Simone Tempestini has taken victory at Rally Hungary, the opening round of the 2024 ERC (European Rally Championship) season.
The Romanian driver inherited the lead in the penultimate stage of the rally in what was a dramatic final day at the gravel event.
Mikko Heikkilä led the rally after Saturday by just 2.3 seconds over Mārtiņš Sesks, with Tempestini in P3 just 6.3 seconds off the lead. Reigning ERC champion, Hayden Paddon, was in P4 after day 1, 12 seconds behind Heikkilä.
Toyota’s of Heikkilä and Sesks 1 and 2 at the beginning of Sunday
An intriguingly close battle awaited for Sunday. It was Heikkilä who started the final day in the best way possible, winning the first two stages, and extending his lead to 10.1 seconds. But then disaster struck Heikkilä as he was forced to retire as he had lost a wheel: “I can’t tell you what happened, we suddenly lost the wheel. First, the rim broke, then we lost all of it so. Nothing special that we hit though, on this kind of road you hit lots of things but I can’t think what we hit that made us lose the wheel,” the Finn said.
With Heikkilä out, a first (international) overall victory for the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 was still a possibility with Sesks inheriting the lead with three stages to go. Tempestini was second, a slender 2.1s behind Sesks, with Paddon in P3, 5.7s off the lead.
Sesks extended his lead in SS11 to 6.8s before clipping a rock in SS12. The Latvian driver broke the rear-left suspension of his GR Yaris Rally2 forcing him to retire. A golden opportunity for Tempestini arose as he inherited the lead with 1 stage to go. Paddon moved up to P2 and was 7.7 seconds behind Tempestini.
Mathieu Franceschi was third with one stage to go. The Frenchman led the rally after SS2 but rolled in SS3, dropping 52 seconds. An impressive comeback drive found the 24-year-old in P3, albeit just 1.8s ahead of home hero Miklós Csomós.
Drama in the Power Stage
The drama wasn’t over, however. Hayden Paddon pushed for victory in the final Power Stage and was 3.9 seconds faster than Tempestini on the splits before disaster struck for the New Zealander. He picked up a puncture and lost half a minute. With the margins so small, it meant that Paddon dropped from the podium.
Paddon’s time loss meant Franceschi finished in P2 as he held off Csomós in the Power Stage. Franceschi dominantly won the Power Stage by being a big 11.1 seconds faster than anybody else, claiming his first ERC podium in the process. Csomós finished ahead of Paddon in P3, but it was Tempestini who triumphed in Hungary, his first ERC win.
First ERC Junior victory for McRae
In the ERC Junior, victory went to Max McRae. The 19-year-old son of Alister McRae won with a difference of 1 minute and 40.6 seconds. McRae was the fastest driver with a Rally4 car, claiming the ERC4 win too with a margin of just over 1 minute.
In the ERC3, Filip Kohn claimed the win with the Ford Fiesta Rally3.
ERC Rally Hungary 2024 – Final results
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tempestini / Itu | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 1:52:50.4 |
| 2. | Franceschi / Malfoy | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +17.0 |
| 3. | Csomós / Nagy | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | +29.9 |
| 4. | Paddon / Kennard | Hyundai i20 N Rally2 | +44.5 |
| 5. | Cais / Bacigál | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +1:44.0 |
| 6. | Marczyk / Gospodarczyk | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +1:59.3 |
| 7. | Mabellini / Lenzi | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +2:12.6 |
| 8. | Armstrong / Treacy | Ford Fiesta Rally2 | +2:20.5 |
| 9. | Wagner / Winter | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +3:49.1 |
| 10. | Mareš / Bucha | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +4:10.9 |
The ERC championship standings are as follows after the first round of the season:
ERC 2024 Drivers’ Championship – Standings after Round 1/8 [Top 15]
| # | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Simone Tempestini | 33 |
| 2. | Mathieu Franceschi | 29 (-4) |
| 3. | Miklós Csomós | 25 (-8) |
| 4. | Hayden Paddon | 19 (-14) |
| 5. | Erik Cais | 17 (-16) |
| 6. | Miko Marczyk | 15 (-18) |
| 7. | Andrea Mabellini | 15 (-18) |
| 8. | Jon Armstrong | 12 (-21) |
| 9. | Simon Wagner | 9 (-24) |
| 10. | Filip Mareš | 7 (-26) |
| 11. | Vladas Jurkevicius | 5 (-28) |
| 12. | Frigyes Turán | 4 (-29) |
| 13. | Martin László | 3 (-30) |
| 14. | Giacomo Costenaro | 2 (-31) |
| 15. | Kristóf Klausz | 1 (-32) |
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
