ERC
ERC Take Five with Simone Tempestini
When it comes to Rally Hungary success, Simone Tempestini is the reference following his breakthrough FIA European Rally Championship victory on the event last season.
Ahead of the sixth Rally Hungary and the second to take place on gravel around the city of Veszprém, the nine-time Romanian champion – part of the Team MRF Tyres line-up for 2025 – took time out of his busy schedule to answer five key questions from FIAERC.com.
How difficult is Rally Hungary?
“Every rally is not easy. In this event the stages are different, one from another if we remember from last year. There are sections that are open and wide where you can see what is ahead. But, at the same time, you really have to take care about some bumps and stones and so on at really high speed. Then you go in other stages with a completely different surface, completely different characteristics, so there are a lot of changes during the stages. You understand it will be difficult for everybody to manage the car and the performance during the stages. It’s looking quite smooth but it’s quite a soft surface in places and when five or 10 cars pass the surface starts to change a lot and you have always to be ready to don’t make some damage on the car. Last year many of us had some surprises on the road. If you go one metre more on the right or the left the car can be completely different and when you go so fast it’s really not easy. So during the recce we really need to be concentrated but it’s good we have this rally in the history of our rallies and we can’t wait to start.”
Rally Hungary is not an easy rally, according to Tempestini
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What do you remember most about the victory you and Sergiu Itu, your co-driver, achieved in Hungary last year?
“It was a nice moment. I can say for us, at least for me but I think also for Sergiu and for the team, the victory was beautiful to get and for sure it’s something that we really appreciated and will remain on our minds for long. We knew we had the speed, we were in the fight with all the drivers, we were really close to the first position from the beginning, fighting with everybody and then at the end we managed to have a good rhythm without making a mistake and that was the result let’s say. I enjoyed it and I know we can repeat it but not only in Hungary. We have one victory in Hungary, we try to make more but we try to make victories on each event.”
Tempestini celebrates his "beautiful" ERC victory
© ERC
How much of a confidence boost did the victory provide?
“Maybe my answer is not so beautiful, but I am always confident. I have a lot of experience in rallying, but I know at the same time things change and everything is possible. I am confident every time because I know I can drive well and I really feel the car good, I make very good pacenotes. I know every time I can be in the position to be in the front, but I know one year is one way and the next year it is different. In the past we had the possibility to show our pace, but we don’t need to show the pace in my mind, I am pretty happy how I am driving so I think I am confident enough.”
Multiple Romanian champion Tempestini will compete in Italy this weekend
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You’re competing on Rally Adriatico in Italy this weekend. Did you enter this event with preparing for Rally Hungary in mind?
“It is something I like to do at the beginning of the year, also before [Rally Sierra Morena] I did the same [by doing a Tarmac rally]. It’s been a long time since I drove the Škoda on gravel but I also wanted to test some tyre compounds and always prefer to do that in a rally because you have the time to compare to the others and you can also see a bit the rhythm. In the Italian Gravel championship the competitors are going pretty fast so you have a way to see where you are. But the target is to get ready for Hungary, to get in the car and get used to the gravel because when it’s a lot of time without driving you need maybe a few kilometres to get used to it. At the beginning of the year if you have the possibility to make some stages more it’s better.”
Rally Sierra Morena didn't go to plan for Tempestini
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The 42nd Rally Sierra Morena - Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad didn’t go to plan. Have you had the opportunity to analyse what happened?
“When I make a mistake I usually say it’s my mistake and I did a stupid thing. In Spain it was a mix of things, something that happens in rallies and sometimes you have to manage the situation. Sometimes we are speaking about surprises and if you have some surprise on the wrong spot, in the wrong rhythm, maybe a late brake or something sometimes it’s not possible any more to manage. I can say I really enjoyed Spain and we were feeling really good in the car. I like the rally at the end of the story but I’m completely unhappy with the result and for sure some damage on the car will not help us during the season. But I’m working with my partners to get ahead of this. We want to be at the next events and try to be fast as we can.”
VI Rally Hungary takes place from 9 - 11 May with all stages streamed live on Rally.tv.