This year the Braşov Rally is again the anacrusis of the season. Compared to last year, some of the special stages had been changed. The downhill racing from Poiana Braşov to Braşov was introduced for the first time in the program. Similarly the Pârâul Rece track had to be driven in both directions.

Our preparation

The tracks of the Brasov rally are well known by us from previous races. Therefore we only had to update our roadbook and prepare the two new tracks during the training.

Last minute problems were caused by the authorisation of our car, because, in spite of our multiple interventions at the police, we could not obtain the registration for the car with its last year rebuilt auto body.  Therefore we had to drive with a temporary permit and we hope to obtain the definitive permit until the next rally is starting.

First day of the rally: Friday, 07.03.2008

Conditions:

Weather - cold, predominantly sunny

Asphalt - dry with some moist segments

There was only one „Super Specială" scheduled on Friday: a showdrive on the old stadium from Braşov. Two rounds had to be completed on a marked out circuit with artificial chicanes, partially on asphalt, partially on sand. With enthusiasm approx. 4000 spectators watched the show of the drifting cars. But for the pilots such a drive cannot be compared to a real rally. For them, the maneuver of those strong cars around a tight course is rather a dexterity challenge. Therefore the results are not necessarily an indicator for the outcome of the rally: we drove a better time than the finnish champions, who later won the Braşov rally: Mihai Leu and Dodo Pitigi in a Ford Focus WRC.

We won the 3^rd place in our group an the 20^th overall.

2^nd day of the rally: Saturday, 08.03.2008

Conditions:

Weather - mixed: sunny and cloudy, partially clouded and rainy

Asphalt - mixed: dry in the valley, moist and wet in the forest and on the montain

The actual day of the whole rally was Saturday.  5 special stages (SS) were scheduled for this day, including the 60km long track which had to be completed in 2 stages (from Săcele to Cheia and the same way back).

The biggest challenge on that very morning was to take a decision regarding the tires: it had been raining all night long, there was snow in the mountains, but in the morning the sun was shining. This meant that the tracks in the mountines were still soaky and wet, but the valley tracks were already dry.

The first round was composed of a downhill race from Poiana Braşov to Rîşnov, followed by an up-hill drive from Rîşnov to Pârâul Rece. Shortly before the race was starting, dark clouds gathered around Poiana Braşov - so if it would rain the valley tracks would get wet too. We decided to play safe and used wet tires. It was the right choise, because the road to Rîşnov was quite wet and the curves were all muddy, having a mix gravel, mud and rests of snow.

In contrast Pârâul Rece was almost dry - and of course without any other rain - so that we could not drive the fast stages with „full speed".

After SS 2 we owned the 3^rd place in our group, preparing for the crucial SS 4 and 5, Săcele - Cheia.  Shortly before the start all the participants were informed that this SS will be canceled, because of a truck which was stucked in the middle of the road. All participants were stopped at the beginning of the 4^th SS at the countdown point. It seamed that there was not any possibility to pick up or secure the truck and the both SS were canceled. For the last two stages all participants drove back to their service in Braşov: SS 6, „Pârâul Rece", downhill from Rîşnov, starting at Bucegi Hotel, and SS 7, „Valea Cetăţii", leading uphill from Rîşnov to Poiana Braşov and afterwards on a fast valley track down to Braşov.

Because the road was still dry, we decided to start with dry weather tires.  Except the first curves which were still wet, Pârâul Rece was dry even in the mountains. So we did the right decision by chosing the tires and managed to get a good position with 6,30 min.

On the SS 7 we had to be very careful not to drift within the wet curves; the second part of this stage was contrary dry with clean curves, so that we could do the slide without any further problems.  We succeeded in keeping our „persecuter" behind, who followed us on a 3 sec. distance before the SS 6 and 7, and we also increased the distance between us.

On the 2^nd place was the team Abraham/ Silasi in an Evo 9, while the 1^st place was occupied by Pitigoi/ Csomortan in a Ford Focus WRC.

At the end we reached the 3^rd place in our group and the 20^th overall.

Conclusions

Because of cancelling the SS 4 and 5, this rally gots quite short, but we had a successful start.

We would like to thank our Service Team from MIT Motors for the good maintenance of the car, our sponsors UniCredit Leasing, CTE Trailers, Interior Resources, Impression, Activ Asigurari, Langendorf and Euromedia for the granted support.