New Zealanders Haydon Paddon and John Kennard became the first non-European crew to win multiple FIA ERC titles and the first team to successfully defend their title since 2017 after finishing Rally Silesia in third position, relinquishing the lead they’d held since stage two to Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi on stage 11.
Title rival Mathieu Franceschi and co-driver Andy Malfoy lost too much time on Saturday , ending in fifth position overall and second in the title chase.
Mabellini claimed his maiden FIA ERC victory aboard his Skoda Fabia and became the eighth different winner of the eight round championship.
Tricky damp and wet conditions across the final three stages saw Paddon adopt a conservative approach in his well-sorted and set-up Hyundai i20 N, allowing the Irish crew of Jon Armstrong and Eoin Treacy to snatch second position in the final stage. The M-Sport Ford driver won seven of the 14 stages, including five of Sunday’s six stages in their most convincing ERC performance to date, which was rewarded with a career first ERC podium to round out the season.
The top Polish crew of Miko Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk brought their Skoda home in fourth overall, ahead of Franceschi and Yoann Bonato’s Citroen C3.
