ERC
Armstrong in front, ERC title fight swings towards Marczyk
The 2025 FIA European Rally Championship is set for a thrilling climax with title contender Jon Armstrong leading the Croatia Rally season finale.
The championship fight has however swung towards points leader Miko Marczyk after nearest rival Andrea Mabellini hit trouble during a drama-filled Saturday.
Fresh from maiden ERC win at JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne continued their impressive form to win five of the six challenging asphalt stages to lead WRC2 event winner Robert Virves by 27.3sec.
Armstrong headed into the final round facing an outside shot at the title, sitting 20 points behind championship leader Marczyk, but the M-Sport-Ford driver’s performance has left the Irishman firmly in title fight heading into Sunday’s final four stages.
However, Marczyk remains the favourite to lift the title after ending Saturday in seventh after Mabellini, who started the event two points behind, crashed out on SS4.
Armstrong, starting fifth on the road, set a blistering pace across the morning’s three stages to complete a clean sweep of stage wins to put his Pirelli-shod Ford Fiesta Rally2 into a 22.5sec lead ahead of Virves’ Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, equipped with Hankook tyres.
Virves managed to slash Armstrong’s advantage in SS4 to 12.7sec, taking advantage of a front left tyre deflation for the latter. Armstrong responded by winning SS5 and SS6 to restore and extend his lead to 27.3sec ahead of Sunday’s final day, which is likely to be affected by rain.
“I have not really been thinking about it [the title fight] too much today, but there is still a long way to go and tomorrow the rain is going to come. I had that in mind this afternoon,” said Armstrong.
Østberg takes flight on his way to third
© ERC
Mads Østberg, making his 300th rally start, drove his Michelin-fitted Citroën C3 Rally2 to the final podium position [+47.6sec] after drama struck M-Sport-Ford World Rally Team’s Romet Jürgenson in SS6.
Jürgenson, who finished second at Rali Ceredigion last month, delivered strong pace throughout with the highlight being a fastest time in SS4 that lifted the Estonian to third. Although, hopes of a podium finish were dented when his Fiesta suffered a front left tyre deflation in the final stage of the day, that dropped the M-Sport driver to eighth overall [+1minute 45.5sec].
Østberg, competing alongside a new co-driver in Lorcan Moore, had been locked in a battle with Mille Johansson for much of the day. But two spins from Johansson in SS4 and SS6 proved costly as the Swede had to settle for fourth ahead of Norbert Maior.
Championship leader Marczyk completed Saturday’s leg in sixth [+1minute 22.1sec] after a challenging day despite facing the best of the road conditions. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver overshot a junction in SS3 while struggling to find a consistent rhythm.
“It was not a good day from my side. The morning was average but the afternoon was not like I would like. The stages are difficult and there are lots of opportunities to make a mistake,” said Marczyk.
“I decided for the first stage of this loop to be on the safe side but in the second one I was trying to drive better, but the time was not there. Here [in the final stage] I would say it was very tricky and to be in the game I decided to be cautious. I need to sleep well and one more time get into the rhythm which I know we can drive. It will be a different story and it will be different conditions, but I need to come back to driving how I like.”
Marczyk remains in the prime position to lift the title
© ERC
Some pressure was lifted from Marczyk’s shoulders when nearest title rival Mabellini exited the rally on SS4 after a high-speed speed that inflicted an oil leak on his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, which prevented the Italian from continuing. Mabellini and co-driver Virgi Lenzi had just moved ahead of Marczyk into fifth, and appeared to be in a prime position to boost their title hopes that are now highly unlikely if they rejoin the rally.
The top 10 was completed by Norbert Herczig, Jürgenson and Team MRF Tyres duo Lauri Joona and Simon Tempestini. The latter was fortunate to recover from a high speed spin in SS4.
Jakub Matulka, who was third fastest in Friday qualifying, retired due to damage sustained from running off the road in SS1. Simon Wagner joined the Polish driver on the retirement list after misjudging a long right hander in SS2.
Junior WRC star Taylor Gill leads the ERC3 class from championship leader Tymek Abramowski by 39.4sec, while newly crowned Junior ERC champion Calle Carlberg heads Karl Peder Nordstrand in the ERC4 standings by 1minute 21.4sec.
The 2025 ERC season will conclude on Sunday with crews set to face four more stages, comprising 55.70 competitive kilometres.
