This year is the 15th running of this magnificent event, amazing when when you consider it's centred on a small village like Gröbming. Every year this showpiece takes place in this nice hidden Austrian region of the beautiful Ennstal, between a chain of mountains, where the weather can be capricious, and sloping alpine pastures. This year 195 cars have been entered, amongst which are 19 Ferraris - a large number when you consider that it all started with almost only Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. If I was to believe the official starting list there is even a Ferrari 255 Export Vignale Spyder (driven by Gabriele Artom & Stefano Colomba) a very rare model indeed!

Wednesday - Scrutineering
Wednesday is the day of scrutineering. Starting numbers are assigned, Ennstal Classic posters stuck on by experts and (timing) transponders fitted. At the other side of the road, scrutineers check all kind of things and not only under the hood. I can assure you they were very busy: 199 entrants with 45 different marques from 13 countries. It is still Porsche with 26 cars that dominates this event but this year it is followed by Ferrari's magnificent 19.

Scrutineering is a hard time for the drivers; everything has to be working perfectly and certain things are immediately secured with lead seal. Further on in the VIP tent a crew works hard to get everything in order. Laying covers for 400 takes a while and everything has to be immaculate. Also present at this time are some of the demonstration cars for the Final on Saturday, like the pre-war Opel designed especially for the French Grand Prix. Next, behind the main grandstand for the "VIPs" who pay a lot of money for their seats, others are erecting the big stage for the live bands and DJs. For that evening the “Shopping Classic Night” starts at 18:00 and the “Disco Classic Night” starts at 20:30, which, in my opinion, is just for the local youth!

Thursday - day of the Hill Climb
On Thursday at 11:00 the “Opel Bergprüfung Stoderzinken” starts in the centre of Gröbming, watched with great interest by hundreds of spectators behind the fences. The Stoderzinken is one of the taller mountains in the region at 2,048 meters. The climb "only" reaches 1,708 meters by closed road. All photographers, spectators etc. have to be up there before 09:00. After that we still have two hours to have a cup of coffee, chat, or to search for a good photo spot before the roar of the first car rises up the mountain, then it’s still 10 to 15 minutes to go - and finally a beautiful Bentley III 4½ liter- appears at the last hairpin.

I can assure you that it’s a hard climb with an incline of between 8 and 12%. Oh sure, a 250GT SWB Competizione with 240bhp or a 500 Mondial with 260bhp fly up, although there were no drifting Ferraris; that was reserved for a Mini Cooper, which went like it was driven by a World Rally Championship contender! And what do you think of an AC Cobra Mk. III with the most power of the whole field (400bhp), against the tiny ones like the Puch 500S or Morgan Super Sports three-wheeler? But they arrived at the top, all of them! After the climb every car comes down again to start the evening Prologue, a beautiful route through the countryside of the high Dachstein Tauern. It promises to be a wonderful evening.

Friday - Driving in the Last Paradise
Every time the Friday is a very long day, for the photographers as well as the crews. We rise at 05:00 to be at the first spot of that day at the Sölkpass at 1,788 meters high. At 07:49 my camera clicks for the first time and goes on clicking until the last car is passed, but every 10 or 20 cars from a different view. Lying down in the grass (frog-perspective) or climbing up a hill (bird-perspective), with a standard lens or a variable zoom 70-200mm, or perhaps my 12-24mm to get some nice background. In the end I fix on my 300mm and fire away. Final shots are taken with my 300mm and a 2 x converter. For the connoisseurs among you: that gives my digital Nikon a 900mm lens and I assure you that that produces some very nice prints!

After the Sölkpass we leave the competitors to take a shortcut to the second spot that day where I see all the cars again. I do the same again at the end of the afternoon in the region of Spital am Pyhrn. I find my spot just in time and see all competitors go by again through my viewfinder and everything is just right: no rain, nice cars, a nice environment, a splendid background and beautiful light in the late afternoon.

Saturday - the last pleasant straws…
A few minutes past nine we return to Gröbming, where hundreds of spectators are watching the finish. I have to be honest: after sixteen hours carrying approx. 12.5kg of cameras, lenses etc. and walking about searching for good spots, I am exhausted and by now I have a mind for a large beer and something to eat! The party in Gröbming goes on until the small hours.

The next day is the last day of this magnificent event and after breakfast at nine I grab my cameras and go to the VIP tent where it is already very lively. Several demonstration cars are outside and their celebrity drivers are signing autographs on posters, photos or programs of the event. The spectators thrill to hear the 12 cylinders present but around noon the first spots of rain fall in front of the main tribune where the celebrity drivers are being interviewed by Austrian television - people like Maria Teresa de Felippis, the first (and only) successful female F1 driver - now 80 years old, Jochen Mass, Dieter Quester, Adrian Newey, Peter Sauber, Peter Kraus and so on.

The cars are introduced, like the Auto Union D-type, Mercedes-Benz W154, Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta, Porsche 718/8 RS Spyder, the “White Monster” - a Porsche 917/10, a Maserati 250F and the Abarth 1000SP. After all that the demonstration laps start but so also does heavy rain and unfortunately after two laps the demo is stopped. A wise decision because the organisers cannot guarantee the safety of drivers and spectators and certainly not of the photographers who stand at the most dangerous places to take the nicest pictures.

After a while the Final begins and all the cars drive the last stage. Partly in heavy rain, partly in sunny weather it comes to an end. Overall winners are Christian & Margot Baier in a 1970 Jaguar E-type. Second are Michael Münzemaier & Anja Schiemann with a Jaguar XK 140 OTS and third Ernst Graf Harrach & Wolfgang Artacker (fourth time on the podium) in the Ferrari 246 GT Dino.

It is a pity that a great event like this Final literally collapses, but in the end all make the best of it. That evening we have a good time with some friends and participants and together we make the deal to see each other next year at the 16th Ennstal Classic.

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