László thanks fans as he hits back from ERC crash

The 26-year-old from Hungary was attempting to climb up the order on the opening round of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship when he suffered a huge accident nearing the finish of the first running of the legendary Lameirinha test on Sunday morning.

And with his damaged Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo blocking the road, the stage was red-flagged to allow volunteer marshals to clear away the wreckage.

Despite the high-speed nature of the incident, László and co-driver Dávid Berendi are contesting the Austrian championship Rebenland Rallye, which concludes today (Saturday).

László posted this message on social media: “We would like to thank everyone for all the messages, we are fine considering the circumstances and I apologise to the Topp-Cars Rally Team for this error. I can’t wait to sit back [in a rally car] and prove on the asphalt we have a place in the field.”

Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto marked the Junior ERC graduate’s second gravel event in his Pirelli-equipped Fabia. He admitted the demanding weather conditions had made for a hard transition.

Speaking at the midday regroup in Fafe on Saturday, László said: “This day has been very difficult because this is the second race on gravel with this car in my life, it was not easy and the conditions were not easy. The starting position was also not the best because I made a big mistake in the Qualifying Stage, we had a jumped start so this is my penalty.

“But the car is okay and I have much confidence stage by stage, although the weather this morning was horrible, the last stage nearly killed the car with all the mud. It was hard but we tried to enjoy.”