The approaches of the teams could not be more different. With long-time January rally helper Markus Pachner is familiarizing himself with the matter with his second car in advance. Riccardo Holzer, on the other hand, enriches the field of leading cars with his experience and at the same time collects data on the January rally, because he has never driven it before.
Gerald Bachler lights up the FS Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI with which he was crowned champion of the Austrian Rally Challenge in Dobersberg. For sim racer Simon Seiberl it will be the first time in a “hot” Evo after his three M1 rallies. Sebastian Satzinger, on the other hand, has a challenging second rally ahead of him with the January rally.
During the test drives, FS Motorsport team boss Franz Sonnleitner kept an eye on his two “young stars” Simon Seiberl and Sebastian Satzinger: “The test went very well, Simon and Sebastian took my advice well and are been able to put them into practice. I am very happy to have them both in my team and in the rally we will see that we can improve from stage to stage, but without any pressure. I am very pleased that Gerry Bachler, Riccardo Holzer and Markus Pachner are once again putting their trust us”.
#00 Markus Pachner/Gerhard Pachner (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
“I’ve been to the January Rally for a long time, both as marshal and because I helped with the set-up. In 2020 I was practically thrown into the deep end: At that moment Christof Klausner abandoned the car early and I spontaneously jumped in with a Skoda Kodiaq and got a taste for it. That’s how we got into conversation with Franz Sonnleitner and this year I drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, which is also a standard car, as a pre-production car – this Evo IX is a completely different feeling even as a production car, we have already tested it and the Evo is extremely easy to drive, that’s just a good feeling Next to me will be sitting my father Gerhard Pachner. We don’t know exactly what will happen after this event, but maybe in the future we will drive a real racing car…”
#0A Riccardo Holzer/Mario Palmsteiner (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
“I’ve never competed in the January rally – and as it’s one of the expensive rallies due to the tires I just drive a relatively stock Evo this time as the main car to make notes on dangerous spots and such – simple just to gain experience for the next year.
#26 Gerald Bachler/Christoph Wogerer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
“As reigning champions of the Austrian Rally Challenge, we obviously aim to defend our title this season, but now Rally January is on the agenda! It is my fifth and I will be back in the FS Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. which I used to win the ARC general classification in the Autumn Rally.I have Christoph Wögerer at my side as co-driver, with “Cheesy” I will participate in the January Rally for the fourth time – we are well tuned and there was a quiet agreement that when the January Rally finally returns, we will drive together. Even if half of the tracks are new, we still want to finish with the fastest non-R5 teams. In 2019 I was even able to set the third fastest time overall with the my old Subaru, but overcoming the previous results is difficult with the starting field, but I have more faith in the FS Mitsubishi than the Subaru.The finish line is always the topic: a lot can happen in three days.Obviously nte hope in the snow – like everyone else at the January rally – you want to experience your excitement in the snow. As always, the car will be well prepared and of course it would be nice if something like 2019 were to happen again.”
#42 Simon Seiberl/Florian Haderer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
“I’m happy that my dream of driving the January rally is finally coming true, because this is my home rally and it’s something special when you drive past your house. I’ll be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI for the first time before I was driving an almost stock M1 vehicle. The January rally is my fourth rally, co-driver Florian Haderer has already completed two rallies. My best success was in Hartbergerland, where I won the ARC rating. Florian and I just want to have fun for three days: if it goes well, the result will come naturally. I come from the virtual world of rallies – you can learn the basics in the simulator and become faster in the processes – but in real life you get a good dose of adrenaline…”
#46 Sebastian Satzinger/Julian Wittinghofer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
“Last year’s Rally Perger Mühlstein was my first rally, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI used by FS Motorsport – I was really excited at the time, unfortunately we got a three minute penalty, otherwise my co-driver Julian Wittinghofer and I would have finished in the top 30. For the January rally we chose an Evo V, I saw it at FS Motorsport and thought: ‘It looks perfect, I’ll get it now!’ I think it’s okay if you try something different. Of course, the goal is the goal for us. It’s great when you can finish a January rally on Saturday and roll over the final ramp onto the exhibition hall stage. We definitely want to learn as much as possible from this rally”.
