The first competition day of the 15th MOTUL Rally Kumrovec delivered top-tier driving and lived up to the expectations of the numerous motorsport fans who followed the action along the track. Out of 58 registered crews, 56 crews took the start of this year’s edition, with the first day marked by the dominance of the Italian duo.

Dominance on the Shakedown and in Tuhelj

The Italian crew announced their strong performance during the shakedown, where Matteo Bernini and Lorenzo Mattucci set the fastest time of 1:16.700 in their Škoda Fabia Rally2. Second fastest was the Slovenian crew Mitja Glasenčnik – Matej Pistotnik in a Hyundai i20 Rally2 (1:18.500), while Germans Manuel Kößler and Benedikt Hofmann took third in a Hyundai i20 R5 (1:19.000).

A similar scenario unfolded on the first special stage (SS 1 Tuhelj 1). Bernini and Mattucci opened the rally with a winning time of 5:01.0, ahead of Glasenčnik and Pistotnik (5:04.6) and the Hungarian crew Antal Kovacs – Richard Csaki (5:08.3).

The Italian tandem kept up the pace on the second run through Tuhelj (SS 2 Tuhelj 2), winning with a time of 5:07.2, once again ahead of Glasenčnik and Pistotnik (5:12.7), while Austrians Maximilian Lichtenegger and Bernhard Ettel placed third on this stage (5:15.3).

Overall Standings and the Fastest Local Crew

After completing the first two special stages, Bernini and Mattucci went into the overnight regrouping as the leaders of the overall classification with a 9.1-second advantage over second-placed Glasenčnik and Pistotnik. Sitting third overall are Manuel Kößler and Benedikt Hofmann, trailing the second-place crew by 10.5 seconds.

The title of the most successful Croatian tandem on day one went to Tomas Hrvatin and Đani Simčić. In their Ford Fiesta Rally4, they put together great stage times to finish the first day in 15th place overall.

The battles for the podium continue on Saturday with six remaining special stages on the schedule!