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 | Balkan CC 2011: Hungarian Sólyom team 3rd Place in Balkan Championship.
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The 2011 racing season has ended, the organisers published the final classification of he 2011 Balkan Championship. The championship this year consisted of four rounds: Rally Albania, Evia Rally Raid (Greece), Balkan Offroad Marathon (Bulgaria) and Cooper 24h Off Road (Greece).
Although the Hungarian Sólyom Team joined the series only after Rally Albania, the crew Olivér Sólyom and Mátyás Galbács performed well enough to grab the 3rd place of the general classification of the championship by the end of the year.
The team tackled this year’s racing season with Hawkia 2.0 (Kia Sportage Prototype) that was completed by the start of the season. At the beginning there were many "child’s illnesses" to cure on the car but with big efforts the car improved race by race.
After having competed in two championships, Sólyom Team summarises a good year as beside the 14th place in the Hungarian Championship they finished 3rd in the Balkan Championship.
Olivér Sólyom: "In April at the Aqua-Palace Kupa we started with a half-ready car and practically the whole year was one big test. We kept modifying and developing the car. We left Hungarian Championship in mid-season and dived into Balkan Championship. I think it was a very good decision to give priority to foreign events. We gained a lot of professional experience and we collected a lot of experiences and friends."
Mátyás Galbács: "This surely wasn’t an easy year! Olivér threw me in deep water with offering me the right seat but I don’t regret it. I feel that together with the car I also kept changing during the year. My goal for this season was to learn how to help Olivér’s driving. The results speak for themselves."
As for 2012, Balkan Championship and Greek Championship are on the plans of Sólyom Team, the complete racing calendar will be set up by the end of January. Between the two series once more Balkan Championship will have the higher priority. The series will consist of four rallies:
Evia Rally Raid - 23-28th April, 2012
Rally Albania - 8-15th June, 2012
Balkan Off-Road Marathon - 4-14th Sepetember, 2012
Cooper 24h Off Road - 24-25th November, 2012
Olivér Sólyom: "The car is mature now, during the winter we put it in order and repaint it. I am totally satisfied with Mátyás, I think we got used to each other by the Athens race. Next year he will be my co-driver again, there’s no question about it. We will soon evaluate this year’s results and mistakes and with this we can start the 2012 season more calmly, more prepared.
I want to congratulate our rivals and I want to say thanks to all those who stood by us and helped us all year long: our sponsor, our partners, the organisers, the fans and last but not least the members of Sólyom Team!"
Balkan Championship 2011 Final Results
01) Trayanov / Marinkov (BG) I Toyota Land Cruiser
02) Dimitriadis / Kalfas (GR) I Suzuki Jimny
03) Solyom / Galbacs (HU) I Hawkia 2.0
04) Voko / Watts (AL) I Mitsubishi Pajero V20
05) Lagadov / Nikolov (BG) I Mitsubishi Pajero V20
06) Minchev / Nikolov (BG) I Mitsubishi Pajero Evo
07) Dervichaj / Papuli (AL) I Toyota 4-Runner
08) Cotsubos / Lambrinos (GR) I Suzuki Vitara
09) Rusev / Trifonov (BG) I Mitsubishi Pajero Evo
10) Radev / Georgiev (BG) I Mitsubishi Pajero
2011/12/29 | 13:18 CET | ARTICLE: MR/SY/SOLYOM
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