The German crew Dominik Dinkel and Kathi Götzenberger, driving a Ford Fiesta Rally2, claimed victory at the 13. Motul Rally Kumrovec. With excellent driving, they won six out of the 11 special stages, while second-placed Hungarians Andras Hadik and Istvan Juhasz, in a Ford Fiesta R5 MK II, were close behind throughout the whole rally. “Quite nice rally, some very special stages, very difficult to drive, with a lot of gravel on the road but we learned a lot from last year,” Dinkel happily stated after his victory in Kumrovec. Third place was also taken by a Hungarian crew, Antal Kovacs and Gergely Istovics, in a Hyundai i20 N Rally.
The Croatian duo Viliam Prodan and Marko Stiperski, in their Škoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo, finished the rally in fifth place, making them the best-ranked local crew for the Croatian Championship. “Here we are at the Kumrovec finish, satisfied, with smiles on our faces. We got along with the car really well towards the end, so the times were good, we were fast. Had we had a test before the event, maybe we would have been in the fight for third place. All in all, great, a 5 for Kumrovec from us,” said Prodan after the competition.
Second in the Croatian Championship standings and 11th overall in the Kumrovec rally were Jan Pokos and Slovenian Vili Ošlaj in a Ford Fiesta Rally 3. “It was great. We finished as the second-best among the Croatians. The first day we underperformed a bit, but on the second day we woke up, started strong from the morning, and here we are with the result”, Pokos shared.
Fifteen-year-old Italian Matteo Bernini and his co-driver Paolo Zanini, in a Hyundai i20 R5, achieved the third-best time for the Croatian Championship and finished 12th overall in the rally. “A beautiful rally, beautiful stages, but very tough and very dirty. The car is very fast and very good, and we’re happy to have finished the rally,” Bernini commented.
A total of 91 crews started the 13. Motul Rally Kumrovec, with 70 successfully reaching the finish line. Reasons for retirements were mostly technical issues or car damage due to going off the track.
