Zoltán Bessenyey has revealed how his eagerness to secure a podium finish in the FIA ERC 2WD Championship section of the International Jännerrallye last week stopped him from engaging in battle with Elwis Chentre.
Chentre was trailing Bessenyey in the closing stages of the asphalt rally but a flat-out charge enabled the Swiss to overhaul his Hungarian rival for second place in class on the final test in Austria.
“Our rival Elwis Chentre went to extremes to get the second place from us in the last stage,” said Bessenyey, who was competing for the new Eurosol Honda Civic Type R team. “We didn’t want to take such risks, so we let him go. But with a final third place we have more than achieved our goal; with one round down we are third in 2WD and scored full points for the team.”
Bessenyey, who is co-driven by fellow Hungarian Yulianna Nyirfás, will return to ERC competition on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés in March.
“It will be a good chance for us to get acquainted with the fast asphalt as well as a lot of local, strong Honda drivers like the well known Marrero brothers and German Hernandez,” Bessenyey added.