The second day of Rally Bulgaria started early Saturday, first car getting on tarmac at around 7:30. Unfortunately, we were a bit late and didn’t get to see the first runners. The good part though was that, at one point, we intersected with Kimi Raikkonen on the way to the 5th stage – Sestrimo. Being overtaken by a rally car and Formula 1 champion gives you goose bumps, especially when he starts warming up his tires in front of you. We even got to see Kimi pretty close, since we stopped next to the starting point. To be honest, if I didn’t know Kimi I wouldn’t say he’s a Formula 1 champion – he looked like a boy happy to play with his car that day.
After seeing half of the stage 5 in Sestrimo, we decided to catch stage 7 as well – Lybnitsa. After struggling to get there – closed road, no parking, pretty much sucky organization – the FIA safety delegate decided to cancel the stage on safety grounds because of large indisciplined spectators. I am not going to judge those people yelling “We’re in Bulgaria”, read it like in “We can do whatever we want”, but they should know that pushing a WRC stage to be cancelled is mainly stupid, if not retarded. Nevertheless, this way we got to see the cars driving at a lower pace and managed to take pretty close photos by almost staying in the middle of the road.
Being disappointed by the cancellation, we headed back to Sestrimo where, due to the 27 minute delay, we managed to catch the whole party from a better spot – straight line followed by a narrow curve with plenty of space for spectators. The lightning speed of the cars, the burning smell of the brakes, and the outrageous sound that hits you in the chest make your heart beat faster dreaming of becoming a small Loeb.
A couple of tips for future rallies:
- Spectator tickets were not mandatory. You can easily get to some good spots without having to buy tickets. We used our tickets for 1 stage only, even though we got to see 3.
- Parking tickets were useless. They sell an unlimited number of parking tickets, the parking space being limited and very small. Unless you go 2-3 hours before the start, you don’t get inside the parking. We found places in the village or on the side of the road.
- Be careful where you stay. A good place for you might not look so good in the eyes of the marshals and they might move you somewhere else. Ask some official before you decide to take a spot.
Better and more photos from Rally Bulgaria you can find here and here.
