Austrian crew Hermann Neubauer and Bernhard Ettel that drive Ford Fiesta R5 won the rally in Kumrovec that was organized by Auto club Delta Sport from Zagreb and it represents the start of Croatian Championship. Austrians ended with time 44:08,4

 

„We are here for the first time and it is great. It is difficult, I think I have never driven something like this, but we had fun. This is great preparation for Austrian Championship. The rout was difficult but I enjoyed it all the way. I hope I will come next year“ said Neubauer.

 

Second place won Slovenian crew Rok¸Turk and Blanka Kacin in Hyundai i20 R5 they were in finish in time 44:51,1.
Third were Antal Kovacs and Gergo Istovic in Ford Fiesta R5 with time 45:13,1.

 

The best Croatian crew is Krisztian Hideg and Istvan Kerek in Škoda Fabija R5. They were 4th.

 

The Austrians are holding on to their lead.

 

This year's Kumrovec rally is special because drivers are driving on brand new and interesting stages. They will drive six of them and not four like years before. Many spectators are supporting drivers near the road and above everything weather is perfect.

 

After fourth SS Austrians Hermann Neubauer and Bernhard Ettel are in lead with overall time of 31:03,6. They are followed bay Slovenian crew Rok Turk and Blanka Kacin with time 31:28,6. Third are Antal Kovacs and Gergo Istovics from Hungary wit overall time 31:47,4.

 

After today's four special stages we have lost eleven crews. Nine of them did not manage to finish them and two crews did not even start. Next SS starts at 3.06 PM.

 

First two special stages are behind us.

 

They were driven on route: Zagorska Sela - Kuzminec Miljanski - Pušća - Zagorska Sela, and on route: Ravno Brezje - Razdrto Tuheljsko - Ravno Brezje - Kladnik.

 

Overall the fastest are, counting two prologues yesterday Austrians Herman Neubauer and Bernhard Ettel in time 17:56,2, they are followed by Slovenians Rok Turk and Blanka Kacin that are late by leaders 0:13,2,. Third crew is from Hungary Antal Kovac and Gergo Istovic thy clocked in time 18:18,0.

 

 

Ceremonial start of 8. INA Kumrovec Rally is over.

 

This year we will have six special stages at Kumrovec and Zagorska Sela. Crews will drive BI Zagorska Sela and BI Kumrovec and that is 62,22 kilometers of SS.

 

The track configuration has been retained with a large number of tied bends and passes, which have for years been a trademark of Rally Kumrovec.

 

The most successful driver of the previous seven Kumrovec Rallies is Hungarian Janos Szilagyi with three victories. This year Kumrovec Rally will drive 48 crew from four countries.

 

 

Here are some expectations from the drivers after first prologue:

 

"We have new car. That is one new challenge. My idols were driving cars like this. We do not have many expectations. Just want that everything goes well" said Juraj Šebalj who is driving Toyota GT86 C2 R3.

 

Slovenian driver Rok Turk is satisfied as well:

"Everything is new. We came to do some tests here. To do everything on the car so we can see where are we" said Turk.

 

 

With attractive prologue at Terme Tuhelj 8th INA Kumrovec rally has started. This year 51 crew has come to Zagorje.

 

The first prologue is behind us, and the Slovenian crew Rok Turk and Blanka Kacin are in lead with time 2:12,3 minutes, they are followed by Hermann Neubauer and Bernhard Ettel who are late 0:01,0. Ranked third are Krisztian Hideg and Istvan Kerek who clocked in at 2:14,9.  Two crews did not manage to finish first prologue.

 

Kumrovec will be the first stop of the new Croatian Rally Champioship, but also the first stop of the International Zone Croatian Campionship (IZCC). Crews eligible to compete in new competition are the holders of the licence of CEZ Country ASN (Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and Slovakia). To enter IZCC crews have to sign up at Entry form and pay the entrance fee. This way the crews that are driving in Croatia for years now can enter systematic competition.

 

Austrian crew Niki Mayr-Melnhof and Thomas Zeiser that drove in Ford Fiesta R5 won the Rally in Kumrovec with total time 31:37,7.

“ It was a difficult rally and very different from last year, but we manage to survive and carry on. I am very happy to win again“ said after everything Niki Mayr-Melnhof .

Second place got Croatian crew Krisztian Hideg and Istvan Kerek (Škoda Fabia R5) who are 1:20,2 late for Austrians. But there is another Croatian crew on podium because third are our drivers Zoran Raštegorac i Damir Bruner (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) with total time 35:05,8.

From 56 crews from seven countries that applied, 40 of them came to Kumrovec and three of them did not finished race while one did not even start.

With the end of Kumrovec Rally the Croatian Championship started.

The second SS is over and  Austrians Niki Mayer-Melnhof and Thomas Zeiser (Ford Fiesta R5) are still in lead with total time of 8:37,0 minutes . It looks like Niki knows Kumrovec very well because he was celebrating last year as well. The other two positions had chnged a little bit in comparisao to first prologue. Second is Croatian crew Krisztian Hideg and Istvan Kerek (Škoda Fabil R5) that are 0:26,5 behind the leaders while third placed are Zoran Raštegorac and Damir Bruner (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) who set a time of 9:32,2.

 

Two crews did not mamage to finish the SS, while one did not start. Third SS will be driven on relation Donji Škrnik - Gornji Škrnik - Zagorska Sela and it starts at 2:40 PM.

 

Here's what Raštegorac said after the second SS: "It's okay, there's snow on the road, but that's okay. At this speed we can drive to the market, it's nothing spectacular." Mateo Butorac tahr is driving with Luka Raštegorac in Citroen C2R2 Mix is happy with his drive: "It's great, better than we expected, it's hard to ride under these conditions, and I do not know what to expect."

 

It was a lot of peopele here, it was surprising "said Butorac that is fifth after second SS.

Following the two prologues in Tuhelj, the well rested crews have returned to Kumrovec.

The Austrian crew Niki Meyer-Melnhoh and Thomas Zeiser have departed the ceremonial start first in their Ford Fiesta R5 and after them two more R5 cars started, six of R5 cars have announced their presence, but only three of them came, snow kinda ruined their attentions but never mind those three are good reason to come to Kumrovec and watch special stages because on yesterday's prologues many fans arrived