Maxim Decock shows himself on Hungarian dirt - “A top five might have been possible”

Despite bad luck on the final day, Maxim Decock and Tom Buyse can look back with satisfaction on the past Rally Hungary, where they made their EC debut on gravel. The duo was on course for a place in the top five in the Junior ERC until a broken gearbox threw a spanner in the works.

After their successful introduction to the European Championship in the Rally Sierra Morena, the Opel Corsa Rally4 was quickly prepared for the unpaved road in Hungary. “It was exciting to get the car converted for unpaved roads in time,” Maxim Decock opens. “A week before the rally, we had planned a test on a rallycross course in Northern France. It wasn’t really ideal, because you couldn’t really drive at speed there and driving for long periods wasn’t possible either. There’s little wind there, which means the engine quickly gets too hot. It was good to get back in touch with the unpaved road. That was back in 2023, when we drove a few rallies for the French championship.”

On location in Hungary, the shakedown was also completed on Friday, but it took a while before the right setup was found. “We did two runs there and quickly realized that the car was too hard,” Maxim continues. “The service park was far from the track, so we were not able to test our adjustments again. On Saturday, we started with a softer setup, but I felt the car had too much oversteer. Especially in fast situations, it became quite dangerous. Between the tests, we tried to make some adjustments ourselves and then refined them further in the service park. The car gradually became easier to handle.”

With more rhythm in their legs, a few promising chronos were already set at the end of the first day of the competition, which allowed the duo to climb to eighth place in the Juniors. “In the beginning, we had to get back into it a bit. We first rode at our own pace to try to finish nicely, but gradually we were able to make progress. On Sunday, we decided to attack a bit more. On the first test, we immediately set a fifth chrono in the Juniors. Unfortunately, on the second test, we noticed after two kilometers that we no longer had a third gear. After the test, we decided to put the car aside, because without third gear it would have been impossible. Too bad, because apart from a flat tire, we hadn't lost much time. We had already climbed nicely and maybe a fifth or fourth place was possible.”

The team mainly remembers the positive aspects of the Hungarian adventure. “We have certainly made progress compared to Spain. We were already closer to certain names who have a much better feel for unpaved surfaces than we do. That surface suits me well and is just really cool to do. This certainly makes me more excited for the rest of the championship. I definitely have to thank the service team again for their efforts, because with two men during an unpaved rally it was often tough. If all the parts for the gearbox are in on time, we will try to be at the start of the round in Poland in mid-June. Our participation in the Ypres Rally, barely two weeks later, remains a priority,” concludes Maxim Decock.

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