The opening day of the 14th Motul Rally Kumrovec brought excitement on two Tuhelj special stages. After a total of 14.66 competitive kilometres, last year’s winners, the German crew Dominik Dinkel and Kathi Götzenberger in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, are in the lead. They hold a 13.7-second advantage over Slovak drivers Robert Kolčak and Julius Lapdavsky in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, while third place goes to the Hungarian crew Antal Kovacs and Richard Csaki (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) who are 16.1 seconds behind the leaders.

A dramatic moment marked the end of the day – double Kumrovec winners, the Slovenian duo Rok Turk and Blanka Kacin (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), who were second after the first stage, went off into a ditch during the night run of the Tuhelj stage and were unable to continue.

In the Croatian Championship standings after day one, the fastest were Matteo Bernini and Lorenzo Mattucci (Hyundai i20 R5), currently fifth overall. Jan Pokos and Vili Ošlaj (Ford Fiesta Rally3) are seventh overall with a time 5.2 seconds slower, while Martin and Dora Ravenščak (Ford Fiesta Rally3) sit thirteenth, 32.4 seconds behind Bernini and Mattucci.

A total of 94 crews from 11 countries started the rally. On Saturday, after the ceremonial start they will face six more special stages on entirely new sections between Veliko Trgovišće and Klanjec, and between Zagorska Sela and Kumrovec. These new routes promise plenty of challenges – crests, jumps, sequences of corners and gravel dragged onto the asphalt by passing cars – making the second day even more demanding.

After 83.55 competitive kilometres, the crews will reach the ceremonial finish at the Staro Selo Museum in Kumrovec at 18:30, where the winners of this year’s rally will be crowned.