Iliev pays tribute to team following Sliven IRC success

Dimitar Iliev has paid tribute to his Vivacom Rally Team after he became the first Bulgarian driver to win a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with victory on the Mabanol Sliven Rally, which finished on Sunday.

Iliev fought off a late challenge by Peugeot 207 runner Petar Gyoshev to win at the wheel of his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000, his sixth triumph in Sliven.

“I’m very happy because I never did so good result on an IRC round and it sounds good to be the first Bulgarian winner in the IRC,” said Iliev, who was co-driven by Yanaki Yanakiev. “I drove very carefully [on the final day] and even though I was not always the fastest this was the right decision because it was more important to finish.

“It was a very tough rally and I had to keep at a high speed for all of the event. It was very tough with all the gravel on the stages and I would like to thank my whole team and my sponsors for a great effort and for this great victory.”