On the 17th and 18th July 2006 the Salzburgring circuit / Austria played host to a unique Kabel1 film shoot of the "Race Event of the Year".
 
 
 
The story: Carrera built a 1:32 scale simulation of the original Salzburgring within the real circuit. A real life driver, Ingo Gerstl, drove the Formula Renault car around the real Salzburgring circuit, pitting his skills against the current Carrera World Champion, Andreas Loth, who was at the controls of a model car as it sped around the 1:32 scale Salzburgring model track. Who won? The answer can be found at the end of this report...
 
 
The Kabel 1 film team started filming the setting up of the Carrera racetrack on the 17th July. Two members of the Carrera Club also participated, having won the right to do so in a competition, and were grateful for the shade provided by the Carrera tent. As the summer turned on the heat, temperatures rose to 36°C and per capita water consumption went up to 6 litres a day! The Carrera track measured 55 m x 25 m and required a surface area of 1375 m². One lap covered 138 m and over 500 sections of track had been put together metre by metre a week ahead of the event. After 1½ hours the racetrack was ready for use. The Carrera Deco Team did a brilliant job! Carrera cars were painted in the exact style of the Formula Renault cars especially for the film.
 
 
Once the track was completely set up it was inspected on camera by the manager of the Salzburgring circuit to make sure all the bends, chicanes on the Carrera track really did look like the real thing. As soon as we had received ‘go-ahead’, the countdown began for the next day – the day of the big race. It became very clear just how much planning and detailed work go into such a shoot.
 
 
The next day, 18th July, the event began at the Salzburgring circuit at 9 am. Tension reached fever pitch as the two protagonists stood eye-to-eye; the challenger, Ingo Gerstl, lap record holder at the Salzburgring with a time of 1:12 min, and Andreas Loth, the reigning Carrera World Champion. Both drivers took advantage of the chance to make one last professional pit stop before the race finally began. Then they were off! Ingo Gerstl burst away from the start and managed a lap time of 1:15 mins. in his Formula Renault car. Then Andreas Loth took hold of his controls completing 2 laps of the Carrera Salzburgring in a sensational 56 seconds, thus managing to defend his Carrera World Champion title against Ingo Gerstl, a real professional race driver!!!!
 
 
FYI: In order to make the race as fair as possible, Andreas Loth had to complete 2 laps on the Carrera track, whereas Ingo Gerstl was required to complete one lap of the Salzburgring circuit. The reason being, the real Formula Renault car has a top speed of 280 km/h, however the 1:32 scale Carrera car can achieve speeds equivalent to 600 km/h; thus double the speed of the full scale article.

 
At the awards ceremony Andreas Stadlbauer handed over the winner’s trophy and conveyed his congratulations! Both drivers thanked each other for a very sporting duel and delivered another lap of racing on the Carrera track!

See the pictures of these great days!