With the third victory from as many participations in our biggest competition, Dušan Borković became the first Serb to lift the trophy three times. Behind the convincing winner, competitors from Bulgaria led a great fight until the last meter of the rally, Plamen Stajkov and Martin Surilov. In the end, Stajkov drove furiously on the last speed and reached the second place in the general classification and the victory in the Championship of Bulgaria.. With excellent driving during both days, Lazar Milovanović finished fourth overall and first in the Rally category 4 car, which brings him a new title of state champion in the general classification and class. The host of the competition, Vrnjačka Spa, like all the AMSS people, in charge of the organization, passed all exams without fail and overcame all challenges
Dušan Borković and Igor Marković, inn NIS Petrol racing tima, they took their third career victory at this year's tournament 55. Serbia Rally. That's how the most important agency news from Vrnjačka Banja briefly read, now a traditionally proven and proven host city of our largest and most significant international sports car event. That's how the home crew is, and this time at the wheel of the Škoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo”, prepared by the famous Eurosol team, printed new pages of domestic rally sport. Apart from the number of victories in this competition, they stood side by side with the greats of the former Yugoslav rally scene, Jovica Paliković and Branet Kizmič, crew Borković / Marković also became the first Serbian crew to lift the trophy for the fastest three times.
“Pure perfection: Glamorously designed starting ramp and guest area, as well as a large number of visitors on the town square in Vrnjačka Banja, they looked like they were competing for the World Rally Championship”
On first sight, when looking at the development of the situation and placement during the rally, it could be said that Borković had a relatively easy job. However, for such an advantage at the end of the first day, and then at the finish line, it took a lot of concentration, speed, precision, but also tactical wisdom. Strong pace from the beginning of the competition and a perfect game through two passes on the longest and most challenging Silver rapid, they gave Borković a nice advantage, which our ace only confirmed with fast and surgically precise times on the two remaining Saturday specials - Stanišinci and Župa. Not even turning in literally three corners before the end of Saturday, on the extremely slippery Župa special, it did not take away much of the acquired stock, despite the loss of some 20 seconds. Extremely fast and persistent rivals from Bulgaria, Flame Strikes ("škoda fabia Rally 5") i Martin Surilov ("citroën C3 R5"), they simply did not have a solution for the fast and cheerful Borković. What more, when they saw that Pancevac was elusive, crews from Bulgaria turned to their duel for laurels in the championship there, settling for second and third place in the general ranking.
In stock from the whole minute and 16 seconds gained during Saturday's six special exams, Borković and Marković increased by another eight, respectively 9,4 seconds compared to the Bulgarian competitors already on the first weekly special, the famous exam Klobuk. From that moment on, our crew "spends kilometers" in a controlled manner to the finish line, at a calm and constant pace, without much risk, they win four more specials, leaving only the last gear to Stajkov during that day, when they were already greeting the fans on the last downhill from Stanisinci, wouldn't they want to repay the numerous audience additionally for the incredible support they had during all three days of the rally.
In addition to controlling the pace and the difference compared to rivals, during all weekly test special exams, our crew enjoyed the clash between Stajkov and Surilov for the other positions. Stajkov is very well known to us, winner in Serbia from 2016. in "Mitsubishi Launcher EVO IX", he came to these fields again last year, with one not very well prepared "damage". In one year, the Stajkov crew / Kadir invested a lot in her R5 machine, so "fabia" became extremely competitive. Next to him was the very fast tandem Surilov / Zdravkov, in the superbly prepared factory model "citroën C3 R5", which was also used for the performances of factory Citroën drivers in the WRC 2 competition. The Bulgarian aces were extremely ready, unlike our winning crew, they also used the softest tires for Sunday specials, extremely slippery, so it's not surprising that the fight for the best behind Borković continued until the last meter of the rally. And literally down to the last meter. The opening three Saturday specials belong to Surilov, but Stajkov gets the next three, which at the end of the first day has 10,4 seconds ahead of his compatriot. Sunday morning is again better opened by Surilov, who gets all three specials in the first round, so he comes to the midday service with only four seconds behind Stajkov, before the decisive speed race.
It's not an old Lada to throw away: Todor Atanasov is in this refined Russian machine of some 180 The "horse" attracted applause from the audience for his attractive passes. The determined Surilov is also faster on the second Klobuk, so the difference before the two decisive specials comes down to just 1,4 seconds! This is where Stajkov's experience comes into play. The guy from Kardzhali gets the most out of the car on the next two specials, gets both, even the last one with huge risk, so the persistent Surilov can only offer his hand to his fellow countryman. Both are on the podium, behind Borković, and the enthusiastic audience profits most from their fight.
Excellent fourth place in the general ranking, with second place in the open championship of Serbia and victory in the RC class 4, relations between Lazar Milovanović and Dejan Golić, u „ford fijesti Rally 4”. The crew of the LM racing team from Uzice was unrivaled when it comes to domestic competition, that's why it's not surprising that this tandem once again won the title of champion of Serbia. Well deserved, bearing in mind that competitors in the same cars, from Romania and Bulgaria, they had no response to the performance of our representatives. Still, and them, but the audience also regrets that Nikola Jović and Sanja Novaković gave up early, because the initial fight was quite promising. Jović is the fastest on the first gear, but to his "Peugeot 206 RC" soon suffered an engine failure and that was the end of all hopes for a high ranking. That's why the last place on the domestic podium was won by a well-known veteran, Bishop Rabrenović. In tandem with his longtime co-driver, Radmil Radivojević, the crew of the Čačany WRR team truly enjoyed every kilometer of driving in their "renault clio R3". He is survived by Tomo Nikitović, a man from Zlakusa, which is still getting used and imported into the new "Honda Civic". A phenomenal party, now according to tradition, provided by Aleksandar Todorović and Srđan Maksimović, at some "pežou 106", group N. The always smiling Valjevac once again proved class and quality, showing that he is no stranger to any terrain. Hence the well-deserved fifth place in the Serbian classification and victory in the NAC class 2. It's a real shame that the Valje crew did not drive Borsko- defender's rally, that absence cost them a lot of potential points, which would probably bring them the title in the final sum. If it's any consolation, laurels still remain in their city, but in the hands of the far more experienced Željko Milutinović. All these years, Milutinović has always had some bad luck, so the title remained out of his reach. In the company of a passenger, Aleksandar Srećković, their "VW polo 1.4" reaches the finish line in Vrnjačka Banja behind Todorović, which was enough for the veteran Milutinović to finally win the long-awaited title. Truth be told, there was also happiness, because Dejan Pejić in his "VW polo 1.4" could change the outcome. Užičanin had a great ride and was second at the end of the day, with only 2,8 seconds behind Todorović, and almost 40 in front of Milutinović.
During the second day, Pejić quickly found himself in the lead, rushing to victory, but one mistake on the penultimate gear cost him damage to the gear and giving up. That he finished, the well-known Peja would significantly confuse the accounts of Milutinović, because staying in the third position would mean that the title goes to Todorović. Another crew worth mentioning is the one made up of Bajinobaštans, Ivan Maksimović and Dejan Andrić. The experienced duo is back after a long absence in another "VW polo 1.4", but a broken half-shaft joint prevented them from showing all they know on Saturday. That's why they made up for it all on Sunday, when they won the class by even five, out of six in total, driven gears. A large time penalty left them in sixth place overall, behind Predrag Stefanović, Aleksandra Korčula and the young hopes of the rally, Andrej Stanić. The final result was unimportant to these guys, it is important that they saw that mastery is not forgotten, which is a good incentive for the next season.
The Rabasović crew had great trials on the way to the championship title / Novakovic, in the NAC class 3. Their "Peugeot 206" stopped on the first gear, so the crew is Marko Matić / Nenad Kolarević calmly and wisely brought the race to an end, to win the class. During the Saturday afternoon, the people of Bajinobašta had their hands full to prepare their race car, whatever it is, it worked, so on Sunday they started again according to the super rally rules. Since Zoran Milisavljević was disqualified during the rally, their only goal was to reach the goal. The task was successfully completed, so the laurels and the title of champion go to Bajina Bašta.
A town in Western Serbia, on the banks of the Drina, it has long been known as a kind of rally center of Serbia, and for the second title of the season to go to that town, Nenad Filipović and Tatjana Milošević took care of it. The experienced rally pair convincingly won the NAC class 1, they won all the speed tests in the class also known as "little N", and that's how they achieved great success. The withdrawal of Filip Vasović and Nebojša Gavrilović also helped them, who came to the Serbia Rally as class leaders. Kraljeva's Miodrag Miljković takes advantage of their bad luck, who, with the second place, wins the third place in the class, and with the same number of points as the rivals, but Vasović and Gavrilović are ahead, because they have won the class at the Borsko-Braničevo GAGA rally. This weekend there will be two crews from Valje, Tesanovic / Petrović and Raković / Tesanovic, quickly forget, because nothing was going right for them. Still, and that is better than the absence of Aleksandar Aničić, another Valjevac, which is after a serious accident and hip injury, at the beginning of the season in Mionica, was forced to watch the rest of the fight from the audience during the entire competitive year
With the ending 55. Serbia rally, another challenging season for rally sports in Serbia has ended. There is plenty of time for thinking and improvement during the winter, and it seems to us that it is necessary, above all, change the competition calendar. It is simply unacceptable that three previous rallies in the Shampoo of Serbia, extremely difficult, expensive and tiring, be accommodated in just one month
IT'S TIME FOR BABIES
Application from the list of applicants for 55. Matija Stojanac withdrew from the Serbia Rally a few days before the start of the competition, a guy who constantly drives at the limit of his abilities and the "citroen C2 R2".
After an engine failure on his racing car, With the help of his friends, Valjevac managed to prepare the car for the race, but he still missed the start in the center of Vrnjačka Banja. The reason is more than justified and beautiful. His wife was about to give birth, so it was better to stay with her and wait for new arrivals. A few days after the rally, the Stojanac family became richer for the little twins, which was a valid reason for a big celebration with fellow rallyists and all other friends. Congratulations!
IMPECCABLE ORGANIZATION
In these difficult times for rally sport globally, AMSS is, with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, of the Sports Federation of Serbia and AMS Osiguranja a.d.o, did a lot to preserve the institution called Serbia Rally. This year, 55. in order of edition, it was carefully prepared months in advance. From the president of the association, Dejan Stojić, through the team capital, which consisted of Petar Matović, Branislav Pijevic, Ivan Jevtić and a lady - Sofija Rogić, and up to the last rank on each special exam, everyone gave their best to keep the crews driving fast and safely, and the audience enjoyed these feats. Vrnjačka Banja also made its contribution, since the city fathers and everyone from the sports and tourism sector put all the available capacities at the disposal of the participants and the audience. The ceremonial start also amazed the observer from the FIA, Henrik Frank's finca, a man with many years of experience supervising the most famous world and European rallies. That is why we can freely say that the organization of this year's edition has brought back the old glory of the rally, which has the longest tradition among many competitions in the near and far surroundings.!
Taken from AMS REVIJA
Photos: AMSS and Borković Team
