countries with three major events." The positive news for the scene: "After 25 years, motorsport is finally being integrated under the umbrella of Sport Austria (note: formerly BSO)." And thus recognized as worthy of support.

Two of the exhibits on the edge of the stage in Kasern.

(Bild: Walter Hofbauer)

Eng also dropped by before the start of the season
On the sidelines of the award ceremony, which was hosted by TV commentator Andreas Gröbl ("It's like a class reunion here"), the local heroes were also impressed by the atmosphere. "Last year, the event was held during the week in Vienna. I had to go to school the next day," said two-time junior national motorcycle trial champion Simon Hofer from Bramberg, who was delighted with the home event. BMW works driver Philipp Eng also dropped by as a well-wisher before flying off to the USA for the start of the season and grinned: "When I was still karting, when I was 10 or so, the gala used to be in Salzburg. It's cool that it's here again."

The Salzburg team (from left): Perwein, Hofer, Lampelmaier, Altenhuber and Stehrer.

(Bild: Walter Hofbauer)

While IDM Supersport champion Andreas Kofler (OÖ; 20), Austria's motorcycle rider of the year, was overwhelmed by the award ("being on a list with names like Niki Lauda is unimaginable"), his counterpart in the car, endurance world champion Klaus Bachler (ST; 33), sent a video message. The reason: he was in the cockpit at the 24-hour race in Dubai at the same time.

Five honorees and title winners from Salzburg present
To the delight of the organizing country, the President's Award went to the Supermoto national team under Strobl manager Manuel Stehrer, who were sensationally crowned runners-up in the world championship. "It helped that none of them were there for the first time. For the rest of the year, you're basically arch rivals. You need sensitivity and a good hand with the line-up," he said, giving an insight into his work. Five of the 85 national champions, AMF Cup winners and prize winners came from Salzburg. In addition to Hofer (trials) and Stehrer, these were Max Lampelmaier (state hill climb champion for historic cars), Herbert Perwein (Division 3 car slalom state champion), AMF Superbike Cup winner Thomas Altenhuber (motorcycle hill climb racing) and Hermann Altenhuber as state hill climb champion for historic motorcycles.