[ERC] Rally Poland 2023

[Jarek Z]

The 79th edition of Rally Poland will be held as round three of European Rally Championship. It will be held from 19 - 21 May and is the first of three rounds on gravel. 16 special stages will decide who will be the winner. The participants of the oldest event in the ERC calendar will compete on stages known from previous editions of the rally, as well as on roads which have never been used before.

Round: 3
Date: 19 - 21 May
Location: Mikolajki, Poland
Surface: gravel
Competitive sections: 182,06 km
Itinerary: https://rajdpolski.pl/pliki/zawodnicy/2023/erc/itinerary_v.1_-_orlen_79th_rally_poland.pdf
Entries closed: 4 May 2023
Entries published: 11 May 2023
Official website: https://rajdpolski.pl

https://rajdpolski.pl/pliki/styles/medium/public/art/2023/zdjeciedopressinfo02.jpg?itok=p0paEj_z

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Kajto will be there !

After a few years break, we will meet you on Masurian special stages @rajdpolski.

With a responsible task, as a function crew, we will check the route, and by the way, the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, before @Rally_d_Italia, which is coming soon!

[Jarek Z]

He's been checking many different cars recently ;)
https://scontent-waw1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/343224913_184967821119764_3703518641788843396_n.jp g?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=2qzmFHOHlY0AX_2002e&_nc_ht=scontent-waw1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfD3xYW7JrPzSexkYjJBHIts32vXQZ1JvGgGs_o227wp yw&oe=645DF59F

[YerayEcoBoost]

Osian Pryce with Stephan Prevot (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo of Mapo Motorsport).

In addition to Poland, it will also take part in Latvia and Sweden and some additional events.

Great new!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230509/0a2a095d384fe5af9ad60d08fedc0e0b.jpg

Enviado desde mi S88Plus mediante Tapatalk

[Jarek Z]

After a disappointing result on Canary Islands Mikko Heikkila is happy to return to gravel:
https://www.fiaerc.com/erc/news/erc/2023/erc-s-heikkilae-revved-up-for-a-return-to-the-loose/

[Jarek Z]

Another interesting entry. One week after Rally Portugal Miko Marczyk will try to defend his win from last year's Rally Poland. He will drive Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

[Jarek Z]

Two Polish rally legends recognized:
https://www.fiaerc.com/erc/news/erc/2023/king-kajto-is-back-in-erc----and-wislawski-too-/

[PLuto]

Entry list to Rajd Polski will be really great.

[Jarek Z]

Entry list to Rajd Polski will be really great.

Should I book my tickets? :)

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Jon Armstrong @JonArmstrong84

Rally Poland 🇵🇱 Coming up ! 😍
Very pleased to confirm I will be back in the @FIAERC with @msportpoland.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Main entry list

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fv211Z3aYAIXCqj?format=jpg&name=large

[Fast Eddie WRC]

The Qualifying Stage is live on YT on Friday.

Edit. But now it seems it isn't ! :(

[Danny0405]

Really waiting to see what will happen in ERC Junior with the new young guns; Dapra would sound front runner for the season with his experience but he is more a tarmac driver, really interested to see if a driver can catch up.

And also to see what the Toyota’s youngsters will do; even if they sound a bit disappointing so far except maybe Yamamoto (EDIT: well, he is already retired apparently).

[RS]

What happened to Marczyk on SS2? (i'm not at a tv)

[vekkuli]

What happened to Marczyk on SS2? (i'm not at a tv)"Unfortunately in one of the places, I was too fast in the slow corner, I lost control of the front and got stuck in a ditch. It took 15 sec, maybe more to get out of this place. I think we can do a lot better"

Lähetetty minun SM-G970F laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[RS]

Nice footage from SS4, shame there doesn't seem to be much interest here now ERC has live coverage and good entry lists.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Nice work by the fans getting Mares car back onto his wheels after the roll.

[meh]

Nice footage from SS4, shame there doesn't seem to be much interest here now ERC has live coverage and good entry lists.

It's kind of summer, weekend, people has some other things to do as well (compared to winter).

But it seems to be nice battle between Paddon and Sesks. A bit surprised that Ostberg is so lost (again, maybe I should not be surprised anymore...).

[RS]

It's kind of summer, weekend, people has some other things to do as well (compared to winter).

But it seems to be nice battle between Paddon and Sesks. A bit surprised that Ostberg is so lost (again, maybe I should not be surprised anymore...).

True, and Fridays always seem to be busier here when people are at ‘work’ :D

Commentators seem to be surprised by Sesks, but i don’t think they should be if they rembember Latvia last year!

[meh]

True, and Fridays always seem to be busier here when people are at ‘work’ :D

Commentators seem to be surprised by Sesks, but i don’t think they should be if they rembember Latvia last year!

I think roads in Poland are quite similar to Latvia where Sesks is used to drive and has experience.

[dimviii]

SS4: OSTBERG
When it rains, it pours, Mads Ostberg!



Having just received a €500 fine for removing his gloves before the flying finish, the Norwegian MRF man clocks in 7.1sec off the pace.



"Yeah, I just got a message myself about that. I don't know what has happened. I'm an old dog so it's difficult to teach me a new rule - I've done it for 20 years so. I respect the rules so I need to learn that."

[erikli2]

Big fight for the win, and 7 drivers within 9 seconds. With a lot of charismatic drivers, ERC surely gives a lot of entertainment compared to some WRC rounds!

[RS]

Without his 20s loss on SS2, Marczyk would be in the battle for the win too. Hopefully he can fight back a bit.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

SS4: OSTBERG
When it rains, it pours, Mads Ostberg!



Having just received a €500 fine for removing his gloves before the flying finish, the Norwegian MRF man clocks in 7.1sec off the pace.



"Yeah, I just got a message myself about that. I don't know what has happened. I'm an old dog so it's difficult to teach me a new rule - I've done it for 20 years so. I respect the rules so I need to learn that."

This is a new rule ? How petty.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Without his 20s loss on SS2, Marczyk would be in the battle for the win too. Hopefully he can fight back a bit.

A 3-way battle at the top would be great, but its already a good rally to watch.

As a Brit it's a shame Pryce had to open the road. Hopefully he can show his speed better in the second loop.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Mares roll...

https://www.fiaerc.com/erc/news/erc/2023/watch-mares-rolls-and-carries-on-in-poland/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Massive time by Sesks !

[RS]

Epic stage by Sesks.. i was thinking earlier maybe the MRFs are a little bit off the pace here looking at Llarena and Ostberg's times then i remembered Sesks is also on them.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Osian Pryce:
'Now that I'm pushing the car, I can extract a bit more from it. I feel like we had a real decent stage there and I know there's more to be had. The transition from the VW to this is more than what I anticipated but we can use this rally to get me comfortable with it.'

Pity he couldnt use a Polo in which he won the BRC.

[meh]

What I like from stage-end interviews from ERC - those are humans answering questions and sharing emotions, not PR-department products...

[AndersX]

What I like from stage-end interviews from ERC - those are humans answering questions and sharing emotions, not PR-department products...
I also wanted to note: ERC+ feels more alive compare to WRC+. Environment feels more rally-ee - unpolished, closer to the rally dna.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Strangely the ERC App also works great too, no freezing and crashing like the WRC App.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Shame about Paddon's puncture so he has to be careful now and not fight for the win. The Championship points are the important thing.

[meh]

Shame about Paddon's puncture so he has to be careful now and not fight for the win. The Championship points are the important thing.

And Paddon got another puncture (new loop). Have not seen punctures for other top10 drivers, not good advertisement for Michelin. Some must-read line for all Pirelli haters ("oh on old good Michelin days...") from WRC thread

[RS]

And Paddon got another puncture (new loop). Have not seen punctures for other top10 drivers, not good advertisement for Michelin. Some must-read line for all Pirelli haters ("oh on old good Michelin days...") from WRC thread

eWRC says he’s on Pirelli?

[meh]

eWRC says he’s on Pirelli?

That's correct, my bad

So, correction then - you got more food, Pirelli haters :D

[rallyfiend]

For sure Paddon is on Pirelli

[Fast Eddie WRC]

https://www.fiaerc.com/?proxy=redaktion/ERC/2023-News/May/Poland-Live-Updates/Day-3/210523_BPaddon_AT_ERCPoland.jpg

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Paddon has 19.9sec over 3rd place going into the PS (with no spare tyre).

[dimviii]

Mabellini slow roll
https://twitter.com/alekslesk/status/1660267863142285314

[dimviii]

Aleks Lesk
@alekslesk
Mabellini rolled in same place where was 3 crashes first pass #erclive #RallyPoland

Picture rallypl facebook

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fwpv-OmWwAADipk?format=jpg&name=medium

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Very tough weekend for BRC Champion Osian Pryce. After many months out of a rally car, then adapting to the Skoda was a big challenge... and then having to open the road on top of that.

Glad to see him staying positive and looking forward to the next rally.

[meh]

Proper job done by Sesks, 23 year old young guy fighting with much more experienced competitors (Paddon, Ostberg). Well done!

[RS]

Great job by Sesks, with two more fast gravel events coming up maybe he can fight for the championship too.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Perfect drive also by Paddon, doing all he could while having no spare tyre on Day 2. Great 2nd place and even PS points all help to extend his ERC lead.

[Jarek Z]

Congratulations to Sesks! After his stellar performance in Latvia last year, it his his second win in ERC. Way to go!

[Jarek Z]

Mabellini rolled in same place where was 3 crashes first pass

What a freak accident of Kramer, to fall into the lake in such place. What was he thinking?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzTsK2n5r8E

[Jarek Z]

Another accident at the same place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMFU3j0lhFE

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Just 5 pages of comments here !

There were 23 pages for Rally Fafe. What is going on ?

[ToKu]

Perhaps there was no one able to comment on this forum, because people actually visted the rally (crowds not seen since 2017), and there was very little LTE available (cause rally is located in "wild" region of Poland).

Main themes of picnic talks were: why so many people? Is it a change of date? The weather? Good starting list? All of these reasons?

[PLuto]

Perhaps there was no one able to comment on this forum, because people actually visted the rally (crowds not seen since 2017), and there was very little LTE available (cause rally is located in "wild" region of Poland).

Main themes of picnic talks were: why so many people? Is it a change of date? The weather? Good starting list? All of these reasons?

Until the start of rally, weather was really bad. After combination Canarias+Portugal, it was like winter. Thanks god for rally days the sun came.

[Rally Hokkaido]

Just 5 pages of comments here !

There were 23 pages for Rally Fafe. What is going on ?

I was also hoping for some more comments as it seems I missed following a nice battle between Sesks and Paddon.

[meh]

Actually, I can understand the silence a bit. To follow all WRC and ERC live-coverage requires a lot of time. It just takes entire weekends off and if you have some other responsibilities in life (read: family) you just can not follow all.

From competition wise, for me, ERC is quite far ahead from WRC. But in WRC, people are into it also because of Rally1 cars.

From weather point of view - good weather was supporting spectating rally on spot and was not supporting to watch rally at home :) I think the bad weather before the rally was good for rally - it was not that dry and dusty.

Coverage - ERC covers basically at least 15 cars. A lot of times it's twice more than on WRC events. It means, it produces twice more rally-stars and personas to follow than WRC, but it all takes time. Like I wrote before, so far it's fun to watch stage-end interviews, those are not polished by PR-departments and drives answer like they naturally answers - making jokes, sometimes quite dirty-ones.

One more thing I noticed and liked, and maybe a bit surprise for me, was mature approach and cool-head reality - good example was Sesks, stage end interviews from stage-end to stage-end wanted to develop some fighting talks Sesks vs Paddon or pressure talks to Sesks but Sesks always answered clearly that he is doing is job (enjoying the rally) and ignored the hook. Also Paddon, he had punctures and respected the speed from Sesks - he did not claim that "without punctures I could win the rally" or "I was fastest" etc (or "I got most of the punctures"). 3rd place - Marczyk, he was many times asked or hinted that is he disappointed that he can not fight for the win or falling out from battle etc. He stayed calm-head and clear-minded and said that he thinks that this is their pace, others are just faster and there is no point to overdrive from what they have.

Leg 2 only:
* 1. Sesks
* 2. Heikkilä +19.5
* 3. Ostberg +21.3
* 4. Marczyk +23.5
* 5. Paddon +31.4 (had punctures and took on stage easy to attack on PowerStage)

Fight for the podium places were quite clear for Sunday, but the fight for 4th was open. On Sunday Ostberg and Heikkilä found the speed (and/or fixed setup) and it was interesting to follow.

To conclude all that, I'm afraid I will lost many more weekends now for following rally...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I was wondering (worrying) that the strong start to the season by Paddon and the relatively poor starts by others doing the full Championship - Ostberg, Llarena etc - was making people less interested, thinking that the Title is a foregone conclusion.

[Sulland]

I like ERC, and most of the rallies are very exiting and it is close fighting in the top class from many.
Juniorclasses are usually also better in ERC than in WRC, and they have 2wd as a championship.

Rally TV need to have expert commentators that are or have been drivers, and they need to get in people that are not only brits. Many of them talk too fast for non native speakers.

[Danny0405]

Well, I follow the rally but didn’t have time to make comments.
The global level in the series is clearly better than last year: but yeah, for sure, Paddon has already taken a good margin. Let’s hope Ostberg or Sesks can make some results in Latvia and Sweden to be in contention but he sounds better on tarmac then.

I follow also ERC Junior: a bit a pity for Schulz who did some really good time for a newcomer; Dapra not that simple, if Nore can repeat this in Latvia and Sweden, he could become contender even if he is really weaker on tarmac (quite strange season with a big split between first half on fast gravel and second half on tarmac).
And even if it’s not Junior, I follow the results of the Japanese guys: well, as expected, they have a LOT of job to do to reach the level; they did some good times (they cumulate 10 stage wins + 8 podium stages in RC4, especially Yamamoto the most talented of them IMO) but really inconsistant ... only positive is Kogure (the weakest of the 3) that has succeeded in finishing above Dapra with some good times in the last day.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

My pick of the fan videos... really shows the speed of these guys !

https://youtu.be/U8aTE_NvoBM

[RS]

My pick of the fan videos... really shows the speed of these guys !

https://youtu.be/U8aTE_NvoBM

Good find, as ever the fan vids give a much greater impression of speed than the official footage, although i enjoyed that too.

Anyone who thinks Rally2 cars are boring should watch this and reconsider, the top 6 crews or so are really on it!

[AndyRAC]

To be honest, it was a busy weekend of motorsport, and my primary focus was on my favourite race of the whole year, the N24; though I kept in touch with Poland.

[Lead]

My pick of the fan videos... really shows the speed of these guys !

https://youtu.be/U8aTE_NvoBM

Met them last year at WRC Estonia. Really dedicated in what they are doing. Great guys and awsome videos!

[manthey]

To be honest, it was a busy weekend of motorsport, and my primary focus was on my favourite race of the whole year, the N24; though I kept in touch with Poland.

what a race and victory for the new ferrari 296!

[Jarek Z]

I was also hoping for some more comments as it seems I missed following a nice battle between Sesks and Paddon.

I am also disappointed with the lack of any discussion about the rally. Was it so boring?

I don't agree with such opinion, so let me share my impressions from this year's Rally Poland. We spent 3 days on the rally and totally enjoyed this event. The weather was great and the rally was exciting to watch and follow the results. I was especially impressed with the speed of Martins Sesks. I knew he was quick on gravel, but I didn't expect such stage times and maturity from him. His duel with Hayden Paddon was great to follow. But the biggest surprise of the rally for me was Joshua McErlean, who was not only fast, but also very spectacular.
The biggest disappointment were Pontus Tidemand's stage times. What happened with him?

We bought a 1-month subscription of ERC Rally.TV (or whatever it is called), so we were watching footage from the stages on our way to the next stage. It was the first time for me to watch it and I have to say I enjoyed it. Some commentators try to over-dramatize things a little too much (especially women), but the video footage is good and up-to-date. I usually don't care about stage-end interviews, but this time they were more interesting, especially comments from Ostberg, who felt lost, didn't know what to do to improve his driving and called himself "an old dog" :)

But the comment of the weekend came from Josh McErlean, who said this about rally driving on SS11:
"I think you should jump in here and take a go! Every man, woman and child should have a go at this! Good fun!" :)

In total we saw 8 spots:
- Free practice
- Qualifying Stage
- SS-2 Swietajno 1
- SS-4 Wieliczki 1
- SS-5 Swietajno 2
- SS-7 Wieliczki 2
- SS-9 Barczewo 1
- SS-11 Gmina Mragowo 1

We saw many fans from the Czech Republic, Latvia and Finland. Especially Czech Erik Cais' fans were very loud, singing songs, waving flags etc. I liked the atmosphere of the event.

I'd like you to invite you to my photo gallery from this rally. I didn't take photos for a couple of years, but on this rally I tried it again, so it's a comeback :)
https://www.ewrc-results.com/photo/79919-orlen-rajd-polski-rally-poland-2023/473/

[eddy707]

Nice pictures Jarek!
I hope that now the Poles will return the favour and come in large numbers to Liepaja. See you all there

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I agree, excellent photos Jarek ! :cool:

Also a very good summary of the rally and the surprising speed of some drivers and lack of it from others.

In particular McErlean is progressing well now, and I saw how spectacular he was on all the fan videos ! Plus his stage-end comment reminded me so much of Craig Breen...

[Jarek Z]

Crash into a lake from another angle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmPkuiuGMho

Please note the behaviour of the stork at 0:07 :)

[Neige]

Hi there!

Had a small talk with Martins after the Rally Poland. Few good points he had :)

http://rally-week.com/m-sesks-r-francis-rally-poland-23/

And there is more interviews with him from every ERC round so far.