Why more ERC4 points would do nicely for Hangodi and Kreuter

Twenty-two crews are entered in ERC4 on Tet Rally Liepāja, round four of the 2023 season. And with three different winners so far this year, the battle for victory is wide open in the class for Rally4 and Rally5 machinery.

Of the 22 entries, 17 are also eligible for Junior ERC points with the remaining five chasing ERC4 points only.

They include podium finisher Norman Kreuter from Germany and Hungarian youngster Bendegúz Hangodi, who won ERC4 on Rally Islas Canarias.

Both Kreuter and Hangodi (pictured above) will be in contention for ERC4 points on Tet Rally Liepāja this weekend and are preparing to take the start in Latvia on the back of top 15 finishes on ORLEN 79th Rally Poland recently.

After finishing 10th in ERC4 in Poland, 22-year-old Hangodi said: “The last two stages I took some risks, it was not too risky because I wanted to finish, but it was good to push my level. I never thought [10th place] in ERC4 would really satisfy me but I’m really satisfied because this was definitely my toughest rally ever. Now we have to keep learning. If we can score more points then great.”

Kreuter finished four positions behind Hangodi in Poland with both drivers competing in Peugeot 208 Rally4s. He’s second in the provisional standings, four points behind championship leader Roberto Daprà from Italy (pictured above) after three rounds.

“We reached the goal again [in Poland] by finishing the rally and scoring points, this was always my objective since the start of the season,” Kreuter said. “We had some brake problems but we got to the finish and we got some points.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Challenge Program drivers Hikaru Kogure (pictured above), Nao Otake and Yuki Yamamoto are also registered for ERC4 points on Tet Rally Liepāja and all showed impressive pace in Poland.