Csomos shows ERC potential with fast final afternoon charge in Fafe

With Attila Nagy co-driving, highly-rated Hungarian Csomós underlined his potential by clocking a brace of top-three stage times aboard his Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.

He could have finished higher up the order on Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto but was delayed by a damaged tyre on the final morning while holding seventh in the overall classification.

“It’s great to be at the finish but we made a mistake on the Power Stage with a spin and the car is a little bit damaged,” co-driver Nagy said afterwards. “It was a fast-right corner 300 or 400 metres after the start, we drifted a bit too much, we hit a ditch and we spin.”

While top three stage times on SS15 and SS16 were the highlights for Csomós and Nagy in northern Portugal, the event wasn’t without its challenges for the pair.

“I didn’t think it would be so tough,” Nagy said at the midday regroup on leg one. “We didn’t enjoy the first stage, the second one was quite okay, we had some grip and the time was better than the first stage. In the third stage the time was not good but we don’t have the experience and we are here to learn.”

Nagy continued: “We had a front-left [tyre problem] in the first kilometre on the second stage [on Sunday] but we were just finding the tempo. Then the tempo came and we really enjoyed it, even the high jump on Lameirinha. After a long winter sleep in the morning we pushed the throttle for the afternoon loop and our speed was good. It was a great experience and it was really enjoyable to race here.”