Škoda Rally Team Hungaria driver Norbert Herczig showed he has Hungarian Rally Championship-leading pace at the Bukfurdo Rallye last weekend (4-5 June), despite early retirement.
Herczig, who aims to win the Championship this year, has already proved that he is one to watch. He finished second on the Miskolc Rally, round two of the series, last month and is really getting to grips with the Fabia Super 2000, which was new to him last year.
In this weekend's Bukfurdo Rallye, the third round of the Championship, the Hungarian driver – whose Škoda Fabia Super 2000 is prepared by the Milan-based Škoda Rally Team Italia – was showing good pace. After SS4, Herczig was leading the rally.
His fast run was, however, cut short, as he crashed and rolled on SS5.
"I was driving along a long straight at approximately 151km/h in fifth gear when I had to brake for a left-hand corner," explains Herczig. " I think I left it too late to brake, so the wheels locked and I went off the road and rolled. The conditions were wet and slippery, so maybe that didn't help, but really it was just one of those things that happens in rally."
Both Herczig and co-driver Kálmán Benics escaped unhurt and the team was surprised at how little damage was done to the car.
"The damage to the car is mainly cosmetic," explains Skoda Rally Team Italia team principal, Pierfrancesco Zanchi. "Mechanically, the car is not too badly damaged. Yes, there is damage to the body work, but it looks much worse than it is; the roll cage has worked perfectly!"
"Norbert showed great pace in the morning and it was a real shame he crashed. If he had carried on driving like he had, there is a good chance that he could have won. Still, we will come back to the next round confident that we can win and we still believe we can take the title."
The next round of the Hungarian Rally Championship is the Veszprem Rally, which takes place on 8th/9th July 2011. This will be the fourth round of the six-round series and Skoda Rally Team Hungaria will be entering with Herczig behind the wheel.
Once again, the car will be prepared and run by Skoda Rally Team Italia, which is one of the top teams in rallying. Among other activities, provides support for Skoda UK Motorsport as it contests the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with driver Andreas Mikkelsen.