Interview with Tiddo Bresters

7. 08. 2024

Last year we were among the biggest historic car race in the world and hosted the FIVA federation in Slovakia. The feeling of responsibility to welcome competitors from 18 countries from all over the world and the FIVA President Tiddo Bresters himself was a great commitment and motivation to prepare everything as best as possible. You can find out more about how Tiddo Bresters perceived the competition, the organization and Slovakia itself, as well as other interesting things from the FIVA federation in our following interview.

Mr. Bresters, it was a pleasure to have you with us for the whole route of the race, how do you feel about the 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH race?

I believe the 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH is very much an event that is based on an ambition, namely to integrate the beauty and style of historic cars with the surroundings, be it scenic towns or beautiful landscapes, and also to offer a lot of joy not only to the participants, but also to the public. It was such a pleasure to see and feel how enthusiastically the many people alongside the route, including many youngsters, reacted when the cars came by or were displayed.

Which stage was the most interesting for you and what impressed you the most?

The stage from Kosice to Tatranska Lomnica showed places and landscape views which were really a relevation. Because my wife and I didn’t know that Slovakia has such a beuatiful nature! But also the stage to Bojnice was very special, with a stop in Turčianske Teplice, a spa resort we never had heard of before but that really fascinated us.

You are one of the most qualified to evaluate or compare races in the world, how would you evaluate the historic car races in Slovakia in comparison with other world events?

Every FIVA World Rally is as different as the countries of this world are different from each other, but I can say that the organizors of the 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH really went the extra mile to offer a maximum mix of driving pleasure and cultural highlights, this all in a very easy-going atmosphere, but of course not forgetting the competition element, as one can expect from a FIVA regularity rally.

The common goal of the FIVA Ferderation and also 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH is to promote the world’s motoring heritage. How do you evaluate the fulfilment of this goal at the 500KM SLOVENSKÝCH FIVA WORLD RALLY 2024?

I was very happy to see that the rally was consequently announced and presented as „FIVA World Rally“. This helped very much to make FIVA better known, not only with the crews that participated, but also with the public and media. Much of our work to enable historic vehicle enthusiasts to keep on hitting the road with their vehicles, now, tomorrow and after tomorrow, is behind the scenes. But events like this very much contribute to the awareness, that there is this FIVA „protection shield“, by which we over the years already realized a lot of policy measures and regulations to the benefit of the historic vehicle enthusiasts.

Once again we would like to thank you for awarding us the WORLD RALLY 2024 organiser’s certificate, what were the decisive factors that made you choose 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH?

Actually it is the FIVA Events Commission that decides to make an event a premium event, by recognixzing and certifying it as a FIVA World Rally. But I believe the concept of the Rally convinced them from the very beginnning. One example: never before in a FIVA World Rally cars were transported by train alltogether for such a long distance, the hundreds of kilometers between Bratislava and Kosice. That was a brilliant idea, first because this saved enormous time and effort, second because it made that the participants already had fun with each other before the rally had started.

The FIVA federation unites the whole vintage vehicles world, how would you describe in a few sentences for our fans its functioning and activities?

Our activities are very varied, but with our 3 P’s I easily can explain it. Protection is one of our main purposes. This means, lobbyng for the cause of historic vehicle enthusiasts, mainly in Brussels, as that is the source of the endless flow of EU regulations related to mobility including environmental measures. We monitor and react, helped by professional lobbyists. The P of Preservation is translated in our FIVA ID Card, and Yountimer Registration Document. Such a „FIVA passport“ certifies the motoring heritage status of the vehicle.Organizing and supporting FIVA World Rallies and other events is how we implement our Promotional task, but there is much more.

What do you enjoy most about your role as President of FIVA?

That is to meet people that are passionate about historic vehicles all over the world. Our passion really unites people from all walks of life. And there is much more than the fun of participants. Millions enjoy our cars and motorbiles by just admiring the Driving Museum passing through their towns and villages.

Let’s come back in memories of our event, namely to the races for the smallest – 100m in Bratislava and Košice. It was amazing how you supported the smallest competitors and even came to congratulate the winners personally. How do you feel about passing on the message of historical heritage to the new generation?

I believe that the trick is to do something that young people see as something completely different, and for that reason very exciting. For instance, give them driving lessons in a Ford T, and let them make some rides! Like we see in the mobility world in general, let’s develop carsharing concepts with classic cars. And I am sure that kids that liked the 100 M pedal car race, also will like to drive a car or motorcycle later, for leisure or even competition.

What would you wish to the organizers and competitors of 500 KM SLOVENSKÝCH for the coming years?

I very much wish they go ahead with the event, keep what is good, change what can be improved. Slovakia has a lot of nice towns and landscapes to offer, the 500 KM Slovenskych is a very pleasant way to discover the country, but maybe even some regions of neighbouring countries can be included. Important is to maintain and even further develop the competion element, as an important factor of the event.

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