Interest in the FIA European Rally Championship continues to increase with 67 crews signing up for ERC points on VI Rally Hungary, round two of the 2025 season from 9 – 11 May.
Preparing to contest the all-gravel counter, based around Veszprém to the west of the capital Budapest, are 30 drivers in the ERC1 category for Rally2 cars, a record 14 in the Rally3-based ERC3 division and 23 in ERC4, which caters for Rally4 and Rally5 machinery.
Of the ERC4 contingent, 21 are eligible for the Hankook-equipped FIA Junior ERC Championship, while nine drivers are in contention for the various incentives up for grabs in the ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy.
Among the ERC1 line-up are six winners of ERC events, including three that have triumphed on Rally Hungary in the past, Mads Østberg, Simone Tempestini and Frigyes Turán.
“It will be good to compete with the European Championship rivals again, and I think we have a bit more chance this year than last year, because we started the season well, we won the opening round of the national championship with the Skoda Fabia and we are leading the championship standing,” said Frigyes Turán, “I hope we can keep our position, maybe even increase our lead, which requires going fast. And if we go fast, maybe we can get a good position in the European Championship classification as well. We don’t have a special goal, but we want to go in a way that makes the fans proud. Local knowledge is in our favour, but the kilometres they have covered are in our opponents’ favour. It’s an honour to be seen as a local hero, I like to race on gravel and we’ve won a European Championship race, but there are a lot of good drivers in the series. The secret to doing well is to stay focused and to drive well.”
Twenty nationalities are represented across the packed entry list with 10 drivers preparing to fly the Hungarian flag. In addition to Turán, they include ERC regular Martin László, four-time national champion Norbert Herczig, Master ERC Championship contender András Hadik, plus ERC podium finisher Miklós ‘Mixi’ Csomós.
“There is a slight change in our lives, we have switched from Toyota back to Skoda and we are back with the BRR team,” said Norbert Herczig. – The preparations are going according to plan and we are really looking forward to Rally Hungary. I love this event because twenty-one years ago I won the first overall race victory of my career here with a Skoda Octavia WRC. And my most recent memory is from seven years ago: Ramón and I were the fastest in the special stages around Veszprém, although we didn’t win in the end because we had already agreed in advance to withdraw after crossing the finish line. As for the European Championship race: on Sunday we will go to Germany to make a test, because we found stages there, and then on Wednesday we will take part in the official test at home. And what do I expect from the race? To have a good feeling. Ramón and I have talked about it, that if we have the feeling, it will show in the result.”
Csomós joins Tempestini, Junior ERC graduate Max McRae – the nephew of rallying legend Colin – plus Finnish champion and WRC2 regular Roope Korhonen in the expanded Team MRF Tyres attack.
“Basically, we are in a good mood, we have nice memories, because last year we managed to achieve a very good result at the ERC race in Veszprém,” said Csomós, who last time finished third with a huge finish. – This year we’re looking forward to the weekend with a new car and new tyres, so things have changed a bit, but what hasn’t changed is that we have to go fast. The race is a bit later than last year, so the stages will be even more challenging, I mean the heat and the rocks that are going to be turning out. So, I’m expecting a survival race, the winner will not necessarily be the fastest driver, but the one who makes the fewest mistakes. And that’s very important, because there are ten or fifteen drivers in the field who have a chance of winning the race.”
Norbert Maior, who clinched Junior ERC title gold on Rally Hungary in October 2023 – when it ran as an asphalt event – returns to European championship action, albeit at Rally2 level alongside co-driving sister Francesca.
Pirelli-equipped Andrea Mabellini heads the entry list ahead of fellow Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver Miko Marczyk, who will count on Michelin tyres. Škoda’s Fabia is also the car of choice for Philip Allen, Roberto Blach, Jarosław Kołtun, Jakub Matulka and reigning Czech champion Dominik Stříteský.
Jos Verstappen, who claimed his first Formula One podium in the 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix, continues his maiden FIA European Rally Championship campaign on the back of finishing as the top Master ERC driver on the 42nd Rally Sierra Morena – Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad last month.
Kowax DST Racing has entered Master ERC Championship contenders Dariusz Biedrzyński and Martin Vlček, while rising Swedish talent Isak Reiersen begins his three-event ERC bid with FIA World Rallycross Championship team JC Raceteknik. Jon Armstrong competes for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team.
Fiestas to the fore in ERC3
Nine of the record-breaking FIA ERC3 entry will count on Ford Fiesta Rally3 power on VI Rally Hungary. Frenchman Tristan Charpentier tops the entry ahead of Polish teenagers Adrian Rzeźnik and Tymek Abramowski, Croatian brother-and-sister pairing Martin and Dora Ravenščak and Igor Widłak, the 2022 ERC3 champion.
Swede Adam Grahn, Estonian Esmar-Arnold Unt and Finn Ville Vatanen join Hungary’s Márton Bertalan in competing in the Rally3-based category for the first time. Hubert Kowalczyk, meanwhile, is the leading Renault Clio Rally3 driver.
“We are very excited, we are preparing full steam ahead, both physically and mentally, and we are also trying to get to know each other with the car,” said Márton Bertalan, “Yesterday we had our first semi-official test of the car, and I have to say that the experience was very positive, it gave us much more than I expected. It’s a big leap in running gear after the Rally4 car, and I’m sure it will be a lot of fun to drive on gravel because of the four-wheel drive. I have absolutely no idea of what the pace will be, because I don’t know the rivals. But due to the local knowledge, we might be expected to be in the front, but it’s hard to say if we will be able to do it, anyway, we will surely do our best.”
Legendary Lancia name returns in Junior ERC
The legendary Lancia name will return to the FIA European Rally Championship for the first time since November 2003 when Jaspar Vaher and Tuukka Kauppinen enter VI Rally Hungary in a pair of all-new Ypsilon Rally4 HF run by the MS Munaretto team.
Vaher, Calle Carlberg, Leevi Lassila, Timo Schulz and Aoife Raftery contested the first Rally Hungary to take place on gravel-only stages last season, although the event represents unchartered territory for opening round winner Sergi Pérez, Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy pair Keelan Grogan and Craig Rahill, plus Italian trio Francesco Dei Ceci, Matteo Doretto and Tommaso Sandrin.
Maxim Decock, Victor Hansen, Ioan Lloyd, Mark-Egert Tiits and Austrian Luca Pröglhöf, who is competing in Junior ERC as his prize for winning the Opel Electric Rally Cup in 2024, are also new to the stages around Veszprém, as are Junior ERC rookies, Estonia’s Kevin Lempu and Romanian trio Mihnea Hanea, Artur Luca and Cristian Sugar.
Having scored points in all but one of eight ERC4 appearances in 2023, Norman Kreuter returns to the championship with fellow German Tom Kässer one of his rivals.