Pure rally feeling at the GORM (DMV Rally Raid Championship)

GORM stands for "German Off Road Masters". Rally enthusiasts regularly get their money's worth at this German DMV Rally Raid Championship, which really stretches participants and their off-road vehicles to their limits in various classes on challenging tracks.

A demanding start at Euskirchen in the Rhineland

And the opening race was no exception here. It took place with the Baja Sprint in Rhineland's Euskirchen for the first time - over a very taxing track of 3.5 km in a 20-hectare gravel pit. A real challenge, which the 28 participants had to confront with quads, ATVs, UTVs, close-to-production off-road vehicles, off-road vehicle prototypes and trucks! The race in rally sprint mode was a real hit with both participants and spectators. The weather was just as varied as the track and field of participants: While the weather was perfect in the morning, in the afternoon the drivers had to contend with slippery mud after a rain shower.

The winners of the individual classes

In the T1 class Saarlander Jan Löffel held onto the lead with his Ford Ranger, relegating Dutchman Roger Schonbrood to second place in his Toyota. Remy Loo from Belgium took bronze with his Jeep. In the category of close-to-production off-road vehicles, Matthias Tluseck lost out to Thomas Woltaus (both Mitsubishi), with Bastian Klausing finishing third in a Jeep. The truck class was the exclusive preserve of the Unimog - the event ended after a major battle with Peter Henning (Hundsrück) coming out ahead of Arian Bernard (Augsburg). The winner of the quad category was Ralf Hoorman from the KTM EATV Team, which was also crowned the overall winner of the event. Second and third place went to Christian Stienen and Christian Winter (both Yamaha). In the ATV class Roland Stolz came out top, ahead of Hannes Frey and Franz J. Schneider. In the T3 (UTV/Buggy) class eight vehicles in all took part, with the following outcome: Roman Rausch (Arctic Cat) beat off the competition from Austrian Andreas Wentner (Polaris) and Norbert Jassen (Yamaha).

New to the programme: the Yamaha YXR Cup

A race for the Yamaha YXR Cup was staged within the framework of the GORM for the very first time. This new one-make cup offers prizes worth over €50,000 per season. The winner will be able to participate in the European Final in the framework of the FIA Baja Portugal - and stands to win an attractive prize of a Yamaha YXR, worth €25,000!

Two new sponsors

With RE Suspension (Overath) and CarDiff Motorsport (Langenfeld) the GORM can welcome two new sponsors for the 2019 season. Along with its traditional backers HELLA and General Tire, they ensure continuation of the only German off-road rally series

And this is how it went / is going on

From 17 to 19 May the following GORM race was held in Poland at the Rally Trial Germany. The highlight of the season is traditionally the GORM 24h Race, taking place this year on 17 August. Racing against the clock over a 25 km circuit, competitors will cover a total of 1,500 km, driving non-stop for 24 hours. For drivers with less stamina there is also a rookie class (two stints of six hours). You can find out more about the German Offroad Masters here: www.GORM-open.de