János Puskádi has managed to turn his love of rallying into a successful customer team. Read their story and about their plans the EUROSOL Racing Team has for ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo from the anniversary Edition 120, which was personally handed over to them at ŠKODA Motorsport workshop.
There are a couple of rally nations in Europe, like Finns or Portuguese. What about Hungarians, do they like rally?
Of course, there are a lot of people who love football in Hungary, but rally is also very well known. On the other hand, we have quite a lot of Rally2 cars in our championship; more than in Germany, which is quite crazy.
What is the history of Eurosol team? How it all began?
I think it all began over 10 years ago when I started rallying. I have always been interested in the rally drivers, I have always wanted to drive but I had absolutely no connection to this kind of business. Later on, my other business was running quite well, so I bought a small car and started rallying. Once you start you just go deeper and deeper. Finally, I bought ŠKODA FABIA S2000 car, which was my first all-wheel drive car from ŠKODA. That was the moment when I told myself that the car is too expensive to just be parked in the garage and used three times a year. So, I started renting it. That is how the renting part of my business started.
I have always tried to do my best and it paid out. We have more customers year by year, all of them were very satisfied, we have achieved a lot of good results with our customers and at the moment we have 3 brand new cars.
It looks like your renting business has reached quite a high level. Is this your business strategy?
Speaking about maintenance we have always done what ŠKODA Motorsport suggested to us. We have never had longer service intervals or higher mileage than recommended. This is how we work and this also is how we grow. It has never been our plan to have such a big team, but it is always better for the business. So, it is not a strategy, but our customers confirm, that it is a good way.
EUROSOL cooperates with different types of customers. Is there any difference in approach to a gentleman driver and really experienced professional rally drivers?
You should have a good mix of drivers. It is about business, so if there is a gentleman driver who wants to drive, why not to rent him a car. But for the team it is very important to have quick and successful drivers. We are trying to balance this out. We want to achieve some good results and win beautiful trophies, but on the other hand the cars perform well and keep business on.
Your team has worked with some high-profile drivers. Is this something which is pushing the team forward?
First of all, it is a great honour to work with them. It was a very good project last year when we cooperated with ŠKODA Motorsport and had Oliver Solberg in ERC and Andreas Mikkelsen and Emil Lindholm in WRC. We could learn a lot from engineers, technicians, and drivers. The team has really learned a lot and we can use this knowledge to improve the quality of the services we provide to our customers. So, the cooperation with world class pilots is kind of an added value for our customers.
Do you think that your driver experience helps you in your team manager role?
I think it is always better for understanding. I’m always in contact with the driver himself. I can understand him much more easily being a driver myself. I can also help the driver in communication with mechanics or other members of the team.
Will you drive the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo Edition 120 car?
Yes, of course. I have always driven all new cars myself.
What has been the biggest achievement in team history so far?
As I have mentioned before, it was our last year ERC and WRC project with ŠKODA Motorsport. It was a great honour for us, that ŠKODA trusted us and I think we paid it back because we achieved good results. This has been the highlight in our team’s history. But this season also looks good and without a doubt there are some good results ahead.
Why did you choose ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 for your rental business?
To be honest, we have always had a very good connection with ŠKODA Motorsport. It fits us geographically and FABIA Rally2 is currently the most reliable car on the market. It was, it is and I hope it will be. And of course, this is the most important aspect for the team whose business is based on car renting. ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 is also very easy to learn to drive. We have a lot of drivers who switched from different cars, and they have immediately fallen in love. We have performed a comparative test with one of our customers with their own Rally2 car who tried our FABIA Rally2 evo. After a couple of kilometres, he didn’t want to sit back into theirs anymore. Honestly, I can´t recall any bad reaction or request for switching to a different brand in our team history.
What do you personally like about ŠKODA FABIA Rally2?
It is a car which does exactly what you want it to do. There is no unpredictable behaviour. I have never experienced an unexpected or surprising issue and this is really important for me. I also like the stability.
What is your plan with a new Edition 120 car?
I don’t know, we have some gravel events ahead, but to be honest I don’t want to use this car on gravel for the first time. We will save it for tarmac events in Germany or Austria.
Winning hat trick
Standing aside, we can congratulate the EUROSOL team on the excellent results they have achieved with the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo from Edition 120. The car has so far made five starts on asphalt surfaces in Germany, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic with a great record of three first and one second place. The first victory was achieved by Simon Wagner at the Rallye Weiz, while Miko Marczyk took home the last laurels so far at Rajd Śląska 2021.
