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Around 4 pm the competition of the 28th edition of the Rzeszów Rally ended, which, in addition to domestic rallies, was also the fifth round of the European Rally Trophy and the Central Zone European Championship. It was again the current Polish Champion Grzegorz Grzyb that won the rally, ahead of the leader of the 2019 season ranking duo Marczyk / Gospodarczyk and Bouffier / Panseri returning to Polish special stages. Unfortunately, not everyone could celebrate reaching the finish line of the rally. This time the level of difficulty was very high. Of the 50 crews that set off on the first special stage on Friday morning, only 32 were classified after 11 trials.
Marcin Słobodzian and Kamil Kozdroń were also caught by bad luck. In their first start in Skoda Fabia R5, after the Friday stage, they were in the excellent fourth place in the general classification. Before the final loop they were promoted to the top three, unfortunately their ride to the next podium of RSMP was interrupted by falling into a ditch on the tenth special stage. They punctured two tires, and with only one spare, they did not want to risk any serious damage and eventually decided to withdraw.
At that time, Rallytechnology was only represented by Sylwester Płachytka and Jacek Nowaczewski, who at the finish line in Rzeszów were the highest classified Ford Fiesta R5 crew. Their fight on the sections of Podkarpacie began at the sixth place, and after the first pass of the Lubenia trial jumped to the top five. They remained in that place at the end of Friday, with Słobodzian and Kozdroń directly ahead of them.
The most important goal for Saturday was to maintain this good position, but during the morning loop, Płachytka and Nowaczewski had to deal with a defect. They arrived at the service zone with considerable loss as the eighth crew of the general classification. The service team quickly coped with the problems and the crew left for the final loop ready to fight. Positive driving pleasure returned, and the duo avoided further adventures until the end of the rally. At the finish line, they could enjoy double points for their sixth place.
Robert Gabryszewski (Rallytechnology team manager): Rzeszowski proved to be a big challenge for the crews again, and this year's edition was at a really high level. Classic stages, well known from the previous years, were mixed up with those that the players fought for the first time. There was also a strong cast, which was joined by experienced and titled drivers, who had not been seen in RSMP for a long time. Therefore we were able to follow two days of spectacular fight and many sudden twists.
After Friday, we had great reasons for satisfaction when two Rallytechnology crews finished the day in the top five. Sylwek had a really successful stage and maintained a great pace, and Marcin once again this season impressed with an effective and reliable performance. A great result in Skoda's debut was just a hand away, but Rzeszów turned out to be unlucky also for Słobodzian and Kozdroń.
Initially, it seemed that Płachytka and Nowaczewski would also withdraw from the competition, but despite the problems, the crew did everything to get to the service. Before the last loop, Fiesta was repaired, and Sylwek and Jacek would not give up, finishing the rally in high sixth place. As a result, they bring valuable points from Rzeszów and before the next round they noted an important promotion in the general classification.
We thank the crew and fans for the excitement of the passing weekend, and in less than a month we will see you at the sections of our Silesia Rally, which will take place on 5-7 September. See you then!
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