John Haugland

“130 RS. It was fantastic. All the Skoda competition cars, we went from one to another, from 1000 MB to 110, 110 R, 120 S, 130 RS. All the time we were going a step up to something better. Something better, something more developed, something quicker and more competitive. When we came to 130 RS, that was a big step forward from 120 S, which was also very good, but 130 RS was something special. I was driving those cars from 1976 to 1983. And it was my best years. I drove seven different cars with many, many good results, it was big pleasure to drive those cars. Later we got 130 LR, it was a Group B car, it was coming ten years after, in the middle of the 80s. That was still better, because we had technical things like five-speed gearbox, radius brakes, brake balancer, brake opinion steering, things that the 130 RS was missing. 130 LR was also quicker than 130 RS. But the development had gone also forward with other makers of cars and competitors. So the 130 RS in its time was more competitive. It was very good on asphalt special stages. Very good grip, low and wide, and very high cornering speed. The last 130 that I drove, I have at home. It is in very good condition, I am driving it form time to time. Just to live up the old memories.”

“Something special happened there. Because while we were there, the Russian invasion happened. We came to Mladá Boleslav, went to Brno, did a race in Brno and when we came back to Mladá Boleslav, in the night there was a lot of noise. It was noisy outside, we came down to Hotel Věnec in Mladá Boleslav. We came down to breakfast and people looked very depressed. It was a strange, strange atmosphere. And we did not know what was happening. And then we should go and meet Slávek´s family, and on the way there, also in Mladá Boleslav, there is a railway there and the gates were down. I stopped behind some other cars and I could see a tank on the other side of the railway line. I went out of the car to the other car in front and tried to ask him what is happening, what´s going on. And he told me in German: Russische Invasion! And that was a shock. So we turned the car and went back again to hotel Věnec. We were told that we could not go out, we had to stay in the hotel and not go anywhere until we get any further information. So we stayed there in the hotel for three days, before they told us now you can go. We should drive back to West Germany. So we went back to West Germany through Cheb and then we came home. I remember when we came over the border, we had seen a lot of things on the journey. We saw Russian tanks that crashed into houses, and there was a lot of activity around which was quite scary, and the we came over the border near Cheb. The we stopped in a park and we bought two bottles of Coca-Cola. We felt – now we are free, now we are home.”