The German crew Dominik Dinkel and Kathi Götzenberger (Ford Fiesta Rally2) successfully defended their title at the 14th Motul Rally Kumrovec. After 98.21 competitive kilometres, they claimed victory with a time of 1:07:06.6, finishing 27.4 seconds ahead of the German-Austrian pairing Hermann Gassner Jr. and Ursula Gassner (Renault Clio Rally3). Third place went to Hungary’s Antal Kovacs and Richard Csaki (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), who were 50.4 seconds behind the winners.

In the Croatian Championship, there was major drama on the penultimate special stage. The leading crew Matteo Bernini and Lorenzo Mattucci (Hyundai i20 R5) ended their run “parked” in a ditch halfway between Veliko Trgovišće and Klanjec. This opened the door for Jan Pokos and Vili Ošlaj (Ford Fiesta Rally3), who took the lead and ultimately secured victory with a time of 1:10:10.2 which was good for sixth place overall. Siblings Martin and Dora Ravenščak (Ford Fiesta Rally3) finished second (and eleventh overall), 2:47.0 behind, while Vjeko Čičko and Eugen Kokolić (Škoda Fabia) completed the podium (and took twelfth overall), 3:42.5 off the winning pace.

A total of 94 crews from 11 countries started the rally, with 67 making it to the finish. Warm and sunny weather attracted several thousand spectators from Croatia and abroad, who enjoyed fierce battles on the extremely demanding special stages filled with crests, jumps and technical sections. The experience was further enhanced by the rich food and wine offerings of Croatia’s Zagorje region.

The new concept of the Kumrovec Rally served as a test for the Croatia Rally, which will partly be run on the same stages in a month’s time as the final round of the European Rally Championship.