9th Rally Show Santa Domenica 2018 review

At Savršćak gravel pits in the near Samobor on four special stages, and in the competition of 107 registered crews, the fastest were the Austrians Simon Wagner and Gerald Winter in Škoda Fabia R5. Their spectacular driveways on wet macadam did not make the impression that they were on gravel and RSSD for the first time. Simon Wagner has announced his arrival at the jubilee tenth edition of the Rally Show Santa Domenica on the prize giving ceremony, enthusiastic about the atmosphere at the RSSD. On the new 7.57 km long round stage, after the four passes, they had a time of 25: 12.8.
37 crews arrived only from Hungary, and teams on the Entry list were from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the UK and Wales joined the list. Along with the crew, their support teams and spectators arrived too, and media representatives came from 8 countries of Europe. It is estimated that the Rally Show Santa Domenica this year visited over 10,000 guests!
The 9th RSSD has made Shakedown tradition, and it was held at Orešje lake in Sveta Nedelja, and the crews with the best results at the official training selected their starting position for the race itself. After an interesting and tactical selection of starting positions, the ceremonial start could begin. Each crew was presented by crossing over the start ramp in front of several thousand spectators on Ante Starčević square in Sveta Nedjelja. One contestant chose the start ramp of the Rally Show Santa Domenica for a place where he would propose to his future wife. We wish them all the happiness in their common life and many other arrivals on RSSD!
The second place with 18.4 seconds delay was taken to Hungary by always competitive Antal Kovács-Gergő Istovics team in Ford Fiesta R5, and the third with 29.2 seconds delay for first place was also won by Hungarians, Sándor Ollé-Rebeka Ollé (Škoda Fabia R5). With 1.3 minutes delay, Juraj Šebalj-Ivan Pogačić (Hyundai i20 R5) came to the 6th place as the best placed Croatian crew. Behind them was the last year’s winner, Peter Ranga, who promised to win again.
In the SPRINT class, the first three positions were taken by Slovenian, Nejc Mrak-Žan Nagode (Suzuki Swift GTI), Jan Mrak-Luka Kuštrin (MG ZR 105) and Rok Bodlaj-Boštjan Sušnik (Škoda Fabia). The Swedish team Mattias Ledin-Valkyria Edlund (Peugeot 208 R2) won in the PRO SPORT category. The second place was taken by Dario Šamec-Florian Šalec (Peugeot 206 RC), and the third took also the Sweden Wladica Rabrenović-Peter Hanell (Peugeot 208 R2). The first three places in the RWD class were won by always numerous Hungarians, one after the other crews Árpád Stepan-Péter Göbel (Lada VFTS), Balázs Zarándok-Norbert Heindl (BMW E36) and Péter Stefán-Edit Kováts (BMW 320i).
This year the RSSD gathered 23 female co-drivers and 2 drivers, who were rewarded in a special category, CO-DRIVER LADIES TROPHY. The first place was won by the winners, to be precise by co-driver Rebeka Ollé. Austrian Tanja Brenn was second with her driver Wolfgang Schmollngruber (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII) and the third place took Alexandra Váradi at Ford Fiest R5 with her driver János Szilágiy.
A winner in the JUNIOR TROPHY competition was  Nejc Mrak-Žan Nagode (Suzuki Swift GTI) crew, followed by Rok Bodlaj-Boštjan Sušnik (Škoda Fabia) and Dominik Lakatos-Lilla Paukovics (Suzuki Swift GTI).
Three winning places in VETERAN TROPHY were taken by domestic crews led by János Szilágyi-Alexandra Váradi (Ford Fiesta R5), second-placed were Marco Carrara-Davor Belić (Ford Fiesta R5 EVO 2) and the third place took Nenad Lončarić-Tomislav Pazman (Subaru Impreza STI).
In the PRODUCTION CAR TROPHY, Nenad Lončarić-Tomislav Pazman (Subaru Impreza STI) was on first place, the second place was taken by Daniel Šaškin-Saša Bitterman (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) and the third-placed crew was Janko Čebron-Andrej Kavčič (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX).
Expected and traditionally on RSSD, in LADA TROPHY competition the following Hungarian crews have won first three places: Árpád Stepan-Péter Göbölös (Lada VFTS), Szilárd Szábo-Dominika Gránicz (Lada 2107) and Tibor Rácz-Viktor Hetesi (Lada 2101).
Antal Kovács-Gergő Istovics (Ford Fiesta R5) crew was awarded for the most attractive jump and for the most attractive ride prize was given to the crew Laszlo Ranga Jr-Adam Fodor (Škoda Fabia R5).
However, what was to 130 people who were on the day of the race directly involved in the organization and the 9th Rally Show Santa Domenica’s Organizing Committee the most important, was definitely safety. The safety of all the participants of this first of all the show on the priority list has always been the first. Regardless of a large number of cars failing on the stages itself, the towing service did their job flawlessly and there were no delays in the start of Special Stages. The rain that fell tirelessly since Sunday morning caused problems on the track, which our sponsors and friends also managed to repair between starts.
At the task, level were also all other services: marshals, safety officers, firefighters, emergency aid teams, diving team and many others. For media representatives for the first time were organized separate zones with the aim of allowing them access to the points with the most attractive passages, and the Media Security Book has also been published. Spectators were provided with secure zones marked in the Guide for spectators as well as permanent access to the Service Park. All these people and those who do not belong to these groups, and have contributed to the realization of the 9th Rally Show of Santa Domenica, led by the owners of the gravel pits on Savršćak and the surrounding residents, deserve the immense gratitude of AKK Sveta Nedelja, because without you, there would be no RSSD!

However, what was to 130 people who were directly involved in the organization and the Organizing Committee of the 9th Rally Show Santa Domenica the most important, definitely was safety. The safety of all participants in this rally show is on the list of priorities and has always been. Regardless of a large number of cars that were left damaged along Special Stage, the towing services (Dražen Dumić, Ivan Mesec-Mlakar Viličari and Stjepan Vitko) did their job an in a flawless manner and there were no delays at the start of the starts. The rain that fell steadily on Sunday has caused problems on the track, which our sponsors and friends managed to remedy between speed exams. At the extraordinary level of the task there were all other services: marshals and timekeepers – AK Delta Timing “Zagreb”, security staff-VFD Sveta Nedelja, firefighters-PFB Samobor, ambulance teams, diving team-Dražen Pavlić and many others guided by the safe hand of the Clerk of the Course Mr. Daut Damarija and AK Delta Timing “Zagreb” as technical performer of the sporting part of the competition. For the first time, media representatives have been organized with separate zones in order to be allowed for better access points with the most attractive passing of cars, and the Media Security Book has also been published. The spectators were provided with safe areas marked in the Spectators Guide, as well as they had permanent access to the service park. All of these people and those who do not belong to these groups contributed to the realization of the 9th Rally Show of Santa Domenica, led by the owners of the gravel pits at Savršćak-Horvat, Draclin and Belak and the surrounding population, patrons of the city of Sveta Nedelja headed by the mayor Dario Zurovc, the Tourist and Sports Community of the City of Sveta Nedelja and the city of Samobor and the Sports Community of the Zagreb County who deserve the immense gratitude of the AKK Sveta Nedelja, because without them, there would be no RSSD!

See you at the 10th Rally Show Santa Domenica next year!