Co-driven by fellow Pole Szymon Gospodarczyk, Michelin-equipped Marczyk, 29, beat Croatia Rally winner Jon Armstrong to the ERC’s top prize after Andrea Mabellini – the only other title contender ahead of the Zagreb-based event – crashed out on Saturday’s fourth stage. Marczyk finished the 10-stage sealed-surface season finale in third behind winner Armstrong and Mads Østberg, the latter making his 300th rally start.

Marczyk becomes Poland’s first ERC champion since Kajetan Kajetanowicz claimed the third of his three consecutive crowns in 2017. He also joins compatriots Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Sobiesław Zasada in winning the oldest international rally championship in the world.

“I’m happy I don’t know what to say because it is a lot of emotions. It is important to trust in the process. It is probably the biggest dream in my sporting life and when I was 15-years old I started doing indoor karting and then I decided to go to rally. There are three Polish guys that are European champions and to be in a group with them is something really special. I can say thanks to all the people that have supported us over the years,” said Marczyk, who displayed incredible consistency throughout the season to finish five of the eight rounds on the podium, finishing no worse than seventh this year.

Securing the title was far from easy for Marczyk, who initially struggled to find a rhythm through Saturday’s tricky, low-grip stages held in dry conditions, despite starting first on the road. An overshoot on SS3 dropped the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver to seventh behind his two title rivals Armstrong and Mabellini. 

However, the title battle swung back towards Marczyk on SS4 when Mabellini lost control of his Pirelli-shod Škoda and made contact with a rock that caused an engine oil leak, ending his rally and championship hopes on the spot. This helped Marczyk move up to sixth at the end of Saturday albeit, 1min 22.1sec behind leader Armstrong. 

Torrential rain added an extra curveball for crews on Sunday as conditions became treacherous. The slippery roads, however, appeared to suit Marczyk, who secured stage wins on SS7 and SS9 to rocket up the leaderboard to third as several rivals hit trouble. A smart drive through the rally-deciding Power Stage sealed third and the championship crown by six points ahead of Armstrong.

Fresh from his maiden ERC victory on JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion in Wales last month, Armstrong dominated Croatia Rally from start to finish alongside co-driver Shane Byrne.

Starting fifth on the road on Saturday, Armstrong boosted his faint title hopes by lighting up the timing screens through leg one as the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver won five of the six stages to race into a 27.3sec lead over WRC2 event winner Robert Virves.

Virves, running on Hankook tyres briefly threatened to mount a challenge for the lead when the Estonian slashed Armstrong’s advantage to 12.7sec after SS4, where Armstrong suffered a tyre deflation. Armstrong responded to restore and extend his lead driving his Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Sunday’s wet weather failed to halt Armstrong’s charge as the Irishman navigated the final four stages without fault, and claimed the Power Stage, to clinch an impressive victory by 45.7sec from Østberg. The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver finished runner-up in the title race.

“It has been an amazing year and there are so many people to thank,” Armstrong said. “Shane has been doing a great job especially in the last three rallies and M-Sport have been really pushing and the car has been really good and then there is the support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy to push us and make us stronger. What an event. Today we had to be controlled in treacherous conditions and we are fastest on the Power Stage, we couldn’t do much more.”

Norwegian Østberg headed into the final day in third having edged a fight with the impressive Swede Mille Johansson through Saturday. Johansson retired from fourth after being caught out by the wet SS7 that opened Sunday’s leg. It was in the same stage that Østberg moved to second overall as Virves struggled for grip.

Østberg, partnered by a fourth different co-driver this year in Lorcan Moore, utilised his experience to guide his Citroën C3 Rally2 to second at the finish ahead of new champion Marczyk.

FIA Rally Star driver Romet Jürgenson took fourth after recovering from an SS6 tyre deflation, that dropped him to eighth on Saturday. The M-Sport Ford driver turned heads with his pace running as high as third on Saturday after winning SS4.

Virves, utilising the event to prepare for the WRC’s Central European Rally later this month, lost more than two minutes to a spin in SS8, but was able to finish fifth, ahead of top Team MRF Tyres runner Lauri Joona.

Erik Cais, who showed flashes of pace but was delayed by tyre damage and a SS9 spin, finished seventh, ahead of Norbert Maior. The top 10 was rounded out by Norbert Herczig – who also suffered tyre damage while running fifth – and Simone Tempestini. Yuki Yamamoto, Pablo Sarrazin, Rok Turk, FIA ERC3 pacesetter Taylor Gill and double FIA ERC4 and Junior ERC winner Calle Carlberg completed the top 15.

András Hadik claimed the FIA Master ERC class victory as inaugural champion Martin Vlček crashed out. Jakub Matulka and Simon Wagner retired from the event after accidents in SS3 and SS4 respectively.

Tymek Abramowski secured the FIA ERC3 crown ahead of Hubert Kowalczyk, while Ioan Lloyd finished runner-up to Calle Carlberg in FIA ERC4 and FIA Junior ERC.

Team MRF Tyres clinched the FIA European Rally Championship for Teams ahead of M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. Pirelli secured its first FIA European Rally Championship for Tyre Suppliers, defeating inaugural winner Michelin in the process.

Click HERE for Croatia Rally results and provisional FIA European Rally Championship standings.

*Subject to FIA confirmation