Parry prepares for Poland

Parry prepares for Poland

Posted: April 13, 2010 12:53 PM

Welsh co-driver Craig Parry is preparing for another assault on the Polish Rally Championship, sitting alongside former Polish champion Leszek Kuzaj as part of the Skoda Castrol BP Rally Team.

Armed with a new Skoda Fabia S2000, their championship year begins on asphalt this weekend at the Elmot Rally, based in the Swidnica region.

"Leszek has won the Polish championship three times and is determined to win it again," says Parry. "It's fantastic to sit alongside someone with that history and that passion to win again. His knowledge of the Polish stages is immense, and we have already done three days testing on around 350km of roads in Poland which should be a good match for the Elmot stages, so we're in a great position for the championship opener."

Kuzaj and Parry have been together for three years now, since they were paired up by an engineer who felt they would make a good team. Neither man is fluent in the other's language, but as Parry explains, this can work to their advantage.

“Not being fluent in each other's language means our pacenotes must be spot on, there is no room for error in translation,” says Parry. “We have a very detailed pacenote system for that reason, which means we are always prepared for every eventuality whether it's clear, foggy or night time stages. We also have a great relationship out of the car which always helps between driver and co-driver."

For 31-year-old Parry, who has experience of rallying all over the globe, Poland offers him a challenge and environment which it seems will always keep him coming back for more.

"The atmosphere on a lot of the Polish events is amazing, you can have up to 60,000 people on the stages cheering you on and you can hear them in the car. The roads are quite different to British roads too. In a way they are similar to Irish stages, very fast and very narrow, but what makes Polish roads so difficult is how bumpy they are at high speed, that can often prove to be the big challenge."

The Elmot Rally takes place from 16th to 18th April. Parry and Kuzaj are seeded fourth, behind the Fiat Arbath Grande S2000 of Luca Rossetti, and the Peugeot 207 S2000s of Michal Solowow and Tomasz Kuchar.

Alongside his attack on the Polish Championship this year, Parry will also sit alongside upcoming teenagers Osian Pryce on the Fiesta Sporting Challenge in the UK, and Tom Cave on selected rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.