(21.05.2023) Martins Sesks and Renars Francis (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) won the ORLEN 79th Rally Poland, round three of FIA European Rally Championship and second event of Polish Rally Championship season. Sesks is the first Latvian driver to win Polish ERC counter. New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) finished 2nd overall. Mikolaj Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk took 3rd place. It is third consecutive Rally Poland podium for ORLEN Team crew.
79th edition of Rally Poland was held between 19 and 21st of May. 16 gravel stages were prepared with total length of 182,06 km. 81 crews entered the event. 60 of them competed in ERC and 33 in Polish championship.
It were Martins Sesks and Renars Francis (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), who took the victory. On their way to this success Latvian duo won 8 out of 16 special stages. Hayden Paddon and John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) finished 2nd overall, 39,6 seconds adrift of the winners. This result saw them increase their lead in series standings. Miko Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk completed the podium on their home round of the ERC having won the event last year. ORLEN Team duo was 1:04,9 s slower than Latvians over the course of 16 stages.
Sesks and Francis took the lead after second pass of Swietajno stage (18,54 km), where they have beaten Paddon and Kennard, by 7,6 seconds. New rally leaders kept pushing afterwards pulling clear of New Zealanders, who suffered punctures on both Sunday’s loops. Having taken just one spare wheel from the service park, Paddon and Kennard needed to stay in cautious mode, because another puncture could rule them out of the rally.
– It feels really special, doing it at home is one story in front of a home crowd, but doing it here in Poland is completely different, it shows the car, the team, the tyres, we’re all ready to fight – said Sesks, who moves into second position in the provisional standings, 37 points behind early pacesetter Paddon. – It feels so good to be driving for such a good team with such a good car. It’s a pleasure and to be able to perform at such a high level it’s really good. Everyone wants to make a statement but in our minds we want to keep our heads down and just do our work – Latvian added.
– We either kept pushing like we were doing but then you risk another puncture, and you retire. When you’re thinking about the championship and the points on offer it’s about playing the smart game and that’s the decision we had to make – said Paddon.
– I am very happy because probably our pace was better than last year when we won the rally. If someone told me before the race I would finish between Hayden Paddon and Mads Østberg I would say for sure it’s perfect. The best guy won the rally – Marczyk concluded.
Sesks is the first Latvian driver who have won Polish ERC counter. In Poland 23-year-old driver from Liepaja took his 2nd ERC victory.
Mads Ostberg and Patrik Barth finished 4th overall (Citroen C3 Rally2, +1:12,9 s), while Mikko Heikkila and Samu Vaaleri managed to climb up to 5th place (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, +1:16,7 s).
Ostberg won the Power Stage, scoring 5 additional points. Norwegian was followed by Heikkila (4 pts), Paddon (3 pts), Franceschi (2 pts) and Sesks (1 pts).
Jon Armstrong and Cameron Fair (Ford Fiesta Rally3) dominated the ERC3 category. British duo reached the finish nearly 17 minutes quicker than following crew.
ORLEN 79th Rally Poland was the opening round of ERC Junior series. Norwegian duo
Ola Nore jnr./Rune Eilertsen (Renault Clio Rally4) began the youngsters battle with the convincing victory. They were fastest in ERC4 category as well.
Sesks and Francis won the Polish championship round too, taking the lead in series standings.
Paddon and Kennard lead FIA ERC standings with 85 points scored during first three rounds of the season. Sesks and Francis climbed up to 2nd (48 pts). Bonato/Boulloud hold third place (47) with Llarena/Fernandez fourth (41).
ORLEN 79th Rally Poland – FIA ERC overall classification:
1. Sesks/Francis (LVA/LVA, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1:34:57,8 s
2. Paddon Kennard (NZL/NZL, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +39,6 s
3. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:04,9 s
4. Ostberg/Barth (NOR/SWE, Citroen C3 Rally2) +1:12,9 s
5. Heikkila/Vaaleri (FIN/FIN, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +1:16,7 s
6. Franceschi/Escartefigue (FRA/FRA, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +1:29,7 s
7. McErlean/Rowan (IRL/IRL, Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +1:46,9 s
8. Tempestini/Itu (ROU/ROU, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 2:09,2 s
9. Cais/Bacigal (CZE/SVK, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2:33,7 s
10. Llarena/Fernandez (ESP/ESP, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2:57,4 s
ORLEN 79th Rally Poland – Power Stage results (FIA ERC):
1. Ostberg/Barth (Citroen C3 Rally2) 5:23,7 s (5 pts)
2. Heikkila/Vaaleri (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +0,3 s (4 pts)
3. Paddon/Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +1,7 s (3 pts)
4. Franceschi/Escartefigue (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +1,8 s (2 pts)
5. Sesks/Francis (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2,3 s (1 pts)
FIA ERC standings after ORLEN 79th Rally Poland:
1. Paddon/Kennard (NZL/NZL) 85 pts
2. Sesks/Francis (LVA/LVA) 48 pts
3. Ostberg/Barth (NOR/SWE) 48 pts
4. Bonato/Boulloud (FRA/FRA) 47 pts
5. Llarena/Fernandez (ESP/ESP) 41 pts
6. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (POL/POL) 40 pts
7. Franceschi/Escartefigue (FRA/FRA) 34 pts
8. Heikkila/Vaaleri (FIN/FIN) 32 pts
9. Linnamae/Morgan (EST/GBR) 24 pts
10. Wagner/Winter (AUT/AUT) 21 pts
ORLEN 79th Rally Poland – RSMP overall classification:
1. Sesks/Francis (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1:34:57,8 s
2. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:04,9 s
3. Grzyb/Binięda (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +4:14,0 s
4. Byśkiniewicz/Siatkowski (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +5:34,1 s
5. Płachytka/Gerber (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +5:34,1 s
6. Kołtun/Pleskot (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +8:03,8 s
7. Roefler/Bała (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +17:35,8 s
8. Predko/Jurgała (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +18:11,9 s
9. Krotoszyński/Martynek (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +19:15,2 s
10. Ociepa/Kuśnierz (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +20:30,2 s
ORLEN 79th Rally Poland – Power Stage results (RSMP):
1. Sesks/Martins (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 5:26,0 s (5 pts)
2. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4,8 s (4 pts)
3. Płachytka/Gerber (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +8,8 s (3 pts)
4. Grzyb/Binięda (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +10,0 s (2 pts)
5. Szeja/Szeja (Hyundai i20 R5) +13,2 s (1 pts)
RSMP standings after ORLEN 79th Rally Poland:
1. Sesks/Francis 60 pts
2. Grzyb/Binięda 55 pts
3. Płachytka/Gerber 49 pts
4. Byśkiniewicz/Siatkowski 39 pts
5. Kołtun/Pleskot 28 pts
6. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk 28 pts
7. Szeja/Szeja 21 pts
8. Parys/Syty 15 pts
9. Predko/Jurgała 15 pts
10. Roefler/Bała 13 pts