National rally champion Aleks Humar attended the rally for the World Championship in Poland, where he enjoyed the attractive rides of factory professionals, and next weekend he will be chasing his fourth consecutive victory in Maribor this season. Humar and his co-driver Florjan Rus would already open the door to defend the title of national champion with a new success.
This year, Aleks Humar won all three rallies of the national championship (Lavanttal, Saturnus and Velenje) and has a 32-point advantage over the nearest rival before the fourth rally of the season. As the scoring system in the Slovenian DP has changed this year, the differences are, at first glance, smaller than in the last ten years. The difference between victory and second place is seven and no more fifteen points than before.
The rally in Maribor will have nine speed trials with a total length of 87 kilometers. His focal point will again be an attractive jump on the Gačnik speed test.
"It's interesting that I get the question about the jump at the very moment when I'm watching the rally on one of them," Humar greeted us from Poland, where the World Championship rally took place last weekend.
“Jumping is definitely a spectacular part of the rally, which spectators often look forward to even more than racers. Safety must also be taken into account, as the car may lose stability after landing. At least in Poland, spectators were often too close to the road, ”Idrijčan continued.
Humar: "When jumping at Gačnik, you have to be careful not to fly too fast and not to fly too far".
At the end of the week, he will have to jump on Gačnik alone. He already knows the location well, as he and his co-driver Florjan Rus won the joint classification at this rally two years ago. The jump is, of course, just one of hundreds of bends and sections the two champions will have recorded in their notes.
“At the starting line, I usually don’t think about jumping on some speed test. When my co-driver warns me, I prepare accordingly. At Gačnik, however, you have to be very careful not to drive too fast over the pass. If you’re not careful enough, you can jump too far and the impact can damage the car. Years ago, the gearbox of the then Citroen C2 probably opened for me on this very jump. To be fair, I don’t even know how fast I’m driving over the jump. I think I shift from fifth to fourth gear before the jump, ”explains Humar.
When jumping in Maribor, it is most difficult to choose the right line, as the racer cannot see the road. Just before he detaches himself from the ground with the race car, he sees only the blue sky in front of him. If the line on the rebound is not right, it can have big problems after landing, as the speeds on this section of the narrow road are quite high.
The Maribor Rally will start on Friday morning with a tour of the route, which the organizers have changed a lot this year. The first speed test will start on the Koroška bridge at 19 pm, the other eight will be on Saturday.
Rally schedule:
Friday, July 4, 2014
18:15 - ceremonial start, Glavni trg, Maribor
18:30 - HP 1 Carinthian Bridge (6,1 miles)
Saturday, July 5, 2014
9:30 - HP 2 Meljski hrib (9,5 miles)
10:13 - HP 3 Gacnik (10,9 mi / XNUMX km)
11:43 - HP 4 Meljski hrib (9,5 miles)
12:26 - HP 5 Gacnik (10,9 mi / XNUMX km)
15:26 - HP 6 Svečina (6,1 miles)
15:56 - HP 7 Gaj (13,5 miles)
17:41 - HP 8 Svečina (6,1 miles)
18:11 - HP 9 Gaj (13,5 miles)
19:06 - Goal of the rally, Trg svobode, Maribor
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