Last Friday belonged to the jubilee, 25th year of the Rallye Opatovská – Living at Full Throttle. 25 competitors parked on the grounds of the United School Opatovská cesta 101 in Košice, who took a total of 75 children on the 50 km long track.

"We are very much looking forward to it. That year went by so quickly. I am very happy that we have guests who come to us regularly, many of them for 25 years, such as Erik Aresta, Patrik Herman, and Juraj Hajdin," says director Mária Čabalová (second from the right).

Our company U. S. Steel Košice has also been supporting this event for 25 years. "We help not only financially, but our managers also regularly stand at the start of the rally," added Slávka Tvrdoňová, administrator of the U. S. Steel Košice Foundation.

This time there were six competitors: vice-presidents Elena Petrášková with navigator Ľubo Hrobár and Tomáš Kuriatnik, who was navigator  by Brigita Kurucová, GM representatives Stanislav Petro with navigator Ondrej Homola from the GM Department for Safety and Protection, Mikuláš Bugis – chief process engineer from DZ Energetika and Štefan Siládi, the commander of the squad from the Factory Fire Department.

The line had three stops. At Bukovec, drivers tested their driving skills, and at KVP and Zelený dvor, questions from members of children's crews awaited. They concerned the history of Košice, but also security, biology and other areas.

We interviewed our drivers shortly before the start:

  

Elena Petrášková: "I have been to this event many times. I was probably only absent in the last 4 years. I'm very happy to be here again. I will ride, but I will also take turns with my colleague Ľubek, so that the children have more experiences. I'll try to follow the regulations, but we'll definitely have a good time."

  

Tomáš Kuriatnik:  "I'm here for about the fourth time.  This event is one of my favorites that I have during the year and that I can participate in as a representative of U. S. Steel. There is nothing more beautiful than making a nice day for children. I have an amazing crew."

  

Stanislav Petro: "I really like this event and I will definitely come next time. This competition is not about placing, it's about making children happy."

  

Marek Jenčo: "When I have time, I am always happy to come. I don't remember my best placement so far. I'm not interested in placing, I'm happy about the children and especially the crew I get, it's always a different group of children and I always learn something new."

  

Mikuláš Bugis: "I'm here for the first time. I have heard and read about this event. I'm glad I can be here. Nowadays, it is necessary to pay attention to children."

  

Štefan Siládi (he was probably the biggest "dude" in the eyes of the children, because he came on the largest and tallest car and even the newest one – the command vehicle of the ZHÚ, which the firefighters have literally only a few days to have): "It's a good event, the children deserve to experience exceptional days. I'm not going to win, the most important thing will be that we reach the finish line happily."

After about an hour from the start, the crews gradually returned and the children obviously enjoyed the rally very much.

"All three of them were my navigators. The children liked the sunroof the most and that we caught the green wave. When we were already arriving at the finish line, they rolled down the windows and waved to passers-by," Mikuláš Bugis shared his impressions.

A novelty in this year was that not only children received knowledge questions at the stations, but also adults. "I was quite surprised (and I was not the only one) by the question of how a hyena ," added Stanislav Petro.

"The children were able to answer most of the questions, they are clever and when necessary, we helped them a little," said Tomáš Kuriatnik.

The results were announced by Patrik Herman: "22 competing crews took fourth place. Third place goes to... my crew." The joy of the children was indescribable. The awards were presented by Elena Petrášková and Tomáš Kuriatnik. We were anxiously waiting to see if someone "from ours" would stand on the imaginary podium. And finally it came. The first place was won by the crew of Elena Petrášková, consisting of Sofia, Janko and Janko and navigator Ľubo Hrobár.

"It's an amazing feeling, the children were great, very smart. I'm sure I'll come back next year!" said Elena. The children also received beautiful gifts. The first place was a smartwatch, the second place was headphones and the bronze place was a collection of board games. No child went empty-handed. They all received packages with sweets and a lot of experiences from a beautiful and exciting afternoon.