The Excitement of WRC - Central European Rally 2023
Central European Rally 2023
The WRC Central European Rally 2023 was held from 26 to 29 October 2023. It was introduced to the WRC World Rally Championship this year and it was the first edition of the rally beyond borders as round of the WRC calendar.
It was held in 3 different countries, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. Ceremonial Start at Hradčany Square in Prague and SS1 taking place on Thursday and Finish Podium on Sunday afternoon in Passau Germany. It was 310km of racing on 18 stages and 1380km of road section (yes rally cars drive on public roads with all the other traffic)
The WRC Central European Rally 2023 started in a crowded and beautiful Hradčany Square in Prague. Cars lined up around the square with a beautiful view of Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral behind them.
For @lordbutterfly and me this WRC trip started Wednesday morning and after 15 hours in the car we got to Prague at 11PM. A bit tired but hyped for the start of the rally the next day.
Opening Ceremony was starting at 1 PM so we got up early for the opportunity to check out the city. And to keep it short, Prague is a beautiful city, with a lot of history. My comment after few hours of wondering around was i need to get back to Prague for few more days in the future.
Enough of the travel blog, back to the WRC :) Opening Ceremony is a great opportunity for everyone to get close and personal to these powerful machines.
After the opening ceremony cars were moving to SS1 SSS Velká Chuchle. It is a horse racing track in Prague. This was also a horse race, just a lot more horses at the track.
Our plan was to follow Hive Rally Car on as many Central European Rally Stages as we could. And around this time we learned how much we don't know about WRC racing :) As the cars finish the stage they go straight to the next one. And you as the spectator need to go to your car (where ever you managed to park) drive to the next stage, park, walk to the track. 99% of the times, cars are already gone.
So we got to the SS1 SSS Velká Chuchle, almost. There was a lot of traffic and you could not get to the stage by car. So we had to walk for 1.5km. There were 2 paths to pick from, and we picked the wrong one :) After almost a kilometer of walking we got to some kind of a construction sight. On the left was a highway (not smart to walk there) and in front a construction sight with a pissed off worker. After trying to convince the guy to let us through and using all of my Slovakian language knowledge the Czech guy was not impressed and told us to f-off :)
https://x.com/bil_prag/status/1717684568214401075?s=20
After almost a kilometer walking back to the second path we got to the stage at the end of it and caught Slaven at the end of his stage.
The plan was to go to the service park in Passau Germany and catch them there. But it was a 3 and a half hours drive from Prague, and it was 5 PM and we the last time we eat was in the morning. So some food was in place and a long drive to Passau.
We realized how much we don't know about WRC, especially about this new concept of Central European Rally held in 3 different countries. And our plans need a bit of reworking :) I saw that a lot of the drivers complained about a lot of driving between the stages.
https://youtube.com/shorts/bDWqiPDO2AE?feature=shared
A short we made from the Central European Rally opening ceremony.
After a quick dinner we were on the road to Passau Germany to check in into the apartment we will be staying till the end of the Central European Rally.
My initial thought was that i will finish this trip in one blog, but looks like it will be a Part 2 in a few days.
Here are some more photos taken the first day.
Panning shots with low speed moving cars are a bit tricky :)
Were you at WRC Central European Rally? Got some photos or videos of Hive Rally Car?
Join Rally community on Hive. Share your story. Maybe earn some crypto by doing that.
WRC - Central European Rally | Official Hive AFTERMOVIE is now out!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
That was one heck of an experience at Prague, you know I was even wondering how you and lordbufferly got to cope with the 3 different countries, I guess it was not easy after all.
It's a great experience in the end because now you guys know better and won't be overwhelmed the next time. And I must commend Slaven and Damir for a Job well done, I'm sure coping with 3 different countries was not also easy for them too
I remember in one of the interviews when Slaven mentioned the roads were tricky but I'm glad they made it to the end anyways.
Thanks for sharing all of these beautiful images it's a great sight to behold 🥰.
a lot of time in the car. i was the co-driver so it was a bit easier for me :D
seen that a lot of the drivers complained about the number of kilometers on the public roads they had to drive. Especially because they do have the time limit to get to the next track.
The weather not so great and there was rain on Friday and not enough barriers to stop drivers cutting corners (think there were non) so as they cut corners a lot of mud is thrown to the road. Makes it worse for the drivers behind them.
Thanks for checking it out.
It was indeed a hassle for them but I'm happy they loved the experience in the end.
So you were a co-driver, I didn't see that coming anyways ☺️.
It's a great pleasure stopping by and grabbing the awesomeness of your post ❤️🥰
!BBH
@bil.prag! Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @hopestylist. (1/1)
co-driver in the non racing car 😂
and we did get lost few times 😁
Haha, that got me laughing really hard 🤣
Yeah, you mentioned that in your post and how you guys tried persuading someone to let you pass, hehe
How cool to see these photos and read about your experience. I bet this is not like your usual photo job, must have been a new challenge but you did well Marko! Looking forward to the next one 😀
it was not a usual photo job :) and it is in all kind of conditions. In the middle of hundreds of people, than in the middle of nowhere. One track you are close to the cars, one you are far from it.
And the most importantly thing, the subject you want to photograph doesn't listen to you 🤣
😂
I love this car, one of the best ways to promote hive and trust me you guys are doing great. keep up the good work. I wish i could drove this car.
i am bias, but it is one of the better looking cars. This "clean" look on an R1 or R2 cars would be crazy. Who knows, maybe one day :)
I was not at the rally but I can tell from the photos that the rally was a remarkable one
It looks interesting
it was fun.
very extraordinary👍😱
Thanks
https://twitter.com/LovingGirlHive/status/1721284215093022728
https://twitter.com/jewellery_all/status/1721284401479426073
This is one of the best strategy which hive can be promoted and marketed. Happy this is happening
Congratulations @bil.prag! You received the biggest smile and some love from TravelFeed! Keep up the amazing blog. 😍 Your post was also chosen as top pick of the day and is now featured on the TravelFeed.io front page.
Thanks for using TravelFeed!
@for91days (TravelFeed team)
PS: Have you joined our Discord yet? This is where over 1000 members of the TravelFeed come together to chat. Join us!
This is great! I had no awareness of Rally racing until I listened to Slav's presentation at HiveFest and now I'm obsessed!
i did play Colin McRae Rally game some 20 years ago, and knew some of the drivers in the past, but i learned how much i don't know about the sport.
You took really incredible photos of the event!
that HIVE car looks absolutely beautiful!
Thanks
It does look good. Can't imagine how it would look on the R1 car. Who knows maybe someday :)