German superfan travels to World Cup Russia on vintage tractor

German superfan travels to World Cup Russia on vintage tractor
Copyright REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
By Anastassia Gliadkovskaya
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70-year-old Hubert Wirth is driving over 2500 kilometres to cheer on his team at the World Cup in Moscow.

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Seventy-year-old football fan Hubert Wirth has undertaken a lengthy road trip from his hometown Pforzheim, Germany, to Moscow for the World Cup — in a tractor.

Accompanied by his dog, Wirth told eyewitnesses he hoped to reach Moscow in 10 days' time, maybe even making a pitstop in Minsk.

The vintage 1936 tractor, which pulls a big trailer-van, goes at the speed of 30 kilometres an hour, eyewitness Sergey reported to Belarusian auto industry website Abw.by.

When crossing the Belarusian border on Thursday, Wirth was stopped by local transportation authorities, who, instead of giving Wirth a ticket, respectfully asked him to buy a BelToll ticket for the toll road.

“From what I gathered, the authorities themselves didn’t know how to react. After all, a tractor is not a car,” said Sergey.

Wirth has been very responsive to fans and readily agrees to get his photo taken next to the tractor.

REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Soccer fan from Pforzheim, Germany, Hubert Wirth, 70, with his dog Hexe, drives his tractor with a trailer to attend the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia near the village of Yasen, Belarus June 7, 2018.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

_Correction: This story was updated to show that the website Abw.by is Belarusian, not Russian. _

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