An entry bulging with quality and quantity has been assembled for the opening round of the 2024 FIA European Rally Championship, V-Híd Rally Hungary.
Headed by defending champions Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, the list of competitors eligible for ERC points includes the following highlights:
- 28 Rally2 cars contesting the FIA ERC1 category
- 4 Rally3 cars contesting the FIA ERC3 category
- 17 FIA Junior ERC Championship entries
- 20 Rally4 cars contesting the FIA ERC4 category
- 4 Fiesta Rally3 Trophy entries
- 24 nationalities represented
In addition to Paddon, five current-era ERC event winners – Efrén Llarena, Miko Marczyk, Mads Østberg, Mārtiņš Sesks and Frigyes Turán – feature on the packed entry list, as do the reigning FIA ER3 champions, Jon Armstrong and Cameron Fair.
The ERC’s four official tyre partners – Hankook, Michelin, MRF and Pirelli – are all represented, as are eight manufacturers of FIA rally category cars, Citroën, Hyundai, M-Sport-Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Škoda, Toyota and Volkswagen.
And there’s more…
More ERC history to be made: Mikko Heikkilä, Filip Mareš and Mārtiņš Sesks will be the first drivers to compete on a round of the ERC in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Former champions back for more: Efrén Llarena starts 2024 chasing a second ERC title. For navigator Sara Fernández, the goal is a third ERC co-drivers’ crown.
National champions on show: The national champions from Austria (Simon Wagner), New Zealand (Paddon) and Romania (Simone Tempestini) are all entered for round one of the ERC season.
Mabe is able: Andrea Mabellini, nicknamed Mabe, is bidding for his maiden ERC podium in 2024, a target also set by Erik Cais.
Seventeen go for Junior ERC joy: A highly impressive 17 drivers have registered for the Hankook-equipped FIA Junior ERC Championship on V-Híd Rally Hungary. In seeded order they are: Timo Schulz, Mattia Zanin, Max McRae, Mille Johansson, Jaspar Vaher, Leevi Lassila, Karl-Markus Sei, Calle Carlberg, Liam Müller, Patrik Herczig, Alfred Kramer, Daniel Polášek, Davide Pesavento, Geronimo Ermanno Nerobutto, Jack Brennan, Aoife Raftery and Aleksandar Tomov.
Second season hopefuls: After mounting season-long ERC campaigns in 2023, Bogdan Cuzma, Mathieu Franceschi and Martin László are back on European championship duty and eager to impress.
Home heroes in action: The Hungarian drivers chasing success on their home round of the ERC are László Bodolai, Róbert Bútor, Miklós Csomós, András Hadik, Kristóf Klausz, Bertalan Márton, Gábor Német, Sándor Ollé, Péter Ranga and Jozsef Trencsenyi.
Four go for ERC3 glory: Teenager Kerem Kazaz, Filip Kohn, Martin Ravenščak and former champion Igor Widłak are eligible for ERC3 points and the various incentives on offer by signing up for the inaugural Fiesta Rally3 Trophy.
ERC returnees are Hungary: Philip Allen and Vladas Jurkevičius have previous ERC experience, as does Giacomo Costenaro, whose last ERC outing was in 2016.
Class acts: Romania’s Cristiana Oprea and Finnish EWC newcomer Tuomas Välilä are among the ERC4 category contenders.
V-Híd Rally Hungary, which is based in the city of Veszprém, opens the 2024 ERC season from 12 – 14 April.