Wed 18 Oct 2023
Ferenc Vincze capped a standout season by landing a podium finish on the deciding round of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship to go with his second Hungarian title success achieved a few weeks previously.
Describing the achievement as the “perfect end” to his 2023 campaign, the 32-year-old finished runner-up to Mads Østberg on the fourth Rally Hungary, despite falling ill prior to the start.
“We targeted a top-five result for the weekend but, unfortunately, my co-driver, Nándi [Nándor Percze] and also me were sick just before the start,” said the Hankook-equipped Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo ace. “We had our medicines with us for the whole rally, but it wasn’t an easy way to do good stage times.
“Finally, everything came together, we had a good start with qualifying, and in the first loop of Saturday we saw that we have a chance to be on the podium. We managed to do top-three stage times, we were in a fight with Mads, but didn’t risk anything.
“After we saw the opportunity for a good result, we just wanted to achieve the podium finish. We did that, and the whole team are very happy with this result. After the Hungarian championship, it was a perfect end of our season.”
The XIQIO Racing driver added: “Thanks for our partners, thanks for Nándi, thanks for the team, everyone did a really good job. Congratulations to Mads, it was a good fight, and although he was a little bit faster, we enjoyed this battle. I’m very sorry for Mixi Csomós he did an extraordinary job and really deserved the win.
“Our season is finished now, and we are starting to work on 2024. We will see if we have some opportunities next year.”
Photos: Danyik Bence Photography
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