Marczyk: This was something special

Marczyk was the cream of the crop as he won on home soil by 10sec from Tom Kristensson despite drama on the final day when the engine of his Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo overheated after scooping gravel into the radiator.

The win - the Pole’s first in the FIA European Rally Championship - also marked his first at international championship level. 

Reflecting on his success, Marczyk became emotional as he considered his rise since beginning his career in indoor go-karting over ten years ago. 

“It’s definitely something special,” he beamed. “I have done a lot of things in international motorsport, but this was one of the biggest.” 

“This win shows me that, over the last 10 years, I made the correct decision to go into motorsport from indoor karting then rally sprints. After that I was trying to go step by step into the rallies. It was a good decision, a good path - and I’m using my potential.

“This is the evidence that all the things I've been doing slowly and step-by-step are working. I am trying to gain experience and use my speed and my potential in the moments when I feel it's possible. It's a good strategy, because now we have enough knowledge,” he added.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the 26-year-old, who moved into the top spot on Saturday afternoon when early leader Nil Solans left the road with broken steering. 

Rough second pass conditions were a challenge for all and Marczyk nearly came unstuck when his Fabia scooped up some gravel on SS12, causing the water temperature to rocket as he nursed his car to the finish in road mode. 

Frantic activity followed at the stop line as the crew scooped dust from the grill and, luckily, they were able to continue despite the heart-stopping moment. 

“We were one kilometre from the finish of the stage and we felt a force on the front end,” he explained. “I was watching the [dashboard] display and the temperature was up to one-hundred and twenty-something.

“At that moment I put the car into fifth gear because I knew we were only five corners away from the end. We came to the finish and it was a long 30 or 40 seconds while we waited at the time control.

“Straight away, we went directly to the radiator to clean it up and lower the temperature. Somehow we managed to come back from it, but it was definitely our weekend.”