| This page is indented to tell the LDR "story", how it all started. |
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The LDR Society was founded around 1989 in Braunschweig / Germany.
Some students of the Technical University and their friends interested in old sports cars were going on a vacation trip.
The trip led to southern Spain, some used their old Beetles, others drove by motorbike. Only backroads were used, mainly because freeways in France and Spain have expensive tolls.
The cops were also not checking speed limits on rural roads.
This trip was conducted non-stop, apart from the necessary stops to re-fuel, switch driver-co etc.
Then somebody thought it would be a good idea to make a real race out of it, just as the "Marathon de la Route" in the '60s or the "Cannonball Run".
A name was chosen "LDR Society", where LDR stands for "long distance race". Over the years new members joined the club, emphasis was put more on classic "GT" vehicles, exemptions were made if a member's vehicle could not make it and a replacement had to be used. Some drivers became regular competitors, others only drove once and realized they never could make it into the "Hard Core". As the race is conducted on a yearly basis, there was a need for another event in summertime. The "SDR" was born. The first "Short Distance Race" was conducted in East Germany, the wall has just come down and streets were still pretty poor. The SDR has now also become a standing event and attract more participants as entry costs for fuel are less and no vacation days have to be taken. The initial route of the LDR led via Belgium, France and Andorra to Spain. This has now been changed to incorporate different roads and avoid the straight Spanish ones. "Highlights" of the LDRs so far included: |
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