Mārtiņš Sesks delivered an outstanding drive on his return to the FIA European Rally Championship, storming to a dominant victory at ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland on Sunday.
Back on ERC duty for the first time since Rally Estonia last July, the 2023 title runner-up was rarely challenged across Poland's fast gravel stages. He posted nine fastest times from the 14 tests to take a second career Rally Poland win – following his 2023 triumph – and a fourth ERC victory overall.
Sesks and co-driver Renars Francis steered their SRT-run, MRF-shod Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 to a commanding 1min 06.3sec win over local hero and title contender Miko Marczyk. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team's Jon Armstrong completed the podium, 1min 15.8sec behind the Latvian.
"As I said, it's always great to be back in Poland – and to be back in red," said a smiling Sesks.
Currently contesting a part-time six-round WRC campaign with M-Sport Ford, Sesks returned to the ERC this weekend and proved to be the class of the field on gravel. After going third fastest on Friday night's Mikołajki Arena super special – behind Marczyk – he surged into the lead on Saturday morning's opener, going 9.1sec quicker than nearest rival Roope Korhonen.
A scare followed in SS3 when Sesks misjudged a braking point and brushed the bushes, cutting his advantage to just 1.5sec. But he quickly rebuilt the gap, clocking five stage wins from seven to end Saturday 21.4sec clear.
Despite briefly going off through a farmer's field in SS9, Sesks escaped unscathed. His lead was further solidified when Korhonen, his closest challenger and current championship leader, rolled out of second place on SS10. Both he and co-driver Anssi Viinikka were unharmed.
From there, Sesks added four more stage wins – including a stunning Power Stage victory – to wrap up a commanding win.
Fan favourite Marczyk, who led the rally overnight on Friday, spent most of Saturday in third but inherited second after Korhonen's retirement. He had to fend off growing pressure from Armstrong, especially after the Briton won SS10 and closed the gap to just 6.1sec.
But Marczyk responded well. His cause was helped further when Armstrong, driving a Pirelli-equipped Fiesta Rally2, received a 10sec penalty for destroying a chicane in SS12. Piloting a Michelin-shod Fabia, Marczyk held firm to claim his best ERC finish since winning his home rally in 2022 – although he missed out on Power Stage points.
With back-to-back podiums following third in Sweden, Marczyk now leads the ERC standings by 16 points over Mads Østberg.
"It's good – although we didn't quite get the risk balance right when trying for Power Stage points. Still, I'm really happy to be second at Rally Poland. It was a good weekend for us, and now we need to do the same on Tarmac," he said.
Armstrong secured his first podium of the season – and his first ever on gravel – after climbing from ninth on Saturday morning. A string of fast stage times propelled him to fourth, and then into third on Sunday.
"My first podium overall on gravel. A great weekend – Shane [Byrne] and the team did a fantastic job," he said. "It's been a bit of a bleak year so far in terms of results, so I'm really happy with this."
Isak Reiersen continued his strong form, backing up his Sweden podium with fourth in Poland aboard his Hankook-equipped Škoda. Østberg battled back from Saturday turbo issues to take fifth ahead of Simone Tempestini.
Mille Johansson overcame set-up issues to finish seventh, while title hopeful Andrea Mabellini endured a tough event and could only manage eighth.
The top 10 was completed by local drivers Jakub Matulka and Krzysztof Bubik. Max McRae had been on course for a top 10 finish before losing a left-front tyre off the rim on the final stage. He was also hampered throughout by a handbrake issue with his Citroën C3 Rally2.
In Master ERC, András Hadik claimed victory after Jos Verstappen retired on the Power Stage. The ex-Formula 1 driver damaged his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in an impact and was forced to stop.
The ERC now heads to asphalt for round five: Rally di Roma Capitale, from 4 – 6 July.
Rally Classification:
- M Sesks / R Francis (LVA) Škoda Fabia RS 1h 37m 56.4s
- M Marczyk / S Gospodarczyk (POL) Škoda Fabia RS +1m 6.3s
- J Armstrong / S Byrne (IRL) Ford Fiesta +1m 15.8s
- I Reiersen / S Gustavsson (SWE) Škoda Fabia RS +1m 37.9s
- M Østberg / G Bernacchini (NOR) Citroën C3 +1m 54.9s
- S Tempestini / S Itu (ROU) Škoda Fabia RS +2m 34.4s ...
