ERC
No backing off as Poland ERC glory race continues
The battle for victory on 82nd Rally Poland continues unabated with the top four covered by 17sec ahead of the FIA European Rally Championship qualifier’s deciding quartet of stages.
As he has done since SS4 on Saturday, Teemu Suninen leads the all-asphalt event in his Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. But Michelin’s reigning Polish champion, Jakub Matulka, remains in contention, 11.1sec behind the Finn.
“It’s really tricky, the grip level is changing a lot, and it’s impossible to read,” Suninen said. “We need to go flat out. No other options. Level is high, everyone is pushing.”
We need to go flat out. No other options. Level is high, everyone is pushing
Miko Marczyk, the 2025 ERC title winner, reclaimed third from Andrea Mabellini on SS11 to go 4.6sec behind Matulka and 1.3sec ahead of his Lancia-powered rival.
Mabellini began leg two in second place, 8.4sec off the lead, but with the day-opening Przegibek test proving a “disaster”, the Lancia driver slipped to fourth overall, rising to third on SS10, before slipping back to fourth on SS11.
“It was a disaster,” Italian Mabellini said after SS9. “We start with cold tyres. We made all the road section to the stage at 30 kilometres per hour. We started with cold brakes and everything. So, everything could go wrong, went wrong.”
Andrea Mabellini
© ERC
Matulka capitalised on Mabellini’s troubled SS9 to take second place, a position he cemented when he won SS10 to close to within 9.3sec of Suninen.
“To be honest, I’m just focusing to do good runs,” he said. “I overheated the tyres a bit [on SS11] but it’s good that we are faster than Miko.”
Marczyk added: “I'm not fully happy. I know that it’s possible to drive much faster, especially if I would have more proper braking, but for the second loop we have idea how to solve it.”
Jakub Matulka
© ERC
Having stiffened up his Fabia RS Rally2, Marco Bulacia narrowed the gap to fifth-placed Kajetan Kajetanowicz to 1.2sec after pacey performances on SS9 and SS10. But triple European champion Kajetanowicz hit back by going 5.9sec quicker than his Bolivian rival on SS11, a performance that was good enough for the second fastest time overall, 1.1sec down on Suninen.
Simone Tempestini was firmly in the fight for fifth place but the Team MRF Tyres-entered driver was 12 minutes late starting SS9 after he was stopped on the road section heading to the stage. The resulting two-minute penalty dropped outside the top 15.
Polish teenager Adrian Rzeżnik is seventh after 11 stages, 5.2sec ahead of William Creighton. National championship leader Jarosław Szeja slipped from sixth to 10th when he spun in fifth gear on SS9 but overtook Erik Cais for ninth on SS10.
Philip Allen, Hankook-shod Isak Reiersen, Adam Sroka, Jarosław Koltun and Hungarian champion Gábor Német complete the top 15.
Miko Marczyk
© ERC
Michał Chorbiński continues to head the FIA ERC3 order in his Renault Clio Rally3, but Ville Vatanen (Ford Fiesta Rally3) is now in the runner-up spot after Lucas Zielinski, who was second overnight, crashed out on SS10.
Lancia-driving Aatu Hakalehto was 2.0sec behind Opel-powered Tom Heindrichs starting SS11. But a moment on the stage means Heindrichs will take a lead of 17.7sec into the afternoon loop.
There are four stages remaining on Poland’s ERC counter. The first of two runs through the Silesian Voivodeship stage provides the next timed action from 13:05 local time, with the 11.90-kilometre test forming 82nd Rally Poland’s Power Stage when it runs for a second time from 17:05. The Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium hosts the podium finish from 19:30.
