ERC
ERC3 review: Arise Abramowski
It was a dream debut FIA European Rally Championship season for Tymek Abramowski as the 19-year-old from Poland secured ERC3 title gold alongside co-driver and compatriot Jakub Wróbel.
Who won? Abramowski competed extensively in the Baltics prior to embarking on his first ERC adventure in 2025 as the Lithuanian LARC3 title holder. His first ERC start, on 42nd Rally Sierra Morena - Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad, was only his second on asphalt but he shrugged off his lack of experience by ending the year as ERC3 champion.
How? Abramowski’s hat-trick of mid-season wins aboard his Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally3 proved decisive and underlined his obvious natural talent given the variation of surfaces he mastered. Whether it was the super-fast and super-smooth BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia gravel, the equally rapid but rougher roads of ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland or Rally di Roma Capitale’s technical Tarmac tests, Abramowski excelled on them all to seize the championship initiative. Despite a rare mistake on Barum Czech Rally Zlín leading to suspension damage and a fuel sensor issue holding him back on JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, Abramowski kept his composure to secure top championship honours in the Croatian rain, despite Renault Clio Rally3-driving Hubert Kowalczyk’s best efforts.
French flyer Charpentier was fast but often out of luck in ERC3
© ERC
Key moment? Tristan Charpentier was leading the ERC3 order on ERC Staff House Rally Hungary by 2min 16.0s with three stages remaining when it all went wrong for the Frenchman. “The fire extinguisher went off over a bump and it cut the [electrics in the] whole car,” Charpentier said after losing more than 13 minutes while he and co-driver Floran Barral tried to continue. Although Charpentier’s misfortune shouldn’t detract from Abramowski’s achievements, it would have been back-to-back victories for the ex-circuit racer on a rally that his Polish rival could only finish in eighth place following his retirement on leg one.
Did you know? Hailing from Olsztyn, 80 kilometres from ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland host town Mikołajki, Abramowski followed in the wheel tracks of his father Marcin and brother Wiktor by taking up rallying.
Wróbel and Abramowski took the ERC3 title in Croatia
© ERC
What did Abramowski say? “It was my first time competing out of the Baltic countries, first time in ERC, first time on Tarmac so a lot of first things. We are here at the end of season, so many podiums, especially on Tarmac rallies. I didn’t expect that I could be so competitive, but I was competitive very fast.”
Who else shone in 2025? Tristan Charpentier, Taylor Gill, Eamonn Kelly, Hubert Kowalczyk and Igor Widłak, the 2022 ERC3 champion, all took a victory apiece.
Kowalczyk, a 21-year-old from Poland, was particularly impressive for Chmielewski Motorsport and could have pushed Abramowski even harder for the title had it not been for a late flat tyre in Spain and an unfortunate crash in Sweden.
Kowalczyk pushed Abramowski hard for ERC3 title glory
© ERC
Błażej Gazda scored points on all seven events he started, while Casey Jay Coleman twice finished on the podium on his way to sixth in the final standings.
Teenager Adrian Rzeżnik beat Tymek Abramowski for second place on 42nd Rally Sierra Morena - Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad but, like Martin Ravenščak, he was often out of luck as the year progressed and didn’t get the results his commitment craved.
Ville Vatanen claimed two top-three finishes in three attempts, while Sebastian Butyński joined Gazda and Kowalczyk at Chmielewski Motorsport and finished in the points three times.
Junior WRC star Taylor Gill was leading when he retired with a mechanical failure on Rally di Roma Capitale but got revenge by winning Croatia Rally.
Eamonn Kelly, another Junior WRC frontrunner, made a one-off appearance on JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion and finished first.
Márton Bertalan and Daniel Polášek both finished on the podium as fellow youngsters Adam Grahn, Adam Łabuda, Hubert Laskowski, Takumi Matsushita, Jan Pokos and Esmar-Arnold Unt all showed promise.
Tadeusz Bieńko made a points-scoring ERC3 debut on ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland, his home event.
ERC3 at a glance
Champion driver: Tymek Abramowski (Poland)
Runner-up driver: Hubert Kowalczyk (Poland)
Third place driver: Błażej Gazda (Poland)
Champion co-driver: Jakub Wróbel (Poland)
Runner-up co-driver: Jarosław Hryniuk (Poland)
Third place co-driver: Michał Jurgala (Poland)
Błażej Gazda placed third in the final ERC3 points
© ERC
Event winners:
42nd Rally Sierra Morena - Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad (3 - 6 April)
Tristan Charpentier (FRA)/Florian Barral (FRA) Ford Fiesta Rally3
ERC Staff House Rally Hungary (9 - 11 May)
Igor Widłak (POL)/Daniel Dymurski (POL), Ford Fiesta Rally3
BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia (29 - 31 May)
Tymek Abramowski (POL)/Jakub Wróbel (POL), Ford Fiesta Rally3
ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland (13 - 15 June)
Tymek Abramowski (POL)/Jakub Wróbel (POL), Ford Fiesta Rally3
Rally di Roma Capitale (4 - 6 July)
Tymek Abramowski (POL)/Jakub Wróbel (POL), Ford Fiesta Rally3
Barum Czech Rally Zlín (15 - 17 August)
Hubert Kowalczyk (POL)/Jarosław Hryniuk (POL), Renault Clio Rally3
JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion (5 - 7 September)
Eamonn Kelly (IRL)/Lorcan Moore (IRL), Ford Fiesta Rally3
Croatia Rally (3 - 5 October)
Taylor Gill (AUS)/Daniel Brkic (AUS), Ford Fiesta Rally3
