Buggyra ZM Racing bring home excellent results from a difficult offroad rally in Poland
The demanding Baja Poland last weekend was an important test for the Buggyra crews in preparation for the Dakar Rally that they passed with flying colours. Martin Koloc ranked among the top finishers in his second long-distance rally . The Buggyra ZM Racing CEO and pilot came fifth in the Ultimate class of the most powerful cars in the Czech and Polish championships and the FIA Central European Cup. He finished tenth in the overall standings in a strong field of World Cup participants in his category. Both Tatra Buggyra ZM Racing trucks finished on the podium, with Martin Šoltys winning the event. Newcomer Karel Poslední initially took the trophy for third place but later moved up to second in the final classification.
"In Poland, we showed that we are still improving in the rally world. More important than the excellent results, however, is the fact that we tested new parts on all our cars in racing conditions and were able to further advance our development," said Buggyra Head of Communications, Jan Kalivoda.
Martin Koloc was behind the wheel of the Red-Lined Revo T1+ car for the second time, replacing his daughter Aliyyah Koloc, who is recovering from a scheduled surgery earlier this month. "It was a fantastic stress test for us and our car. We accelerated steadily throughout the weekend and I don't think we even made too many mistakes," he said, adding that the development of the car for the Dakar Rally is key. "I am very pleased that we are continuously improving the car. Plus, I have great people around me who don't mind sacrificing their time and who are putting in so much effort to push the car forward. We want to become a competitive rival to the biggest car companies in the world in the long term which is not easy. Established and successful giants like Toyota and Ford are a big challenge. We still have a lot of work to do," added Martin Koloc.
Koloc's navigator was the experienced Frenchman Sébastien Delaunay. "The car has improved a lot over the summer. Martin and I enjoyed the rally and achieved a good result. It took us a while to get in sync, but then it went very well. We only made one small navigation mistake, but overall it was a good rally with a good result," explained the French co-pilot.
Martin Šoltys, who shared the cockpit with Tomáš Šikola and Vlastimil Miksch, was very happy to be able to drive the Tatra Buggyra Evo3 and achieving such an excellent result. "It was my first time in Poland, and I liked the event . The navigation was difficult. We had to watch the track all the time, every hundred meters there was a turn but we really enjoyed it . The car was great from start to finish, so I was happy," said the Martin Šoltys.
Karel Poslední, a long-time partner of the Buggyra team, enjoyed his debut ina long-distance rally behind the wheel of the Tatra Phoenix. "Poland was great for me. I would like to thank the guys from the crew, Filip Škrobánek and Jaroslav Kolář, and the whole Buggyra team. My main target was to gain experience, so the second place is a very good result," said the newcomer to the world of cross-country rallying.
