European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 20, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13 journalists earn what if s like out there opel stages a rally car open house7 the German opel firm enjoyed a highly successful 1985 rally sport season and for a look into 86, the company put on a High Speed show last week that never will be forgotten by the Lucky journalist invited to attend. If opel s intention was to stress the durability of its rally cars the site picked for stressing could not have been better. The track an Uphill and downhill stretch about two Miles Long was set up in a Quarry in the Wiesbaden area and its dirt gravel surfaces ranged from relatively smooth to nearly impossible. One Muddy Section deeply rutted and Rock strewn was described by belgian rally Champion Guy co soul As a worse stretch than you would Ever encounter on a Normal european event and As bad As some roads on the East african safari rally. But much Shorter co soul added with a smile. Co soul who has done very Well aboard opel Manta 400s in the Paris Dakar mar athon rallies was among opel s top Drivers in the program. Others included British Champion Russell Brookes French Champi on Guy fre Quelin Austria s Sepp Haider Germany s Erwin weber., and Waltraut Wunsch one of Germany s top women Drivers. Former German rally Champion Wolfgang in Hester was in charge of the show. Shortly after arriving on the scene and watching the rally cars Broad sliding through a downhill turn nearby in Hester asked do you want to go for a ride of course we did and we were invited by the British Driver Brookes for a few flings around the track in a group b opel Manta one that kicks out 275 horsepower with a vengeance. After being belted tightly into the co Driver s seat we took off with a surge of Power and a burst of sound. To watch a real professional racing or rally Driver at work is always fascinating and you Are always left wondering How they do it. Brookes entered turns so fast that it was hard to believe he would make it around but you knew that he would. A spin of the steering wheel some Quick heeling and toe ing a yank at the hand Brake and then a full Power slide All in milliseconds and the opel Manta flashed around the turn and roared at full Speed ahead for the next one. Strictly great stuff and a marvelous experience and for Brookes a lot of hard work. On the worst stretch of Road the Manta bucked and rocked noisily the sus pension tortured by ruts and potholes. It seemed impossible that a suspension could stand up to it but Brookes said i be been giving these rides for four Days now and the car is still quite Okas Youcan  after a few More High Speed laps it was All Over and we could Only say thanks for the ride. It was a great  after our Outing with Brookes we did additional rounds with Waltraut Wunsch in a group a Wadett Psi. A very smooth Driver she finished Lith Overall in the re cent Sachs Winter rally and will drive this weekend in the steel and Coal rally in the Saa Bruecken area this rally the second round in the German National championship. Our third trip came in the new opel Wadett rally 4x4 4-wheel-drive rally car this car one of the two which were campaigned in the recent Paris Dakar Marathon desert rally. Driving was Austria s Haider and this car was much smoother than the Manta and Wadett Psi. With the opel Wadett rally 4x4, Haider used a different driving technique than he would have used with a front drive or rear drive car with far less Power sliding and no hand Brake turns required. In Short less work. The Wadett rally 4x4 Model will carry the opel Banner in future top level International rallies and the Paris Dakar mar athon provided its first tests in Competition. Except for Shock absorber problems the new cars performed Well but with the shocks causing big troubles right in the opening stages there was never a Hope for outright Victory. Karl Heinz Goldstein opel s rally Engi Neer said after we had gotten Over the material problems with the Shock absorb ers that unfortunately Cost us 30 hours our Drivers co soul and Weber were then Able to achieve times among the Lead ers on the special  after the initial problems were solved the two opel Wadett 4 x 4s continued to perform extremely Well right to the finish of the 9,000-mile, 22-Day event but there was no Chance for a High placing. Once the decision had been made to enter the Brand new opel Wadett 4x4 cars in last january s Paris Dakar rally Only six months remained for testing. The opel team  most of it taking prototype 4 x 4s to test routes in Kenya twice then to Algeria niger Mali Mauritania Guinea and Senegal scenes from a Book of travels. After the testing the finishing touches were applied at rally Headquarters in Ruessel sheim and then the cars were sent to Paris for the Start of the rally on new year s Day. Opel s Goldstein summed up the knowl Edge gained with both prototype cars As follows we gained information which is useful for desert rallies and acquired important knowledge with a View toward the new group s motor sport regulations. The most important analysis of the test activities to Date however is the fact that the concept we be chosen is the right  the director of the opel motor sports department since 1977 is englishman Tony fall who drove in world championship rallies during the 1960s and Early 70s. Fall led in the development of the Ascona Manta 400 that Germany s Wal Ter Rohrl drove in winning the 1982 world rally driving Crown. Also under fall s direction opel teams have won the 1982 Monte Carlo rally and the 1983 East african safari rally. Just keep on trucking a photo this six wheel drive Man diesel truck was used by the opel team As a support vehicle in the Long and grueling Paris Dakar rally where it carried some 17 tons of equipment. It had a three Man Crew and was driven at Flat out speeds Over the desert. Here it gets a nostalgia run on the Wiesbaden test track. Randy Barnett in a rally car the Driver and his co Pilot Are All alone. Teamwork and absolute Confidence in the ability of one s partner can spell the difference Between Victory on the rally route and defeat. Through an intercom system the co Pilot gives the Driver Quick read Ings on the formations of the route directly ahead. The opel Wadett rally 4x4 Model Heads Down the Road at High Speed on the de manding track near Wiesbaden. This car the new 4-wheel-drive Wadett in actions a photo and another that appeared on the test track competed in the recent Paris Dakar Marathon desert rally. The a Dett rally car s 4-Cylinder engine devel Ops 250 horsepower at 8,000 rpm. Top Speed is about 135 Mph