Another participation in the 1000 Miles of Czechoslovakia competition
The modern vintage car tradition “1000 Miles Czechoslovakia” on the route from Prague to Bratislava and back began to be written again from 2015, and 2023 could not be an exception. This year’s event, held from 14th to 17th June 2023, welcomed a total of 116 crews participating across all categories.
As in the past, the event was held under the patronage of a number of figures and state institutions, including the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (represented by Mr M. Baxa), the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic (represented by Mr M. Kupka), the Bratislava-Old Town City District (represented by Mr M. Vagač). Nevertheless, the patronage of the President of the Slovak Republic, Mrs Zuzana Čaputová, and the President of the Czech Republic, Mr Petr Pavel, gave the whole enterprise its required seriousness. Their presence thus symbolically followed up on the first years of the competition between 1933 and 1935, held under the auspices of President T. G. Masaryk.
The competition traditionally starts on a Wednesday with a technical and organizational scrutineering of vehicles in Prague, specifically in front of and in the building of the Autoclub of the Czech Republic on Opletalova Street. The first Thursday stage of the race, with its finish in Bratislava, also started there. The required kilometres, respectively miles, were then driven by the crews on Friday around Bratislava (Dlhá, Pezinská Baba, Stupaba, Devín castle), where 16 pages of the itinerary for the 2nd stage of the race were read out (out of the total of 97). The final Saturday stage then led the participants back to Prague and in front of the National Technical Museum.
And how did our iron the fire, i.e. the crew of our colleague and mentor of the Restoration Workshop at the Department of of Machine and Industrial Design, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Mr Lukáš Kudrna with his wife and navigator Hanka do when racing in a JAWA 600 Minor Roadster from 1939? If you start the race using the results of 2021 and 2022 with the starting number 1, you cannot accept Pierre de Coubertin's famous Olympic motto "It is not important to win, but to participate". After all, the 1000 Miles of Czechoslovakia is not the Olympics. So why not start straight away with the slogan "When I'm here, I'll win"?
The above-mentioned 97 pages of the itinerary suggested that the race was once again not easy going, especially for vehicles manufactured before 1939, as stipulated by the rules. For a crew with the number 1, it can be written that the courageous goal of winning was achieved at least 50% of the time, when not only the medals clinked, but even the vehicle achieved victory in its class up to 750 cc. However, in the overall ranking, with some exaggeration, our crew took 4th place.
So what to say about the participation of our colleague Lukáš with his wife and the JAWA 600 Minor in conclusion? They must accept our congratulations. For the next year´s participation and place in the overall ranking, let us modify a quote from the film Postřižiny (Cutting It Short) - "Well, crew, you have to try harder!".
