A mass start, a hunt across the plain towards the next note in the roadbook. Chasing your fellow competitors, racing nose by nose, only to forget a marathon rallye is won with patience and lost with haste… Both in Extreme Class and in Cross Country today was a tough nut to crack, with washed out tracks, dust everywhere and for Extreme Class some of the toughest challenges of the week on the ‘Euro 4×4 Parts Special day’!

Starting in front of a big winchwall, the Breslau Extreme class has the stage of the week with 120km rough and tough roadbook, extreme sections and dust. After the winchwall, deep swamps and a small but deep river swallowed the teams. Front runners Franck and Francoise lost a lot of time in the deep mud, Jim Marsden broke down and had to do the stage with front wheel drive only and many teams were brought back to the camp on the recovery truck.

Smiling from ear to ear, the Hertwig-brothers check todays result. They have won the stage in the Extreme Class with their small Suzuki Samurai, on one of the toughest days of this years’ Rallye Breslau Poland! ‘We overtook Franck and Francoise on the plain, and helped to recover Jims’ car when he broke down. It is so much fun to race in the front here! Our car is good, and if we focus and make the right decisions we can compete properly.’

”The start on the winchwall this morning was magic, coming directly from the trophy scene.’ Martin could not wait to start, ‘it was fantastic, we have the advantage of our weight and winch when it comes to the most difficult stuff.” Also as a co-driver he is not afraid of special solutions, according to his brother. ”Martin climbed in a tree, to connect the cable at 3m height. Otherwise we would have never made it out of the deep swamps today!”

Behind the huge Quad category we find two riders, changing places each day. Andreas Brunhold is one of them, a young rider coming from the same region as Breslau-legend Beat Juen. ‘Of course, when I decided to compete here I called him. First he sent me to the gym, to do even more training then I already do. And when he found out I was preparing he helped me with the bike and with the navigation.

‘Today Aidas Bubinas was the fastest on the stage, but we are so close that anything can happen. It is special to be in front, my goal is to ride every day and finish. I still have to do that, but I never expected this. My stepfather raced the Breslau in the past, I grew up with videos and stories of the race, of the swamps and the adventure. And now I am part of it myself!’

”We keep an eye on Richard Oguez, Bernd Jaeger and of course the white Dacia,” says Ton Stoker, former winner of the truck class. This year he competes with his yellow Desert Warrior in the Cross Country Class, and he is happy with the change. ‘It is super fun in a car, you really have to work, you can drift and fly over the stage!’ Ton is known for being a steady driver, with a strong team around him. ‘But often I am too fast, like on the stage today. 50 Meter left, 80 meter right – you have to slow down to be fast and that can be so difficult!”

Tomorrow the Rallye Breslau Poland moves from Drawsko Pomorski to Gwda Wielda, starting in the afternoon with a fast stage on the Polygon and a second special near Czarne. Tomorrows new camp of the Rallye Breslau Poland 2018 has a view: located on one of the most beautiful lakes in the region it is not just a camp but also a place to relax after racing and dive into the fresh and clear water…

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