13 October 2024

Mabellini snatches Rally Silesia lead

Three special stages remained before Rally Silesia comes to an end, concluding both the European and Polish championship seasons. Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) will try to keep the lead during the final loop of the event. Italian duo climbed up to first position after winning the Silesian Voivodship loop-ending stage (11.87 km).

The battle in the Rally Silesia – the final round of the European and Polish championships – is entering a crucial phase. After Saturday’s leg, New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard (Hyundai i20N Rally2) were the leaders. Over the course of first eight stages, the reigning champions built up a 6.8s gap over Mabellini and Lenzi. The third position was held by Simone Tempestini and Francesca Maior (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) from Romania, who dropped Mikołaj Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) – the best of the Polish crews – down to fourth place on Saturday afternoon.

The itinerary of Sunday’s leg of the Silesia Rally included three special stages, each running twice. After a short morning service at the Silesian Stadium, during which the key issue was the tyre choice for the first loop, the competitors set off for the Marklowice Górne stage (11.46 km).

Crews could take a maximum of six wheels, including two spares, taking into account the characteristics of the stages, weather forecasts and individual preferences. Some teams expected rain, so their mechanics prepared a wet-weather setup and put rain tyres into the boot.

The rain eventually came. Fleeting rainfall passed over the route of the next stages – Hażlach (17.45 km) and Silesian Voivodship (11.87 km), making the conditions unpredictable.

Silesian Voivodship – the decisive stage

It was still dry in Marklowice Górne, with Jon Armstrong and Eoin Treacy (Ford Fiesta Rally2) setting the best time. For the Irishmen it was the third stage victory in the Silesian Rally. Second-placed Mabellini and Lenzi lost a second, clocking second fastest time. Paddon and Kennard needed 2.5s more to complete the route, keeping their lead in the overall standings. Stage win moved Armstrong up to fourth, swapping places with Mathieu Franceschi and Andy Malfoy (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2). Tempestini and Maior went off the road on SS9 and had to withdraw from the rally. Romanian’s bad luck promoted Marczyk and Gospodarczyk back to third overall.

Armstrong repeated his success on the Hażlach stage, where he also clocked the best time, beating Paddon by 3.8 and Mabellini by 4.6 seconds. Marczyk achieved the fifth result, which saw him drop to fourth overall.

The most difficult, unpredictable conditions were on the final stage of the morning loop. Mabellini launched his attack, beating Paddon by as much as eight seconds and taking the lead in the rally. Marczyk answered to Armstrong. Pole finished the test third and returned to third overall.

The three morning tests did not change the top three in the Polish championship round classification. Marczyk and Gospodarczyk lead the field. They are followed by Grzyb and Binięda (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, +34.9 s) and Jarek and Marcin Szeja (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, +1:10.2 s), who are driving very cautiously and maturely, as maintaining this result gives them the title of Polish champions, regardless of their rivals’ results.

Paddon plays safe game

– On the Silesian Voivodship stage, we almost went off the road several times. It was difficult to keep the rhythm and the right pace as the conditions changed literally all the time – commented Jon Armstrong, fourth in the Silesian Rally classification.

– Hażlach was the most difficult stage of Rally Silesia. It felt like the Barum Rally (Czech round of the European Championship – editor’s note), which is famous for its extremely demanding stages. ‘For the last stage, I fitted the wheels in the cross pattern – two rain tyres and two slicks, which turned out to be a good combination – said Mabellini, the new rally leader.

-Driving in the rain was a bit stressful, especially as we don’t want to take any risks and play it safe, Paddon explained.

– The last stage of the loop was already 70 per cent dry. The wind was causing the tarmac to dry out, so each successive crew was already experiencing better and better conditions – said Marczyk.

The fastest crew in the Rally3 car are the Swedes – Mille Johansson and Johan Gronvall (Ford Fiesta Rally3). Hubert Laskowski and Michał Kuśnierz lead this classification in the round of the national championship round. Among the competitors in 2WD cars, Calle Carslberg and Jorgen Eriksen (Opel Corsa Rally4) lead the way.

Rally Silesia – FIA ERC standings after SS11 (Silesian Voivodeship):

  1. Mabellini/Lenzi (ITA/ITA, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:20:16,5 s
  2. Paddon/Kennard (NZL/NZL, Hyundai i20N Rally2) +1,0 s
  3. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +46,4 s
  4. Armstrong/Treacy (IRL/IRL, Ford Fiesta Rally2) +51,8 s
  5. Franceschi/Malfoy (FRA/FRA, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:05,4 s
  6. Grzyb/Binięda (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) +1:21,3 s
  7. Bonato/Bolloud (FRA/FRA, Citroen C3 Rally2) +1:40,7 s
  8. Szeja/Szeja (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +1:56,6 s
  9. Gabryś/Syty (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:58,5 s
  10. Byśkiniewicz/Siatkowski (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +2:18,0 s

Rally Silesia – RSMP standings after SS11 (Silesian Voivodeship):

  1. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1:21:02.9 s
  2. Grzyb/Binięda (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) +34.9 s
  3. Szeja/Szeja (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +1:10.2 s
  4. Gabryś/Syty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:12.1 s
  5. Byśkiniewicz/Siatkowski (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +1:31.6 s
  6. Kołtun/Pleskot (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2:01.6 s
  7. Matulka/Dymurski (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +2:04.4 s
  8. Laskowski/Kuśnierz (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +3:37.4 s
  9. Krotoszyński/Martynek (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +4:05.2 s
  10. Kwiatkowski/Kozdroń (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) +4:46.1 s