Miko Marczyk emerged from a tense three-way fight to claim a maiden European Rally Championship title, while M-Sport-Ford rival Jon Armstrong took the victory in the Croatia finale.
Skoda driver Marczyk headed into the 10-stage asphalt final round with a two-point lead over Andrea Mabellini, with M-Sport-Ford’s Armstrong an outside shot at the crown 20 points back after winning the penultimate round in Wales last month.
Armstrong boosted his title hopes by dominating Saturday, despite picking up a puncture in stage four. The Irishman claimed five of the six stages to open up a 27.3s lead, with Marczyk down in sixth after struggling to find the rhythm behind the wheel of his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car. An overshoot at junction in stage three also didn’t help his cause.
Some pressure was lifted from the Polish driver’s shoulders when nearest rival Mabellini crashed out of the rally on stage four. The Italian had just moved into fifth position with Marczyk and co-driver Szymon Gospodarczyk down in seventh. However, a spin followed by an impact caused an oil leak which ended his rally and championship hopes on the spot.
Torrential rain added an extra curveball into the mix for Sunday’s final four stages. The treacherous conditions favoured Marczyk, who set fastest times in stages seven and nine to climb from sixth to third. Marczyk was also aided by Mille Johansson crashing out of fourth in stage seven and a spin for Robert Virves in stage eight, the latter had started the day in second overall behind Armstrong.
Marczyk held his nerve through the final two stages to finish third to secure the ERC title by six points from Armstrong. The result was Marczyk’s fifth podium from eight events, emphasising the Pole’s consistency, despite missing out on a victory this year, having finished inside the top seven at every event.
“I’m happy, I don’t know what to say, because it is a lot of emotions to process. It is important to trust in the process,” said Marczyk.
“It is probably the biggest dream in my sporting life and when I was 15 years old I started doing indoor karting and then I decided to go to rally. There are three Polish guys that are European champions and to be in a group with Sobiesław Zasada and Kajetan Kajetanowicz is something really special.”
Armstrong produced a faultless drive in the tricky wet conditions to seal his second ERC win, beating Citroen driver Mads Ostberg, making his 300th rally start, by 45.7s. Armstrong maximised his chances of stealing the title away from Marczyk by claiming the maximum points on the rally ending Power Stage.
“It has been an amazing year and there are so many people to thank. Shane [Byrne, co-driver] has been doing a great job especially in the last three rallies and M-Sport have been really pushing and the car has been really good, and then there is the support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy to push us and make us stronger,” said Armstrong.
“What an event. Today we had to be controlled in treacherous conditions and we are fastest on the Power Stage, we couldn’t do much more.”
A second podium of the season sealed fourth in the championship standings for Ostberg, behind Mabellini.
“It is great to be here and great to have done 300 rallies. I seem to still be able to drive at least. There is no need for a wheelchair yet,” smiled Ostberg.
FIA Rally Star driver Romet Jurgenson impressed to finish his second ERC start of the year in fourth, having run as high as third before a puncture on stage six. WRC2 round winner Virves completed the top five.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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