Pure adventure Allgäu-Orient Rallye (AOR) started in Oberstaufen, Germany

2015-05-12 | Dubai

• Rally team with Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket employee Iris Scherer now on its way to Amman, Jordan
• Stopover for social project planned for Bozboğa Köyü, Turkey

LANGEN/OBERSTAUFEN, 11 May 2015. A total of 111 teams took to the starting line yesterday for the Allgäu-Orient Rallye (AOR) in Oberstaufen, Bavaria. By the time they reach their destination in Amman, Jordan, on 30 May 2015, the participants will have travelled 7,000 kilometers and passed through more than ten countries – Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel and Jordan. In addition to this, each rally team is carrying relief goods with them for good causes along the way. Taking part in the rally is the “Hello World” team which includes Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket employee Iris Scherer. The team – whose vehicles were prepared for the rally with original spare parts from LuK, INA, FAG and Ruville – are transporting computers, keyboards and cables to the Çorum Region of Turkey, which they will use to equip a school classroom.

"After several weeks of preparation, the start yesterday in Oberstaufen went smoothly," said Iris Scherer, member of the “Hello World” rally team that took to the starting line in a 1998 Seat Inca. "Our first four hundred kilometers are now behind us. On Thursday evening we want to have reached Istanbul".

The vehicles of the “Hello World” team – Iris Scherer's Seat Inca and a 1996 VW Passat Variant – have mileage of roughly 230,000 and 425,000 kilometers respectively. Both vehicles were optimally prepared prior to the start of the rally by specialists from Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket. Whether it was a LuK RepSet, FAG WheelSet or an INA overrunning alternator pulley – members of the “Hello World” team used the chance to look over the shoulders of the Aftermarket experts as they removed and installed clutches, wheel bearings and overrunning alternator pulleys, and got a whole lot of tips along the way.

During their trip through Turkey, “Hello World” rally team members will have a stopover in Bozboğa Köyü, in a village that lies about 640 kilometers from Istanbul in the Çorum Region. The rally team will equip a school classroom with the computers, keyboards and cables they brought with them. Here, 32 pupils are learning to read and write.

The AOR is an endurance test for man and machine. The unique thing about it is that only cars at least twenty years old or not costing more than 1,111.11 euros are allowed to participate in the rally. Each team that took the start in Oberstaufen, Bavaria consists of six people and three vehicles, although one vehicle can be replaced by two motorcycles if the team prefers. The rally is also unusual for the fact that not all vehicles are required to cross the finish line on 30 May 2015 in Amman, Jordan. Instead, rally regulations stipulate that the entire team – with at least one vehicle that began the race – cross the finish line together. No motorways, no toll roads, no GPS may be used either.