› Škoda crews Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk and Andrea Mabellini/Virginia Lenzi finish penultimate FIA European Rally Championship event inside the top six.
› At the wheel of a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Mikołaj Marczyk collects 24 points and defends his championship lead.
› With only the Rally Croatia left, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver Andrea Mabellini holds second place overall and also has good chances of winning the title.
Aberystwyth (GBR), 8 September 2025 – After the penultimate round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, two Škoda drivers are well placed to win the title. Overall leader Mikołaj Marczyk and co-driver Szymon Gospodarczyk finished third. The Italian Škoda crew of Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi came home in sixth place. Heading into the finale at Rally Croatia, Andrea Mabellini trails Mikołaj Marczyk by 15 points. However, this does not take into account the mandatory drop result.
Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk posted two fastest stage times across Friday and Saturday. The Polish Škoda crew reached the halftime break in third place overall behind fan favourites Jon Armstrong/Byrne Shane from Ireland and Romet Jürgenson/Siim Oja from Estonia. “It was a long day, but we need to do the same again tomorrow,” Mikołaj Marczyk commented.
Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew Andrea Mabellini/Virginia Lenzi were handed a two-minute penalty before the start. The Italians responded by setting the fastest time in first stage on the streets of Aberystwyth. With three stage wins across the first leg's eight tests, they moved up from 104th position after the first stage to sixth place already after the first leg.
With the positions basically settled and only four stages remaining on Sunday, the focus of most of the drivers was on the rally-ending power stage. The 15.48-kilometre second running of “Mynnydd Bach” would earn the fastest five drivers valuable extra points (5-4-3-2-1). The pouring rain made the challenge for the crews even greater.
Despite the difficult conditions, Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi were flying in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Italians took maximum risks and won the stage by a huge margin of 7.5 seconds. Having collected a total of 20 championship points, Andrea Mabellini commented: “The weekend started badly when we received a two-minute time penalty. But we showed everyone that we're really fast — we gave it our all! The fight continues at Rally Croatia.” Meanwhile, Mikołaj Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk finished the power stage as third fastest and climbed onto the podium in third place overall. “The season finale in Croatia will be a really tight fight for the championship,” said Mikołaj Marczyk, looking at the overall standings.
At first glance, Mikołaj Marczyk, the overall leader, has a 15-point advantage over Andrea Mabellini, the runner-up. However, according to the regulations of the FIA European Rally Championship, only seven best results of the season count. Therefore, every driver competing in all eight events must take one drop result into account. Marczyk has scored in each of the seven rounds already run; his worst result (13 points) comes from the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. Andrea Mabellini's drop result is already clear: a zero from Rally Hungary. Taking a “net score” into account, Mikołaj Marczyk leads Andrea Mabellini by only two points (133 vs. 131) going into the season’s finale at Rally Croatia (3-5 October 2025). Because Andrea Mabellini’s individual results are better, Mikołaj Marczyk can lose only one single point in Croatia in relation to Andrea Mabellini to stay ahead of him in the final standings. With a maximum of 35 points available at the finale in Croatia, third-placed overall Jon Armstrong is the only other driver with a mathematical chance of winning the title.
Number of the rally: 8,000
The ERC round Rali Ceredigion also counted towards the Škoda Motorsport Bonus Programme. Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver Mikołaj Marczyk, who came third overall, collected another spare parts voucher worth €8,000 for his team.
Rali Ceredigion (GBR), 5-7 September 2025, Result ERC
1 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (IRL/IRL), Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2, 1:34:52.0 hours
2 Romet Jürgenson/Oja Siim (EST/EST), Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2, +29.2 seconds
3 Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL/POL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +43.7 seconds
4 William Creighton/Liam Regan (IRL/IRL), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +1:15.2 minutes
5 Osian Pryce/Andy Hayes (GBR/IRL), Hyundai i20 N Rally2, +2:31.8 minutes
6 Andrea Mabellini/Virginia Lenzi (ITA/ITA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +2:59.5 minutes
Standings ERC/Drivers (after 7 of 8 events)
1 Mikołaj Marczyk (POL), Škoda, 146 points (133 after one drop result)
2 Andrea Mabellini (ITA), Škoda, 131 points
3 Jon Armstrong (GBR), Ford, 113 points
4 Mads Østberg (NOR), Citroën, 76 points
5 Roope Korhonen (FIN), Toyota, 60 points
6 Isak Reiersen (SWE), Škoda, 60 points
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