The history of one of the oldest car competitions in Slovakia, the Rally Košice, has been filled with beautiful battles at special stages, unforgettable stories, a great atmosphere and a lot of experiences. This year, it will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in the hot summer (July 12-14, 2024). Its story began to be written in the seventies of the last century, when its first year was raced in 1971. Among the most successful are the five drivers who rejoiced at the victory a total of three times. They are Ivan Pallag, Tibor Cserhalmi, Jozef Béreš jr., Martin Koči and Grzegorz Grzyb from Poland.
In this press release, we will look at the history of the Košice Rally during the second half of the years (2000-2023). At the end of the last century, the competition was included in the FIA European Championship, but also in the Czech or Hungarian championships. However, the organizers did not have easy times, as they had to deal with the resignation of long-time main partner VSŽ Košice in the new millennium. In the 2001 season, the three-time Polish champion Janusz Kulig regularly returned to the Slovak rally routes. With the Toyota Corolla WRC, he became the winner not only of the 27th Rally Košice, but also of the entire Slovak Rally Championship.
Between 2002 and 2004, the Prešov driver Tibor Cserhalmi dominated the competition. During the first victory, he was navigated by Karol Bodnár and then by Martin Krajňák. Tibor demonstrated first-class technology in the east of Slovakia in the form of a WRC Ford Focus vehicle, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII led him to his third triumph.
The record entry in the number of crews was recorded in 2005, when the competition was again included in the Hungarian Rally Championship. At the start, it brought together a record number of 137 competing crews, among which the Slovak ones were not lost either. After all, Jozef Béreš jun. in a Subaru Impreza STi he finished in a fantastic third place! The memorable year was won by Hungarians Tamás Turi and István Kerék in a Škoda Octavia WRC.
Since 2005, the organizers have started working closely with Tempus s.r.o., which became the promoter of the entire Slovak Rally championship for two years - in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The center of TEMPUS Rally Košice was the headquarters of the company on Rastislavova street in Košice, where the competition headquarters, a Parc fermé, a Service Park were located, and the circuit special stage, popular with the spectators, was also held in close proximity.
The 35th edition in 2009 saw several changes, which also affected the name of the event - Subaru Stilcar Rally Košice. The start and finish ramps were moved to Hlavná ulica and the Service park to the barracks on Moyzesova ulica. The Slovak championship in this competition, as well as in the year-round evaluation, belonged to the crew of Jozef Béreš jun. – Robert Müller. The popular Ďodi with Robo won three times and always in a different car. The Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 (2008), Peugeot 207 S2000 (2009) and Škoda Fabia S2000 (2011) successively brought it to first place. The Béreš family has a total of five championships in their collection, as his father won in 1994 and 1995. "However, I remember best the year 1993, when I drove as a professional driver in Styllex on a factory Nissan with Michal Koči. We also won the title then, those were good times. And I like to remember the special stage Herľany - Banské," said Jozef Béreš the elder.
In 2010, the competition was included in the Polish Rally Championship for the first time. It brought us a large number of crews from this country, as well as, for example, the Frenchman Bouffier, who scored points in the Polish championship on a Peugeot 207 S2000 that season. This driver also won the famous Rallye Monte Carlo.
The Polish championship liked it in the east of Slovakia, and for the next two years the championship of our northern neighbors was also held here. If we also add the Hungarian championship to that, a total of 111 crews appeared at the start. In 2013, Kajetan Kajetanowicz won, who in the following years became a three-time European champion. "I have beautiful memories of Rally Košice, because I won and celebrated Polish Rally Championship titles here. I really liked the ramp in the historic city center and the special stages with a mixed surface. The conditions here were really very challenging, especially when it rained," said Kajetanowicz, currently the leading WRC2 World Championship driver.
The jubilee 40th year in 2014 was won by the crew of Norbert Hercig - Igor Bacigál from Hungary on a Škoda Fabia S2000. At the time, the top ten of the overall rankings were completely dominated by Hungarian crews in the national championship, which was held in Košice until 2016. The subsequent absence of Polish or Hungarian crews was used by Slovak drivers in the following years, with Jaroslav Melichárek and then Martin Koči from Košice taking two wins on home tracks he even celebrated with the Škoda Fabia R5 three times between 2017 and 2019. How did he comment on the clean hat trick? "I think this year has really had a lot of value in terms of sports. I believe that everyone is satisfied with the performances and fights they could see on the track. I am very happy that together with the team I could bring the tenth title to Styllex and I have to thank the family, the team and the partners."
Due to unfavorable economic conditions and the system of the Slovak championship, the starting field has thinned out. In addition, the competition was not held in 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. With the return of the Polish championship, the list of entries was once again filled with high-quality names. Three-time Polish and seven-time Slovak champion Grzegorz Grzyb added a third victory to his collection two years ago. Famous European names such as Martins Sesks from Latvia, Tom Kristensson from Sweden and others appeared at the start in Košice. This year Rally Košice will write its fiftieth story. The competition has gained very high credit and recognition over the years. Her story simply does not end...
We will provide further news service within the framework of the 50th Garrett RALLY KOŠICE 2024 in the following press releases. They will be published gradually on the official website www.kosice.rallye.sk and on the Facebook profile.
V Košiciach 11. júna 2024 Roman ORDELT