A stunning season with seventh races was held in March by the crews of the Slovak Championship in the rally 2017, which decided to fight for valuable points at the beginning of the season. The past six events brought interesting moments and the final 43rd Rally Košice will decide on the absolute champions and champions in individual classes.
The season of the Slovak Championship in the rally forms seven competitions this year, which are spread from March to October. Competitive crews have been behind L Racing 10. Rally Rožňava, 23. Rally Prešov, 44th Rally Tatras, Agrotec Petronas Syntium Rally, IX. Rally Lubeník and DeutschMann® Rally Trebišov. Pavel Valoušek and Veronika Havelková are in the first place. Before the final 43rd Rally in Košice, three crews have the greatest chance for the championship title.
L Racing 10. Rally Rožňava 31.03.-01.04.
Rožňava rally has returned to the calendar after nine years thanks to the Auto Club Košice in cooperation with L Racing. The organizers prepared a competition with eight special stages of 95 kilometers. The audience's most exciting was the city-center ring that took place on Friday in the evening. Since this rally was the first of the calendar, no one knew how will end a fight for the first positions. It was, however, clear that the current champions of Slovakia, Pavel Valoušek and Veronika Havelková, as well as the participants in the World Rally, Martin Koči and Lukáš Kostka will want to fight for them. Also Grzegorz Grzyb with Jakub Wrobel, Tomáš Ondrej and Adam Gomorim or brothers Melichárekovci want to be fighting for it. The rankings on the first stages were constantly changing, while the penalties and speed tests were discussed by three different winners. The absolute leadership won Kochi with Kostka for the Fabia R5 with seven seconds ahead.
23. Rally Prešov 28.-29.04.
After four weeks, the Slovak championship moved to nearby Prešov, where Rally System Slovakia organizer prepared for the competition crews nine special stages on three different tracks. The competition started on Saturday morning and ended in the afternoon the same day. Even before the start, Pavel Valoušek said he thought he would be the most experienced on Cemjata special stage, and this feeling was really right. Of the nine special stages he won exactly three on this RS. His biggest rival was Martin Koci, but it was a rather demanding rally because he joined with the new car and also the new co-driver Filip Schovák. Although he had won all the remaining tests, his overall time was still higher than of Valousek, and he was the second. Since both riders, respectively crews, had already the first and second places in the tables, after the Rally Prešov jointly shared their interim leadership position.
44. Rallye Tatry 26.-27.05.
Organizers from the AOS club in Poprad have chosen a new May term for their rally as well as a more demanding, two-day program. Nine special stages on five tracks were up to 100 kilometers long. The competition started on Friday afternoon with two passes of a 20-kilometer SS Huta, after which there was a popular city circuit. This is especially enjoyed by audiences every year. After the first day of competition, Grzegorz Grzyb and Boguslaw Browinski held the leading position in front of Martin Koči with Filip Schovánek. The fast Tatra routes did not fit too much for Valousek, who was fourth. On Saturday, Ondrej and Gomori were the best ones to win the two introductory stages and walk inconspicuously to the second Koči. However, the ranking did not change until the end of the competition and Grzyb and Browinski became the winners.
Agrotec Petronas Syntium Rally Hustopeče 16.-17.06.
One of two two-stage competitions and the only foreign rally this year was the competition in South Moravian Hustopece organized by Agrotec. The rally is popular because of the great viewing scene, night stages and challenging tracks, where wider state roads with narrow streets in the vineyards and the asphalt surface with gravel are alternating. Moreover, thanks to the inclusion in two national championships there are many participants. Even this year Hustopeče has the rule - the one who is at home has a great advantage. And while there were several Slovak, Czech and Polish champions, the fastest ones were clearly Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler on Škoda Fabia R5. Within the Slovak championship, however, the Ford Fiesta R5 with the crew of Pavel Valoušek - Veronika Havelková won twice. The pair moved continuously on second place, but in the final exam in two days get in the forehead, so took twice the full number of points. In the first stage, Grzyb and Wrobel followed, in the second round followed by Martin Koči and Filip Schovánek. The Rally Hustopece was really very demanding, as evidenced by the number of dropped crews that climbed to 44 of the 104 starting.
IX. Rally Lubeník 14.-15.07.
The fifth competition was organized by village Lubeník and Junior autoclub SK Rožňava. It was July Rally Lubeník. Its ninth edition included nine special stages on a track long exactly 90 kilometers. The three different tracks, but especially the variable weather, tested the competition crews and the technique. On the dry surface, Melichárek brothers were initially on the front on their Ford Fiesta RS WRC, but Martin Koči and Filip Schovánek replaced them later. From the middle of the competition, one after another victory in the SS was awarded by Valoušek and Havelková, who got to the pace and quickly to the forefront of the rallye where they stayed until the end. Martin Koci again scored points for second place.
DeutschMann® Rallye Trebišov 01.-02.09.
The first weekend of September was chosen by the Auto Club Košice together with DeutschMann® for the premiere of the rally in Trebišov. For competitive crews they have not only prepared a great competition program with demanding special stages, but also an excellent accompanying program with the Friday concert of IMT Smile and guests. Even though the rally program has only six stages, their overall length was over 90 kilometers, all within one stage. The fastest times in three stages were achieved by the crew Valoušek - Havelková, who was introduced in Trebišov with a new Ford Focus WRC. The car was briefly introduced, which was also evidenced by its slower early stages, but in the afternoon everything was fine and in full engagement it came to absolute primacy. Martin Koči and Filip Schovánek finished second with a loss of five seconds.
In front of us is the last competition, two-stage 43. Košice Rally, which will offer up to 60 points in the absolute evaluation of the championship and 40 points in individual classes. Differences between crews are small, so we definitely have something to look forward to.
Continuous Ranking MSR after DeutschMann® Rallye Trebišov:
- Pavel Valoušek – Veronika Havelková, Ford Fiesta R5 194b
- Martin Koči – Filip Schovánek, Škoda Fabia R5 176b
- Grzegorz Grzyb – Jakub Wrobel, Škoda Fabia R5 139b
- Vlastimil Majerčák – Michaela Vejačková, Ford Fiesta R5 125b
- Tomáš Kukučka – Peter Vejačka, Ford Fiesta R5 115b
Zdenka Frývaldská
Press Secretary 43rd Rally Košice