Rallye Deutschland

Start and finish ceremonies were also held in Trier in front of the Porta Nigra with the cars making their way through the spectators.

The rally traditionally started with the shakedown close to the servicepark on Thursday morning, before moving to Trier for the showstart.

The shakedown was relocated to the Luxembourgish border and the stages reorganised altogether, putting more focus on the vineyards close to Trier.

Sunday again moves the crews back to the vineyards, before the teams return to Trier for the newly created spectator special stage Circus Maximus.

Advertised as the highlight of three days of Rally Germany, this stage is a 4.37 km run through downtown Trier around the Porta Nigra.

The vineyard stages consist of tight and twisted support roads, with short straights and hairpins in the steep mountains surrounding the Moselle.

[4] The roads on the military training ground, called the panzerplatte or armour flat, near Baumholder are made of rough concrete and surrounded by the dangerous "Hinkelstones" (Calque of "Hinkelstein" meaning Menhir in German) rocks up to a meter in size lining either side the roads as a restraint for military vehicles.

The stages are fast and the vast military grounds offer endless spectator points, including the legendary crest known as "Gina".

On this terrain small driving-errors almost automatically lead to serious damage to both car and driver, the most prominent victim being Petter Solberg in 2004.

A historic Porsche 924 GTS driven through a stage during the 2008 rally .
The Polo R WRC, the 2015 and 2016 winner in Germany.
Chris Atkinson at the 2006 event
Marcus Grönholm at the "Circus Maximus" SSS of the 2007 rally .
Volkswagen's preparations for their return began in 2012, entering a Škoda Fabia S2000 throughout the season to gain experience running a team.
François Duval takes a hairpin turn .
Nine-time winners Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena celebrating the 2008 win.