Róbert Bútor: „We have reinvented the WRC in five months”

„Our car is finished, after a lot of hard work: it took five months to completely rebuild. But the end result speaks for itself, I practically had a new WRC, which would not have been the goal after the crash, but in the end there was no other solution but to make the used car beautiful” – Róbert Bútor summarises the story of the renewal of the crashed WRC in one sentence.

„The repair process has been painful in every way. I knew that it would be expensive for someone who got into a car like that and crashed it, but I didn’t think it would be me, because in my career it’s very rare that it’s happened, and even then it’s usually only a small problem. Well, it wasn’t small! We have since had our annual test, which was in Cered and it was very positive. On the one hand, we had a lot of spectators waiting for us and that was a very good feeling for the whole team. On the other hand, the car worked perfectly, which is also a very good thing, because it was practically stripped down to the last bolt on an empty chassis and rebuilt by my two colleagues, Laci Várda and Attila Harcsa. The fact that after such a big job it works flawlessly on the first test is a huge achievement for them too. It shows that they did a perfect job,” the pilot concludes his presentation of the project with a smile.

„During the first 15 to 20 kilometres I couldn’t drive without thinking that it might happen again, especially not in two consecutive tests. To be very honest, at this speed it’s in every moment, an accident like this can happen in a split second. Especially when you’re doing 180 on a closed road between the barriers. It’s not a walking car ride. Then, after about 20-25 kilometres, I started to forget those feelings, I was getting braver and faster, and around the 40th kilometre I started to fall over the edge, so I had to calm down and slow down, but by then I was really enjoying it. I’m trying to erase the bad memories and try to be very focused and concentrated so that it doesn’t happen again in the next 20 years,” says Róbert Bútor, who also explains the process of mental renewal needed after the accident.

Finally, looking ahead to Pécs: „I’m really looking forward to the Mecsek, as the last time I was in the car in competition conditions was last August at the ZEG Rally, almost a year ago. Since then, I’ve been spending money on it and improving it, so it’s time to give a little back to the car, and the Mecsek Rally is the perfect opportunity to do that. I really love this event, which is why I chose it as my first race this year and also last year as my choice for the WRC debut. I love the tracks, I love the atmosphere, I love the event itself, and this is definitely a good one. I’d like to go really fast and flawlessly and finish the race and come home happy. Then it’s time for the holidays!”