(16.05.2023) Maciej Wislawski, 79-year-old co-driver still enjoys rallying, although he is not doing it full time like he used to. This weekend he will break the record of Rally Poland outings as he will compete in 79th edition of the event for 29th time.
Wislawski, the 1997 European champion, 28 times competed in Rally Poland. His last outing was in 2018 season in R5 machinery, together with Lukasz Byskiniewicz, when he equalled the record of Marek Ryndak, a driver who had as many as 28 Rally Poland starts to his name. Next drivers in Rally Poland hall of fame are Krzysztof Holowczyc (22 outings) and Grzegorz Grzyb (17 outings).
In co-drivers’ „classification” Wislawski is followed by Jarek Baran who did Rally Poland 23 times and Maciej Szczepaniak with 18 outings. This year “Wislak”, as 79-year-old is nicknamed in Poland, will tackle the stages of Rally Poland together with Andrzej Kalitowicz in their Toyota Celica GT-4.
– For each of us, co-drivers and drivers, Rally Poland is a very special event. For 29th time I am going to compete in rally, which let me to a different dimension of rallying. Second place we took with Krzysztof Holowczyc back in 1995 was our career springboard. We were the first Polish crew in 20 years to finish this event on podium. This result made our ERC and WRC campaigns possible – said Wislawski.
Legendary co-driver from Skierniewice (central Poland), with a university degree in horticulture made his maiden Rally Poland outing nearly 50 years ago. In 1974 he covered the route with Henryk Podsiedlik in DDR-made Wartburg 353. During the years Wislawski co-drove both father and his son in Rally Poland. In 70’s he competed together with Andrzej Lubiak, while on the beginning of 21st century he took the right seat in rally car driven by Maciej Lubiak, his godson.
Wislawski has four podium-finishes in Rally Poland under his belt, including two wins. Both of them he took with Krzysztof Holowczyc. In 1996 season they used a Toyota Celica 4WD Turbo to beat German duo Dieter Depping/Fred Berssen (Ford Escort RS Cosworth). Two years later they dominated the event held in Cracow in their Subaru Impreza S5 WRC.
What is more, he did four course-car runs in this second oldest rally in the World.