The FIA European Rally Championship season is set for a thrilling climax with title contender Jon Armstrong leading the Croatia Rally finale.
Fresh from their maiden ERC win at JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne continued their impressive form to win five of the six challenging asphalt stages to lead WRC2 event winner Robert Virves by 27.3sec after stage six.
Armstrong started this final round facing an outside shot at the title, sitting 20 points behind championship leader Marczyk, but the M-Sport-Ford driver's performance has left the Irishman firmly in title fight heading into Sunday's final four stages.
However, Marczyk remains the favourite to lift the championship trophy despite ending Friday in sixth after his nearest championship rival Andrea Mabellini, who started the event two points behind, crashed out on SS4.
Armstrong, starting fifth on the road, set a blistering pace across the morning's three speed tests to complete a clean sweep of stage wins and put his Pirelli-shod Ford Fiesta Rally2 into a 22.5sec lead ahead of Virves' Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, equipped with Hankook tyres.
"I have not really been thinking about it [the title fight] too much today, but there is still a long way to go and tomorrow the rain is going to come. I had that in mind this afternoon," said Armstrong.
Mads Østberg, making his 300th rally start, drove his Michelin-equipped Citroën C3 Rally2 to the final podium position [+47.6sec] after drama struck M-Sport-Ford World Rally Team's Romet Jürgenson on SS6.
Jürgenson, who finished second at Rali Ceredigion last month, delivered strong pace throughout with the highlight being a fastest time in SS4 that lifted the Estonian to third. Hopes of a podium finish were dented when his Fiesta suffered a front left tyre deflation in the final stage of the day, which dropped the M-Sport driver to eighth overall.
Østberg, competing alongside a new co-driver in Lorcan Moore, had been locked in a battle with Mille Johansson for much of the day. Two spins from Johansson on SS4 and SS6 proved costly as the Swede had to settle for fourth place ahead of Norbert Maior.
Championship leader Marczyk completed Saturday's leg in sixth after a challenging day despite facing the best of the road conditions. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver overshot a junction on SS3 while struggling to find his rhythm.
"It was not a good day from my side. The morning was average but the afternoon was not like I would like. The stages are difficult and there are lots of opportunities to make a mistake," said Marczyk.
"I decided for the first stage of this loop to be on the safe side but in the second one I was trying to drive better, but the time was not there. Here [in the final stage] I would say it was very tricky and to be in the game I decided to be cautious and probably we would have lost some time. I need to sleep well and one more time get into the rhythm which I know we can drive. It will be a different story and it will be different conditions but I need to come back to driving how I like."
Some pressure was lifted from Marczyk's shoulders when nearest title rival Mabellini exited the rally on SS4 after a high speed off that inflicted an oil leak and prevented the Italian from continuing. Mabellini and co-driver Virgi Lenzi had just moved ahead of Marczyk into fifth, and had been in a prime position to challenge for the title.
The top 10 was completed by Norbert Herczig, Jürgenson and MRF Tyres drivers Lauri Joona and Simone Tempestini, who was fortunate to recover from a high-speed spin on SS4.
Jakub Matulka, who was third-fastest in Friday's qualifying, retired due to damage sustained from running off the road on SS1. Simon Wagner joined the Polish driver on the retirement list after misjudging a long right-hander on SS2.
The 2025 ERC season will conclude on Sunday with crews set to face four more stages, comprising 55.70 competitive kilometres.
Standings after Saturday (SS6 /10):
1. J Armstrong / S Byrne IRL Ford Fiesta Rally2 1h 11m 42.6s
2. R Virves / J Viilo EST Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +27.3s
3. M Østberg / L Moore NOR Citroën C3 Rally2 +47.6s
4. M Johansson / J Grönvall SWE Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +50.4s
5. N Maior / F Maior ROU Citroën C3 Rally2 +1m 20.0s
6. M Marczyk / S Gospodarczyk POL Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +1m 22.1s ...
