- Hermann Gaßner Jr./Ursula Gaßner win the Mitropa Rally Cup (MRC) classification at the Rally del Casentino
- Rino Muradore/Cristina Delbello (ITA) take victory in the historic category with their Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII
- Martin Kainz/Natascha Vrga (GER/AUT) win the Club Championship classification in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
(Munich, July 14, 2025) Hermann Gaßner Jr. and co-driver Ursula Gaßner (GER/AUT) celebrated a dominant win in the Mitropa Rally Cup classification at Rally del Casentino (July 11–12, 2025) in Bibbiena, Tuscany. Driving their Hyundai i20 R5, the duo controlled the event from start to finish and never looked back. From the very first stage, Gaßner Jr. made it clear he meant business, and by the end of Saturday night, they had pulled out a commanding lead of nearly four minutes over runners-up Rüdiger Dilg and Günter Brandl in their Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo.
“The rally turned out to be tougher than I expected,” Gaßner Jr. said at the finish. “It took me a bit to get fully back into the Hyundai’s rhythm after a longer break – the last time I drove here was back in 2019. But I’m thrilled to be leading the championship. Looks like we’ll need to adjust our season plans to keep our title chances alive in the Mitropa Rally Cup.”
Rüdiger Dilg was just as upbeat: “Rally del Casentino was amazing as always – it’s definitely my favorite event! I’ll be going full throttle at Rally Kumrovec. I’m doing the rest of the season to score as many points as possible.”
The fight for third was a real nail-biter. Hungarian crew Zoltán László and László Balázs Zsolt looked set to take the podium, but Hermann Gaßner Sr. and Karin Thannhäuser had other plans. Driving a Renault Clio Rally3, they came into the final stage, the iconic 29.6 km "Talla," stage by 26.7 seconds. But Gaßner Sr. unleashed a stunning drive, not only making up the gap but finishing 16.8 seconds ahead of the Hungarians. Ralf Mangertseder and Tim Otterbach (GER) brought the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to a solid debut in fifth.
“We’re super happy with third,” said Gaßner Sr., a seven-time Mitropa Rally Cup champion. “The Clio is 200 kilograms lighter than the Mitsubishi we used before and much more agile – that really suited this rally. And thankfully, we were spared the usual Casentino heat. Honestly, this might’ve been the coolest edition I’ve ever done.”
In the historic category, Italian duo Rino Muradore and Cristina Delbello grabbed the win in their Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII. After setting the pace on Friday night, they were briefly overtaken on Saturday morning when Alois Nothdurfter and Thomas Zuppardi (AUT/GER) in their Ford Sierra RS Cosworth clocked two fastest times. But Muradore hit back with three more stage wins and secured victory with a margin of 36.9 seconds. Third place went to Austrians Thomas Klösch and Thomas Wastian in their Opel Kadett GT/E.
The MRC Club Championship was all about Martin Kainz and Natascha Vrga (GER/AUT), who delivered a clean sweep of stage wins in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. “We’re really happy with how things went,” Kainz said at the finish. “That Talla stage was intense – we got caught in the rain and needed real guts to get through it.”
After Friday night, Norberto Droandi and Sandro Sanesi (ITA) held second in their Peugeot 106 Rallye, but later slipped behind the German duo Andreas Rink and Jean Ihlefeldt (Subaru Impreza GT), and eventually also Mirsad Guzin and Rebeka Kobal (Subaru Impreza STi N11) on the penultimate stage.
