Parallel track, double the fun! The Staff House Rally Hungary kicked off with the Superspecial in Királyszentistván, for which 67 cars entered (and with the Hungarian field a total of 92 cars will compete). In the ‘warm-up’, which saw the field start in reverse order to increase the excitement, Simone Tempestini was the fastest.
The second round of the European Rally Championship takes place on gravel stages around Veszprém – welcoming the best of the continent, who will be imagining a visit in huge dust and at high speed, with the support of HUMDA Pro and the professional partnership of TRP Hungary and Mitko.
The service park next to the Veszprém Arena was already bustling on Thursday, but on Friday it was even busier: rally cars filled the car park and spectators arrived, as they could not only meet their favourites up close, but spectacular programmes and live broadcasts awaited them.
Staff House Rally Hungary is going digital, with a special fan app to engage rally fans in an exciting and interactive way with games and voting. Special attention will also be paid to the information and safety of the spectators – detailed maps and important information will be available in the app.
But back to the race and Friday’s events: the recce proved that the real rally stages are huge challenges for the international and Hungarian field, so the show was guaranteed. Friday’s stage took place in Királyszentistván, where VIP experiences and comfortable grandstands awaited visitors.
The race would have gone into the evening anyway, and it was a bit of a stretch that one of the Polish drivers pushed a concrete divider in front of his compatriot – the former driver had his left front wheel torn out, the latter just stopped short of the concrete. And the race was stopped for half an hour.
Max McRae did the same thing a few minutes later, and Miklós Csomós, who started in the same pair as him, was lucky enough to avoid the concrete element, and was happy to say at the finish that he thanked the fans for their support and was looking forward to Saturday when the race would really start.
Yes, you can’t win much in the Superspecial, but you can lose a lot.
The race was stopped again for a few minutes (these concrete elements are not easy to move), and it was getting dark, so visibility was an extra challenge.
However, this didn’t stop the front runners from setting an amazing pace as they drove through the flames. Simone Tempestini, winner of last year’s rally, was the fastest, but he didn’t consider too much importance to it. “It’s only the first stage, but the real power balance will actually play out only tomorrow. All we know now is that we are fast. I expect a good race and close fight.”
The best Hungarian was Norbert Herczig, who finished the stage in sixth place. ‘It was a good stage, it’s part of the show, but the real race will start tomorrow,’ said Herczig. ‘I like racing here, it’s my second home and I know the stages very well, I won my first overall championship race victory here with an Octavia WRC twenty-one years ago.’
Three-time Hungarian champion András Hadik hardly expected to ever go head-to-head with Jos Verstappen, but he did and, somewhat surprisingly, the Dutchman, who was completing his first ever gravel race, was quicker. ‘One thing I’m sure of is that we will learn a lot this weekend,’ said Verstappen, who is second in the Master standings behind Frigyes Turán, who is 14th in the overall classification, while the former F1 driver is 16th.
The Rally Party, which will take place in the Gyárkert in Veszprém, will be an exciting event for the fans on Saturday evening, starting at 17:00. Famous DJs, Lili Regán, Nigel Stately and Matthew Lenner will lift up even the most tired fans – a huge party is guaranteed. On Sunday evening at 18:00, the finish ceremony will take place at the same venue, where fans will be able to celebrate the winners.
For those who missed Friday’s Staff House Rally Hungary, there will be six special stages on both Saturday and Sunday: tickets can be bought online and at the on-site sales points, which are marked on the information map.
Special thanks to the City of Veszprém, the State Secretariat for Sport, the Sporting Nation Programme, the National Institute for Sport Development and Methodology and of course, the Staff House for their support!
STAFF HOUSE RALLY HUNGARY, Round 2 of ERC
Superspecial: 1. Simone Tempestini, Sergiu Itu (Romanian, Skoda Fabia RS), 2. Mabellini, Lenzi (Italian, Skoda Fabia RS) + 0.3 sec, 3. Armstrong, Byrne (Irish, Ford Fiesta) + 1.3 sec, …6. Norbert Herczig, Ramón Ferencz (Hungarian, Skoda Fabia RS) + 2.4 sec