The accident was like the one in which Robert Kubitsa almost lost his hand. Mountain asphalt plot, blow to a metal fence. Formula 1 pilot’s career was then interrupted. A year and a half, it took treatment and recovery, and the stubborn Pole again got behind the wheel of a car – a rally. Speaking successfully in a couple of insignificant races, signed a contract with Citroen. By special permission, the DS3 was built with a steering wheel switch of gears: the mobility of his right hand was not completely restored. And Robert started at the third stage of the ERC series-Rally “Islas Cana -ias” in Las Palmas. I was the leader for a long time, but in the end I broke the car. However, the participation of such a famous pilot added several more conditional points to the prestige of the newly -minted tournament. The ERC series (Fia European Rally Championship) was born to the merger of the stagnant IRC and the European Championship itself. And, possibly, unique rallyists of the Old World who do not claim to be regalia of the World Cup. Still, the world championship is more expensive, in addition, many stages are also very far away. And here everything is within the European Union. Plus democratic conditions. The WRC class technique does not go through the regulations, and everything else – please. There are separate tests for machines with a drive for one axis (2WD) and pro-Dakshn-karov. It is not necessary to perform at all thirteen stages – only eight best results will go into offset. Pilots are free to choose the races convenient for them. If not for the accident, in three stages of the ERC there could be three different winners on three different machines. And so luck smiled at Finn Yari Ketomaa (Ford Fest) and twice Czech Jan Kopetski (Skoda-Fabia).But the most interesting thing is that they will not start all together and not everywhere, and therefore the intrigue will last a long time. It’s not like in the World Cup, where Sebastien Loeb champion for nine years in a row, and now Sebastien Ozhye accepted the baton, which, in general, kills the whole idea. By logic, ERC should become a forge of personnel for world championship. In fact, it can go out differently – the series is able to compete with the World Cup. While that, of course, has a richer story and a strong set of names, but who will guarantee that it will remain so forever?