The previous winners of Mecsek Rallye (2). Balázs Benik: I think of Mecsek with a good heart, but I can’t start this year.

Balázs Benik has already had laurels twice in Mecsek: both in 2006 and 2007, he and István Varga led the Ford Focus WRC to absolute first place. As the former champion regrets, although he would have loved it very much, this time he will not be able to get here for the race in Pécs.

The Mecsek Rallye has always been one of the top events for me, one of my favourites. Most of the time it was the final race in the calendar, the championship was decided many times and, not least, we could compete here in a beautiful environment on very good tracks. It is almost unique among the asphalt tracks, there are very few places where you can find such magnificent tracks in such a beautiful environment, which I think is also very important and spectators like to come here. I have almost only good memories of the previous races, of course I can’t say that I haven’t had any failures, even punctures or small accidents, but all in all I remember that we had championship ceremony, the fate of the year-end result was decided several times there, and I definitely think of it with a good heart. I know that the organisers are expecting a lot of spectators this year, and I’m sure they will. I regret that I have never been able to take part in the race at this time of year, it was always foggy, raining, leaves on the road, so this time will be a little different.

Every year I plan to come back again next season, but to be honest, it’s unlikely that I’ll be racing this year. That’s not to say that I’m not thinking about something towards the end of the year, but I have other things to focus on at the moment. During the race, family will be the priority, the children will be the most important, we will spend holidays together. For them, the break is shorter than usual and we want to make the most of the time to be with them. Of course, I would have loved to have been there, at least to have been able to take part of the organisation, but unfortunately I can’t do it now. However, break a leg, or good luck to everyone. By the way, because of my job, I spend a lot of time in Pécs, where we are working on several construction projects at the same time. There are three major projects in progress: a sports complex, a trade fair hall and a hotel near Pécs. I can tell you that these projects are taking up a lot of my time, as I travel to the city two or three times a week, and we also have projects in other parts of the country. I drive about 1 500 to 2 000 kilometres a week, so I find that driving has become more of a job than an experience.