Photo by Leonid Mamchenkov, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (CC BY 2.0).
We all know that in Rally, danger is always there, just beyond the edge of the tarmac, sometime literally.
So what happened to the Roman Kresta back in 2002 is just unbelievable, it became one of the most astonishing escapes in WRC history.
The setting: A treacherous stage
The Monte Carlo Rally was never been for the faint of heart, it was a challenge even for the most experienced drivers.
In 2002 Kresta was behind the wheel of Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2, fighting both the clock and the terrain at the same time.
One section of the rally featured a tight mountain hairpin, the kind where the road bends sharply around a cliffside.
There was no margin for error, you have to get it right or, there is no hope.
The moment everything went wrong
As Kresta approached the corner, the car carried just a fraction, he was too fast, The car rear stepped out and instead of neatly hugging the appex, it drifted sideways toward the outer edge.
In Rallying this is kind of split-second mistake that can be fatal.
At the road’s edge stood a low stone wall, like more decorative boundary, the car clipped it, shattering the barrier and sending the car sliding toward open space, disaster seemed inevitable.
A Wooden Pole that changed everything
And the most interesting part is what happened next?
Just beyond the broken wall stood a wooden telephone pole, planted firmly at the very bring of the drop.
Unbelieveable moment for all the fans and for everyone, even drivers where shocked, as the car paassenger side struck the pole, and the car was stopped.
Instead of tumblig hundreds of feet into the valley below, the vehicle came to rest, teetering partially over the edge.
The pole absorbed the final burst of speed, keeping the car, and both came out alive and well.
Everyone was shocked but at the same time happy, spectators described it as ‘pure luck’.
Had the impact angle been slightly different? Kresta and Tomanek might have faced one of rallying darkest headlines.
The aftermath in the paddock
The crew climbed out shaken but unharmed, standing just meters away from where the mountain swalloed into empty space.
The team and other drivers were stunned, some called it divine intervention, others saw it as a chilling reminder of rallying’s thin safety margin.
Kresta’s brush with disaster became instant rally folklore. Clips of the crash were replayed countless times in highlight reels, often under titles like “The Luckiest Rally Save Ever.” For Škoda, the footage was both terrifying and oddly iconic, proof of how robust a rally car could be, but also how perilously close the sport skates to tragedy.
Why the incident still resonates
It has been almost 23 years since then, motorsport fans still talk about that wooden pole, as if it were a character in the story.
In a sport filled with high speed heroics, this moment stood out because it hinged not on skill but on sheer, unpredictable chance.
Two decades later, rally fans still talk about “that wooden pole” as if it were a character in the story. In a sport filled with high-speed heroics, this moment stood out because it hinged not on skill, but on sheer, unpredictable chance.
For Roman Kresta the incident did not end his career, he continued to compete in WRC and national rallies, he had something for the rest of his life to tell, carrying the unspoken badge of someone who had stared over the edge.
What can we say more?
The crash is more than a viral clip of motorsport history, it is a lesson in how quickly fortunes can change in rallying, it is one of the most dangerous sport.
It does not matter in rally how skilled you are, or any other motorsport, sometimes survival depends on being in the right place at the right moment.
