This year's 50th Garrett RALLY KOŠICE will be held on July 12-14, 2024. In addition to a number of Slovak classifications and the FIA Central European Zone Championship, Polish Rally Championship is returning to the metropolis of the eastern Slovak region after two years. A number of leading crews from our northern neighbors will appear at the start. The three-time winner of the Košice rally and the leader of the Polish championship Grzegorz Grzyb will also be present in the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.
Polish Rally Championship will visit Košice for the sixth time in history. It happened for the first time in 2010 and it brought here a large number of crews from this country. For example, the Frenchman Bryan Bouffier, who scored points in the Polish championship on a Peugeot 207 S2000. "We are pleased that after two years and in the year of the fiftieth anniversary, the Polish championship is returning to us. The co-organizer of the rally is Automobilklub Rzeszowski, with whom our Auto Klub Košice has been cooperating for a long time on a number of competitions," said Gabriela Szczeczinová, chairperson of the organizing committee of the 50th Garrett Rally Košice.
After the premiere in 2010, the Polish Rally Championship continued in Slovakia for the next two years. Michal Solowow (Ford Fiesta S2000) and later European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Subaru Impreza STi R4) rejoiced at the victory. Then there was a nine-year break until 2021, when they fought again for Polish points at the Košice special stages.
Three years ago, Mikolaj Marczyk (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) shone, who also became the overall winner of Rally Košice. In 2022, Grzyb collected the most points in the Polish championship in the colors of Rufa-Motor Sport. The sixth continuation of the Polish story will take place in Košice this hot summer.
The three competitions of the Polish Rally Championships that have been held in this year's 2024 season have already seen three winners. The championship of our northern neighbors offers great composure and an exciting fight for every second. The start of the championship in Świdnica belonged to Marczyk at the end of April after a dramatic finish. The two-time Polish champion and winner of Rally Košice 2021 prefers the European championship and did not start at the other two rallies.
Reigning champion Grzyb won the following Nadwiślański Rally, and the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo driver from the Italian Munaretto team had an excellent start to defend his title. The debutant in the Rally2 category, the promising Jakub Matulka, starting in the WRC3 World Championship this year, also had a successful start to the season. He started third and then finished third.
The third continuation in Malopolska was won by Jaroslaw Szeja, who previously came third in Pulawy. After three years behind the wheel of Hyundai, Szeja switched to the Czech brand with a winged arrow. The Fabias wave literally flooded the Polish championship, the only exceptions being Lukasz Kotarba (Citroën) and Jaroslaw Koltun (Ford) at the beginning of the season.
Last year's vice-champion Lukasz Byskiniewicz, who is currently in fifth place, is still lagging behind expectations. After three races, the experienced 47-year-old Grzyb is leading, the Szeja brothers are in second place and Zbigniew Gabryš is third. The classification of the 2WD Poland category is led by Jacek Sobczak with the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.
Polish Rally Championship 2024 (RSMP) (afrer 3 rallies)
1. Grzyb, Binieda (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 89
2. J. Szeja, M. Szeja (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 79
3. Gabryš, Sadowski (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 56
4. Matulka, Dymurski (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 53
5. Koltun, Pleskot (Ford Fiesta Rally2, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 41
Byskiniewicz, Siatkowski (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) 41
Sobczak, Marczewski (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 3.6) 41
8. Marczyk, Gospodarczyk (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 35
9. L. Kotarba, T. Kotarba (Citroën C3 Rally2) 32
10. Kowalczyk, Hryniuk (Renault Clio Rally3) 31
2WD classification:
1. Sobczak, Marczewski (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 3.6) 103
2. Laskowski, Kusnierz (Ford Fiesta Rally4) 85
3. Chorbinski, Chrzanowski (Peugeot 208 Rally4) 73
4. Gazda, Mikuliszyn (Renault Clio Rally4) 50
5. Šwider, Borycki (Ford Fiesta Rally4) 39
Polish Rally Championship 2024 (RSMP) – calendar:
26. – 28. 4. Rajd Świdnicki Świdnica
17. – 19. 5. Rajd Nadwiślański Puławy
06. – 08. 6. Valvoline Rajd Małopolski Wadowice
12. – 14. 7. 50. Garrett RALLY KOŠICE (SVK) Košice
10. – 11.8. Marma Rajd Rzeszowski Rzeszów
13. – 15. 9. Rajd Wisły Wisła
11. – 13. 10. Rajd Śląska Katowice, Chorzów
Ďalší spravodajský servis v rámci 50. Garrett RALLY KOŠICE 2024 prinesieme v nasledujúcich tlačových správach. Uverejnené budú postupne na oficiálnej webovej stránke www.kosice.rallye.sk a na facebookovom profile. Informácie o košickej rally čerpajte aj v mobilnej aplikácii „Sportity“, heslo RallyKosice2024.
V Košiciach 16. júna 2024 Roman ORDELT, tlačový tajomník