Author: norwitdakarracing

The Slovak NORWIT Racing Team with Martin Benko and Marek Sýkor and the Taurus T3 MAX vehicle perfectly dominated the Italian competition S2R Sardegna Rally Raid 2026.

After the three-stage competition, they took the absolute victory in the “Cars” category, and in addition they also won the T3 class. But let’s take a look at how the competition developed.

That was the event in brief. Among the many competitors, the Slovak NORWIT Racing Team with Martin Benko and Marek Sýkor will also be present.

During each of the three stages, the competition crews always completed two tests, so a total of six timed sections awaited them, as well as almost four hundred and fifty measured kilometers on different sections and with different surfaces. Of these, only two won the overall standings, and their victory in the last test moved them into the lead of the entire competition, which they won with almost a minute and a half lead at the finish. All this despite a two-minute penalty they received during the first stage. In addition to the overall victory, which they won as the only non-Italian crew at the start, they also won the T3 class. And the fact that out of forty competing crews at the start, twenty-seven did not finish the competition speaks for itself.

“We did not expect the competition to go this way at all, but we are very happy that it turned out this way in the end. The competition was not easy, but it was perfectly prepared and the tracks alternated with different surfaces, and it must be said that the crews were really very fast and used to the local conditions. We can proudly boast that we were lucky enough to beat the crew from the Red Bull Academy in the final and the Slovak anthem was played at the end. We are extremely satisfied and are looking forward to the Hellas Rally in Greece, where we are leaving in a few days,” Martin Benko assessed at the finish.

As Maťo already indicated, the next competition for the Slovak NORWIT Racing Team will be the Hellas Rally 2026 in Greece.

The competition included in the FIA ​​Central European Zone series, but also the Hungarian or Slovak championships, did not go as NORWIT Racing would have liked, but the result was pleasing in the end.

But let’s take a closer look at the event. Riversade Baja 2026 took place just a short distance from the Slovak-Hungarian border during the first weekend of May with the center near the town of Pápoc, located south of the town of Csorna. NORWIT Racing was represented at this competition by the crew of Martin Benko – Jiří Kalát with the Taurus T3 MAX vehicle. The very dry weather and high temperatures covered the tracks and their surroundings with a lot of dust during the competition, which at times really complicated the orientation of the competition crews.

During the opening day of the competition, all participants first went through an administrative and technical briefing and a discussion of the competitors. During the first day, they had the opportunity to test and possibly fine-tune their vehicles during the shakedown. Here, in the case of the Slovak-Czech crew, everything worked as it should. During the second day of the competition, the competition itself was planned, consisting of two demanding special stages. However, in the first of them, the NORWIT Racing crew hesitated slightly, which meant a loss of time. In the second special stage, everything worked as it should again and Martin and Jirka were satisfied with the achieved time.

“Everything would have been great, except that in the first test we managed to do a wheel-roof pirouette at one point, which cost us unnecessary delay. Fortunately, nothing serious happened to our car during this action and so we were able to continue. In the second test, we did nothing wrong and in the end, the finishing position was not that bad, although it could have been significantly better,” Martin Benko assessed at the finish.

And what was the final position of the NORWIT Racing crew? Second place in the Challenger classification and fifth place in the FIA ​​Central European Zone series.

Now the Slovak crew will undergo a complete inspection of the TAURUS T3 MAX vehicle and then prepare for the next competition. When and where it will be, we will of course inform you again.