Csucsu and Mark Mesterhazi clocked the fastest times on the first day of the Baja Satu Mare, a joint round of Révész Hungarian Open Cross-Country Rally Championship and the Romanian Cross-Country Rally Championship. The event, taking place in Carei, Romania this weekend, kicked off with two special stages on Friday.
"The first day is behind us and we're leading the race. The initial special stage presented some challenges; as the second car out, the tracks were not clearly visible, so it was crucial for us to concentrate on navigation. The second special stage went really well, we managed to utilize the tracks effectively. Now, we're ahead of the City Rally Show, which doesn't count into the results, so we'll be starting from the front tomorrow," Csucsu stated at the end of the day.
In the Hungarian championship rankings, Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal and his Slovak co-driver Marek Sykora, driving a Hummer, hold second place just 40 seconds behind Csucsu’s Toyota. The Mészáros - Szőke duo, driving a Ford, are in third position, despite suffering windscreen damage at the very end of the second special stage.
The fourth place is claimed by the Polish team of Marek Kubiczek and Maksymilian Staniszewski, driving a Can-Am, who also top the T4 NAT category. Szilveszter Kéry, who ranks fifth, completed the first special stage in second place. However, rainfall during the second stage transformed the entire track into a 'skating rink'. "The second stage was like a death race," the driver commented.
A similar narrative unfolded for the two-time winners of Baja Satu Mare, the Balázs Molnár and Gabriella Molnár, driving a Can-Am. They finished third in the first special stage despite being hindered by the car in front of them for nearly a third of the distance. During the second stage, they too found themselves "skating" around the track. The poor visibility due to the rain further compounded their problems. In the end, they ranked sixth overall and third in their category.
In the Romanian championship standings, the team of Mihai Dospinescu and Catalin Iftemi, driving a Polaris, lead the pack ahead of Ciprian Berchez and Lucian Gheorghe Barbu, both driving Can-Am. Meanwhile, reigning champion Vincenzo Cangi, in his Suzuki Vitara, had an unfortunate day, having to withdraw from the first special stage due to a technical problem. Another defending champion, last year's winner of the SSV category, Adrian Baciu (Can-Am), encountered issues on the second special stage, losing a wheel. However, he remains hopeful about rejoining the race on Saturday.
In the bike classification, Róbert Bodor from Slovakia, riding a Yamaha, holds the lead. Meanwhile, László Balog from Hungary, also on a Yamaha, leads the quad classification.
Text: press release of Baja Satu Mare
Photos: Hungarian Cross-Country Rally Committee
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