The second event of the year was the Canary Islands Rally, a long-established event with a strong tradition in the far-off Canary Islands, which is always a logistical challenge for the team, but if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s being professional! After the weekend in Hungary, the surface this time was the mirror-like tarmac of Spain, well known from the rally world, where the strip is always very close and the driver needs to have more track racing qualities to get a good result.
Our pairs starting this weekend:
- Csomós Miklós – Nagy Attila
- Herczig Patrik – Varga Kristóf
- Aleksadar Tomov – Brankov Yavor
The Csomós Mixi’s don’t have good memories from last year, which they have fortunately managed to come to terms with. They said of their test on Tuesday.
„For the third year in a row, we have been consistently accelerating on this small stage, and we hope we can say the same about ourselves after the race.”
The Canary Islands weekend will not only be a weekend to reckon with ERC drivers who race all year round, but also with local drivers who know the tracks inside out. The Mixis were the best performers in Thursday’s free practice and also qualified well, finishing third best. In the evening, the evening super special was still on the program, where they started the sharp race with the clock in 5th place.
The real race took place in a Friday-Saturday rhythm. Unfortunately for the Mixi’s the race was too short and the curse of Spain continued to haunt them. They came in a confidence inspiring 5th place in the first rapid on Friday. However, on the second rapid of the day, they suffered a slow puncture that ended up in the side wall of a house. The boys were relatively lucky to escape the crash, although this time they had to be taken to hospital for observation.
After that, we could fully focus on our other two pairs. Aleksandar Tomov and Patrik Herczig were getting to grips with the conditions in the ERC Junior category, and unlike the Bulgarian titan, the Herczig’s had already experienced the rhythm of this rally once.
At the end of Friday’s first lap – where the middle speed stage became the fastest stage due to the Mixi’s crash – Patrik Herczig was in midfield in 6th place, with the Tomovs watching from behind in 11th. After the service the battles continued in the second round on the stages with lots of corners. By the end of the day, however, only the Herczigs were left standing, holding steady in 6th position. Unfortunately for the Tomovs, their second European Championship race was over.
By Saturday, only Patrik Herczig and his navigator Kristóf Varga were in the battle. They drove in a vacuum for most of the day, but the kilometers covered on these stages could be very valuable for the future. The final result in the ERC Junior category was 8th place for the only Hungarian pair.
Patrik Herczig:
We did what we came to do, we learned a lot during the weekend, every meter of every stage was terribly difficult, with an incredible amount of corners. It was a great experience of a lifetime to race here!
Next race: the Diósgyőr Rally, Hungarian National Rally Championship
