(13.05.2025) Fifth place in Spain, a podium finish in Hungary, 44 points scored and, most importantly, first place in the European Championship standings – this is what Mikołaj “Miko” Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) achieved during first two rounds of 2025 FIA ERC season. This means that in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia (29-31 May) in Sweden, where the third round of the series will be held, the ORLEN Team crew will face the challenge as the FIA ERC leader. They will be also seen in action at the stages of ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland (13-15 June).
The Polish classic, which will be run in Masurian region for the twentieth time, will mark the halfway point of this year’s competition in the Old Continent and will be the third in a row and the last round of the FIA ERC held on a loose surface this season. The Polish round of the European Championship is a competition that Marczyk and Gospodarczyk have already won. The two-time Polish champions triumphed in Mikołajki in the 2022 season.
The current leaders of the FIA ERC standings started this year’s campaign in Spain with the Sierra Morena Rally, the opening round of the series (4-6 May). On the tarmac stages in Andalusia, they finished fifth in the overall standings and scored 20 points including three for Power Stage result.
A month later, FIA ERC crews switched to gravel. The first opportunity to compete on loose surface was the 6th Rally Hungary, held near the city of Veszprem.
As in previous years, pace was not the only key factor in the competition north of Lake Balaton. It was also important to take care of the car and avoid problems. Minor or major issues ruined the chances of many crews to achieve the expected result or even forced them to withdraw from the competition. Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and last year’s winners Simone Tempestini and Sergio Itu (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) were among those who did not reach the finish. Bad luck was also shared by Jakub Matulka and Damian Syty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), who rolled the car on the penultimate stage.
Marczyk and Gospodarczyk steadily climbed up the overall standings recording ten top times at all stages. After the twelfth and penultimate test, they moved up to third place. On the Power Stage, they pushed hard to take second position held by Mads Ostberg and Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 Rally2). The Poles were 3.5 seconds faster than the Norwegians, but it was not enough to make up the 4.8-second gap. First place – in their first FIA ERC outing – went to Roope Korhonen and Ansi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2). It was the first time since 2014 that a driver has won an ERC event on debut.
The third place in Hungary is Marczyk’s sixth podium finish in the FIA ERC. The ORLEN Team duo left Veszprem with 24 points, including three earned in the Power Stage. As a result, the Poles took the lead in the standings with 44 points. Ostberg and Eriksen are seven points behind, while the winners from Andalusia, Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov (34 points), are in third place.
Igor Widłak and Daniel Dymurski (Ford Fiesta Rally3) finished the competition in sixteenth place, first in the ERC3 classification. Hubert Kowalczyk and Jarosław Hryniuk (Renault Clio Rally3) were two places lower in this category. Błażej Gazda and Michał Jurgała (5th place, Renault Clio Rally3) also reached the finish line. Tymoteusz Abramowski and Grzegorz Dachowski (Ford Fiesta Rally3) and Adrian Rzeźnik with Kamil Kozdron (Ford Fiesta Rally3) struggled with technical problems and finished eighth and ninth in the class, respectively.
FIA ERC standings after Rally Hungary (round 2/8):
1. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk 44 points
2. Ostberg/Eriksen 37 points
3. Gryazin/Aleksandrov 34 points
4. Korhonen/Viinnikka 31 points
5. Bonato/Bolloud 26 points
6. Mabellini/Lenzi 24 points
7. Suarez/Iglesias Pin 22 points
8. Reiersen/Gustavsson 19 points
9. Nemet/Nemeth 17 points
10. Lopez/Vazquez 15 points