An R5 class rally car and demanding special stages of Croatia Rally for Slovenian National Championship and FIA European Rally Trophy called for an interesting weekend, but problems for Rok Turk and his team began before the start of the rally. The car just would not work properly. Due to technical issues, Rok was out of the race before the start of first special stage. However Friulmotor team from Italy, with whom Rok and OPV team were working together again after winning Saturnus Rally Velenje, worked all night and got the car running again properly and ready to restart on Saturday’s part of the rally.

Foto: Uroš Modlic

By setting fastest time on the first special stage on Saturday Rok and his codriver Martina Lazar demonstrated that without technical problems they could fight for top rankings. The time penalty after retiring on Friday however meant that they were only chasing the competition way ahead. They continued with a fast pace, were gaining positions, and the spectators along the track were excited to see their attractive performance with Peugeot 208 T16. The penultimate stage, the longest stage of the rally, however did not go according to plan. They went off the road in one of the corners and were forced to finish Croatia Rally.

Despite all the the problems of the past weekend Rok remains optimistic: “Like everywhere racing also has ups and downs – and the line between the two is a very thin one. With racing especially where drivers push the limits and are chasing seconds in the fight for the best rankings. After an excellent season so far, we unfortunately had bad luck on Croatia rally. Nevertheless I’m glad Martina and I set several fastest stage times which showed that we are an equal competitor among European Rally Trophy competition.”