- Gaßner/Gaßner take Mitropa Rally Cup win in their Renault Clio Rally3 and sensationally finish second overall
- Austrian crew Alois Nothdufter/Marcel Baumgartner claim commanding win in the historic category with their Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
- Federico Laurencich/Alberto Mlakar (ITA) secure Club Championship honours in their Peugeot 106 Rallye
(Munich, September 08, 2025) At the 7th round of this year’s Mitropa Rally Cup (MRC), the team of Hermann Gaßner Jr. with his wife Ursula as co-driver won in the Renault Clio Rally3 with a lead of more than 2 minutes. At the 14th MOTUL Rally Kumrovec (04–06 September 2025) in northern Croatia, they pulled away from their strongest rival in the fight for this year’s championship, the Slovak Róbert Kolčák in the brand-new Hyundai i20 N Rally2, by more than four and a half minutes. Kolčák finished 3rd in the Mitropa Rally Cup classification, while 2nd place went to Slovenians Mitja Glasenčnik/Matej Pistotnik, also in a Renault Clio Rally3.
In dry conditions on Friday, it was first Kolčák who set the fastest time on the opening stage, before Gaßner – competing in Kumrovec for the first time in his career – struck back on the second run. Nevertheless, Kolčák remained in front of Gaßner in the day’s standings and spent the night as leader of the Mitropa Rally Cup.
Rain during the night and partly on Saturday morning created difficult and challenging conditions for the teams. Hermann Gaßner Jr. defied the circumstances, set all fastest times up to the finish, and won convincingly.
Glasenčnik also passed Kolčák and was in 2nd place at midday service, with Kolčák only 4th. At the finish, Kolčák benefited from problems of Slovenian Ivan Hrženjak, who had been in 3rd place, and thus moved up to 3rd on the podium.
“We didn’t make the smallest mistake,” said Hermann Gaßner Jr. at the finish. “However, the rally didn’t start well for us in the shakedown when we lost a wheel, but thanks to the work of our mechanics the car was ready again in 1 ½ hours. The rally then went perfectly for us and we were able to further extend our lead in the standings.”
Hermann and Ursula Gaßner also placed their car in 2nd overall at the 14th MOTUL Rally Kumrovec after taking two overall best times, behind the Germans Dominik Dinkel and Kathrin Götzenberger, who, after a longer break, were able to win the rally for the second time in a row with their Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Places 4 and 5 went to the German teams Hermann Gaßner Sr./Karin Thannhäuser (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4) and Rüdiger Dilg/Günter Brandl (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo).
In the historic vehicles category, two teams dominated the action. Austrians Alois Nothdufter/Marcel Baumgartner first set the fastest time on SS1 in their Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, but their Hungarian rivals Huba Mang/“Unicum” in a Fiat Ritmo Abarth 130 TC countered immediately and took the lead at the end of day one.
After the restart on Saturday, Nothdufter took the lead straight away with his strong Sierra and did not give it up until the finish. Four of the six stages went to him, and at the end the team finished with a lead of 1:29.1 minutes over the Hungarians in the Ritmo. Thomas Klösch and Thomas Wastian (AUT) drove their Opel Kadett GT/E to 3rd place.
In the Club Championship classification, two teams also alternated in the lead on the first day. At first, reigning champion Martin Kainz with co-driver Katrin Cerny (GER/AUT) set the fastest time in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. But the Italians Federico Laurencich/Alberto Mlakar in their Peugeot 106 Rallye fought back and went into the final service of the day as leaders.
Bad luck for Martin Kainz after the restart on Saturday: with a technical failure of the gear selector he had to retire the car. Laurencich extended his lead continuously throughout the day and at the finish was more than 3 minutes ahead of Hungarian Gábor Zsebe in the Škoda Felicia 1.6. Third place went to Italian Fabio Grendene in the Opel Astra GSi 16V.
