Roope Korhonen survived a demanding Sunday to claim a maiden FIA European Rally Championship victory on debut at ERC Staff House Rally Hungary.
The Finnish pair of Korhonen and co-driver Anssi Viinikka, driving an MRF-equipped Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, navigated through incredibly rough gravel stages, that tested crews and machines to their limits. The duo took the win by 30.1 seconds from Mads Østberg, piloting a Michelin-shod Citroën C3 Rally2.
Miko Marczyk benefitted from a day of high drama to claim the final podium place, 31.4 seconds adrift, behind the wheel of his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Marczyk was only 1.3 seconds away from snatching second from Østberg.
“[It] feels amazing I have to say. This last one [stage] was really rough. Also, one important thing; Happy Mothers’ Day,” added an ecstatic Korhonen.
Korhonen produced an impressive drive throughout, winning five of the 13 stages, but the run to victory wasn’t without drama. Korhonen ended Saturday 10.6 seconds behind leader Andrea Mabellini, before winning the trio of Sunday morning stages to reduce the gap to the Italian to 1.9 seconds.
However, the wind was taken out of Korhonen’s charge when the Clerk or the Course handed the Finn a 10-second penalty for hitting a chicane on stage 10. Although, Korhonen immediately bounced back, moving into the lead on the next test, where the rally was turned on its head. Mabellini dropped 26.2 seconds after suffering tire damage, handing Korhonen a 0.7 seconds lead despite the latter also knocking a tire off the rim.
Unfortunately, the damage sustained to the suspension on Mabellini’s Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in stage 11 forced the Italian, who led the rally throughout Saturday, into retirement.
Mabellini’s exit handed Korhonen a relatively healthy 37-second lead over Østberg to take into the Power Stage – a second pass through the rough and rutted Iszka test. Korhonen managed to avoid further drama to claim the memorable victory.
Østberg had been locked in a fight for fourth with Marczyk for much of the rally, but that became third on Sunday morning when Simone Tempestini hit trouble in his Fabia RS. Tempestini, last year’s winner, led the rally after winning Friday night’s super special stage but dropped back to third through Saturday. The Romanian’s podium hopes were shattered after suffering tire damage in stage 10, before a broken steering arm forced him off the road and into retirement on stage 11.
After stage eight Østberg and Marczyk couldn’t be split, sharing identical overall times, although it was the former that ultimately came out of the battle on top to take a first ERC podium since winning in Hungary in 2023.
“Very pleased to be honest. It’s been many tough rallies, I was on the edge of retiring last year,” revealed Østberg at the end of Sunday.
Isak Reiersen came home in fourth despite being among those to suffer tyre damage on Sunday afternoon’s stages, driving a Hankook-shod Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Gábor Német was the top Hungarian driver in fifth, ahead of Romania’s Norbert Maior who impressed on his ERC Rally2 debut.
Sasa Ollé finished seventh claiming Master ERC honors from Jos Verstappen by 26.2 seconds, whose hopes were derailed by an overshoot on stage 10. Verstappen went on to finish the rally in eighth overall, ahead of Hungary’s Norbert Herczig.
M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong rounded out the top 10 after recovering from a double wheel change in Saturday’s stage 6. Armstrong had been sitting third when the drama struck, costing him six minutes.
Igor Widłak claimed the ERC3 class from Márton Bertalan by 17.2 seconds after longtime leader Tristan Charpentier dropped 13 minutes in stage 10, when his fire extinguisher went off towards the end of the test. ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team’s Calle Carlberg clinched the Junior ERC and ERC4 wins by a comfortable four minutes 35.7 seconds from Victor Hansen.
