After the Rome Rally in July, this year’s European Championship continued for our team with the Barum Rally, the most notorious event in the Czech Republic. Patrik Herczig for the second time after 2022 and Márton Bertalan for the first time took part in the asphalt race in the Zlín region. The race is not part of this year’s ERC Junior, so we were able to focus entirely on the ERC4 category.
In ERC4, there were a total of five entries on the list, with the big rival being the young local driver Daniel Polásek. The middle of the week was filled with tests for our drivers, Bertalan and Herczig were able to set up the car on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, on the otherwise pitchy and mostly poor quality Czech tracks. The Herczigs also had an unexpected situation before the race, as the team had to change the engine in the Peugeot, a task that was quickly and successfully completed by our mechanics.
Friday was the familiar shakedown, which was the best for Bertalan and his team, who finished first, but Herczig and his team were also close to the fire in second place. It was a good omen. Then there was the Zlín City Fast in the evening, which this time was no rabbit’s tail as the drivers had to cover almost 10 kilometres. The order remained the same as in the Shakedown. Bertalan first, Herczig second. (Daniel Polásek was third, not far behind our boys.)
Saturday had eight tough races. The main question mark in the equation was the arrival or not of rain. The first lap was still dry, but unfortunately the last in the series had to be declared a stage for the ERC4. Patrik Herczig and his team were the most confident during the morning, with the Poláseks 16.6 seconds behind and Márton Bertalan 1.2 seconds behind. It was already clear that these three pairs would dominate the weekend. In the second round, our drivers could only do three fast laps, as the last fast lap of the day was cancelled for safety reasons due to the pouring rain. The three fastest riders shared the stage wins in the three fastest stages of the day, but the Herczigs came out on top at the end of the day. They built up a 25-second lead over the Polásek’s and a 1 minute 14 second lead over the Bertalan’s.
Márton Bertalan – Róbert Paizs at the end of the day:
“It’s hard to say anything now, as we’re not in a bad position in terms of the championship, but the rain came just after we had finally managed to win a fast time in ERC4! I’ve never driven in wet conditions, so we had a more cautious second than the first lap. But we’ve done the first day, we’re third in ERC4 standings, so although it doesn’t feel the best, we’re not going to complain just yet.”
Sunday’s final day saw six stages, including the legendary Pindula! On this day, our drivers did not concede a stage win to Daniel Polásek, who was on his home track. Both Herczig and Bertalan bagged 3-3 stages, a very impressive performance from our drivers and their navigators. There were no changes in the final results, the order Herczig, Polásek, Bertalan remained the same.
Herczig Patrik – Varga Kristóf:
„It’s an indescribable feeling to end such a cathartic race like this. A huge thank you to everyone who cheered us on throughout the weekend.”
Bertalan Márton – Paizs Róbert:
„3rd place in ERC4 category, but what we are even more happy about is that we had some very encouraging section/section results!”
The final result of the race ERC4:
1st Patrik Herczig – Kristóf Varga
2. Daniel Polásek – Zdenek Omelka +48.1
3. Bertalan Márton – Paizs Róbert +1.20.4
The next EC race will be in Wales! Rally Ceredigion will take place from 30 August to 1 September and will again be part of the ERC4 Junior Championship.
