- After a duel with Hermann Gaßner jun. the Slovakian Robert Kolčák in the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 takes first place
- Victory in the classification for historic cars went to the local team Thomas and Sandra Maria Klösch in their Opel Kadett GT/E
- The Club Championship classification was won by the German team Florian Auer/Elke Irlacher in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
(Munich, April 13, 2025) Robert Kolčák and co-driver Julius Lapdavský in the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 won the second round of this year's Mitropa Rally Cup (MRC) at the 47th Laser Hero Lavanttal Rally powered by Dohr Wolfsberg (11-12 April 2025) in Austria.
It began after the start on Friday afternoon with a duel between the Slovakian and Hermann Gaßner jun. with co-driver Ursula Mayrhofer (DEU/AUT) in the Renault Clio Rally3. Kolčák took the lead in the first special stage, but the second stage went to Gaßner. So it was a lively back-and-forth. After five special stages, Robert Kolčák was just 5 seconds ahead of Hermann Gaßner Jr. at the entrance to the overnight stop. The team of Hermann Gaßner Sr./Karin Thannhäuser in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4 was already in third place at this point, ahead of their German compatriot Ralf Mangertseder (Škoda Fabia R5), who was in fourth place with co-driver Tim Otterbach. The top 5 is completed by Hungarian Zoltán László (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2).
After the restart on Saturday, Gaßner jun. took the lead with 3 fastest times in succession, pushing Kolčák into second place. However, the Renault Clio Rally3 then developed problems with the rear axle differential, forcing Gaßner to retire and leave the lead, and with it the victory, to Robert Kolčák. Hermann Gaßner sr. also made it onto the podium in 3rd place after a safe drive. Mangertseder/Otterbach celebrate 4th place in the Mitropa Rally Cup classification. The Slovenian team of Domen Mihevc/Klara Slejko in the Peugeot 208 Rally4 finished in 5th place, also making them the best team in the two-wheel-drive category.
Local drivers Thomas and Sandra Maria Klösch won the classification for historic cars in their Opel Kadett GT/E. With a start-finish victory, they left nothing to chance and clearly prevailed against the Italian Rino Muradore (Ford Escort RS 2000 MKII). After the first regrouping on Saturday morning, it initially looked as if Muradore would be able to counterattack. But in this race he had no chance against Klösch, who finished half a minute ahead of the Italian. Jörg Schieder/Marcel Baumgartner (AUT) in the BMW 528i E28 finished in 3rd place. After a duel against the Hungarians Csaba Fehérvári/Imre Pozsonyi (Toyota Corolla AE92), the Austrians kept the upper hand and finished the rally 50.9 seconds ahead of the Hungarian team.
MITROPA RALLY CUP 2025
In the MRC special classification of the Club Championship, Florian Auer/Elke Irlacher (DEU) drove home a superior start-finish victory with their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII. Auer already had a comfortable lead of 2:50.4 minutes over the Italian team Federico Laurencich/Alberto Mlakar (Peugeot 106 Rally) at the overnight break on Friday evening, followed by their compatriots Nicola Graziadei/Michael Parisotto (Citroën Saxo VTS). After the restart on Saturday morning, Mitropa Rally Cup President Norberto Droandi in his Peugeot 106 Rallye set the third-fastest special stage time twice. However, this did not change the ranking. Auer won by a clear margin of 8:41.4 minutes ahead of Laurencich and Graziadei.
