Tom Kristensson and Andreas Johansson (Hyundai i20 R5), according to unofficial results, has won the 67th Rally of Vistula! The Swedes covered the fastest eight of the ten special stages and outclassed the competition. In second place were Grzegorz Grzyb and Adam Binięda (+1:14.4 s, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), who won the remaining two special stages. The podium in Wisla was completed by Kacper Wróblewski and Jakub Wróbel (+2:10.6 s, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo).
Kristensson and Johansson were second to none during today’s stage. The representatives of KOWAX 2BRALLY Racing started the stage with a lead of just under nine seconds and finished just over a minute ahead of the next crew. Until the end, the battle for the second position was fought, which until the ninth special stage was held by Wróblewski and Wróbel. The winners of this year’s first round of the RSMP (Poland’s Rally Championship – ed.) struggled today with engine faults and eventually took the lowest step of the podium. Second place was won by Grzyb and Binięda, who retained their chances of fighting for the championship title.
Behind the podium were Zbigniew Gabryś and Daniel Dymurski (+3:38.1 s, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), who lost their chances of a podium finish during the final Power Stage when they crashed off the course and took a long time to find their way out of the field. Also classified in the top five were Łukasz Byśkiniewicz and Daniel Siatkowski (+5:32.7 s), who made their debut in a car new to them, the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.
A high sixth place was taken by Kamil Bolek and Łukasz Jastrzębski driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 (+6:34.8 s), winning Class 3. They were followed by Adam Sroka and Patryk Kielar, winners of the 2WD category and Class 4 (+8:45.6 s, Peugeot 208 Rally4). By the ninth special stage, Jacek Sobczak and Michał Marczewski (Porsche 911 GT3) were in the lead in this category, but problems on the track resulted in a significant loss and dropping out of the top ten. This test also proved unlucky for Jarosław and Marcin Szej, whose Hyundai i20 R5 broke down. Up to that point they had been in a good fourth place overall.
The eighth position was taken by Czech visitors Petr Zedník and Olga Zedníková, losing 10:04.7 s (Ford Fiesta Rally2), and ninth by Marcin Kowal and Sebastian Lenkowski (+10:59.6 s, Ford Fiesta Rally3). The top ten was closed by Marek Nowak and Adam Grzelka (+12:14.4 s, Opel Corsa Rally4)
MOTUL Historic Polish Rally Championship
After yesterday’s stage, leading the overall classification in the MOTUL HRSMP were Marcin Grzelewski and Krzysztof Niedbała (Ford Sierra Cosworth 4×4), who beat the duo of Grzegorz Olchawski and Przemysław Bosek (Audi Quattro) by nearly 40 seconds. In third place were Marek Suder and Marcin Kowalik (Ford Sierra Cosworth 4×4). The current Polish champions set about making up for their losses from the very start of Saturday’s stage and were unbeatable. They won five of the six special stages and, according to unofficial results, won the 67th Rally of Wisła, beating the Grzelewski/Niedbała duo by 34.3 seconds and Olchawski with Bosek by 4 minutes 45.3 seconds.
Southern Rally Championship and Silesian Rally Championship
The day started best for Marcin Pogorzelski and Krzysztof Grzesik (Citroen C2 GT), who won the first run of the Laliki stage and came out in the lead. However, they lost almost 50 seconds on the next test and the main role by the end of the day was played by Maciej Hawro with Wojciech Kolaczek (Honda Civic VTi EG6). The season’s table leaders won all the trials to the end and confidently won the combined round of the Southern Rally Championship and the Silesian Rally Championship. Pogorzelski with Grzesik (+53.1 s) were classified second and Marcin Gluza with Kamila Klaczańska (+1:20.6 s, Honda Civic VTi EG6) took the lowest step of the podium. It is worth noting that a very high fourth place was taken by Damian Boncela and Jacek Wasilewski (+3:09.7 s), driving a Kia Picanto II RallyN of RN3 class.