Rally / 07 January 2013

Mission accomplished for Zoltan Bessenyey and the Eurosol ? Honda Civic Type R team

The Eurosol-Honda Civic Type R team got off to a fantastic start at the opening round of the new European Rally Championship this weekend, with Zoltan Bessenyey and co-driver Yulianna Nyirfas securing 3rd place in the 2WD category of the Janner Rally, Austria.  

It could have been even better for the Hungarian pair too. As they headed into the penultimate special stage they were in 2nd place, but in the final stage a brave performance by the Italian Chentre meant they had to settle for 3rd.

Says Zoltan: ?Our rival Elwis Chentre went to extremes to get the 2nd place from us in the last stage. We didn?t want to take such risks, so we let him go. But with a final 3rd place we have more than achieved our goal; with one round down we are 3rd in 2WD and scored full points for the team.?

The conditions, especially during the first day with snow and ice on the course, were treacherous, making Zoltan and Yulianna?s performance in their ERC debut even more impressive.

?We made some mistakes at the start, drove a puncture and lost a lot of time, but we were still able to finish the first day in 4th place. It was still difficult driving during the last day of the competition but, this time, our competitors had their own share of bad luck. We stood firm until we were sure of a top 3 placing in the final stage.?

In addition to the Hungarian pair?s achievements, German Armin Holz was first in the Civic Type R in the Class 8, while Zbynek Baller won the Czech fight in Class 9 from Ondrej Bisaha.

The second round of the ERC starts on February 1st with the Rally Liepaja-Ventspils in Latvia, although Zoltan and Yulianna will skip this battle.

?We will be back with the ERC for the third round with the Rally of the Canarias on March 23 and 24. It will be a good chance for us to get acquainted with the fast asphalt as well as a lot of local, strong Honda drivers like the well known Marrero-brothers and German Hernandez.?

More: www.fiaerc.com