During the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Poland) and Maciej Szczepaniak (Poland), driving a ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo with the LOTOS rally team, were leading in the WRC3 category, with Emil Lindholm (Finland) and Mikael Korhonen (Finland) in the same Toksport WRT team car coming second. Meanwhile, the two Toksport WRT teams supported by ŠKODA Motorsport in the WRC2 classification – Marco Bulacia/Marcelo Der Oganesian (Bolivia/Argentina) and Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (Norway) – finished third and fifth respectively, having completed 20 special stages of 300.32 km.
Rallying on asphalt tracks has a peculiarity: cars often pull rocks and rubble from the curb when cutting corners, thus creating an increasingly slippery surface for other competitors. So it’s no surprise that the drivers had a tough time at the first-ever FIA World Rally Championship in Croatia, too. Gravel was scattered in almost every corner.
ŠKODA pilots won the WRC3 category
For several specials, ŠKODA Motorsport’s private teams retained the top three places in the WRC3 class. However, on Sunday morning, the winners of the 2019 FIA European Rally Championship, Chris Ingram (Great Britain) and Ross Whittock (Great Britain) of the SXM Competition team, driving the ŠKODA FABIARally2 evo, pulled off the route, losing several minutes. But Polish and Finnish crews managed to keep their positions. Kajetan Kajetanovic and Maciej Szczepaniak of the LOTOS rally team on ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo led in the WRC3 classification. Finland’s Emal Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen, driving the same model for the Toksport WR team, finished second, just over a minute short of the top three. Ingram and Whittock from Great Britain finished fifth.
Croatian Rally results (WRC2 standings)
- Østberg/Eriksen (Østberg/Eriksen Norway/Norway), Citroen C3 Rally2, 3:01:23.7 h
- Suninen/Markkula (Suninen/Markkula Finland/Finland), Ford FiestaRally2 Mk2, +28.5s
- Bulacia/Der Ohannesian (Bulacia/Der Ohannesian Bolivia/Argentina), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, +2:02.7 min
- Brazzoli/Barone (Brazzoli/Barone Italy/Italy), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, +29:10.3 min
- Mikkelsen/Fløene (Mikkelsen/Fløene Norway/Norway), ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, +39:42.2 min