Andrea Mabellini wins Rally Poland's Katowice opener by 0.1s over Mikołaj Marczyk

Opening night in Katowice

The 82nd edition of Rally Poland, the oldest round on this year's FIA European Rally Championship calendar, began on Friday evening with a ceremony on Katowice's Dworcowa Street. The rally, first held in 1921, is running as an ERC qualifier for the 55th time and has returned to asphalt stages after 20 years on gravel. The service park is based at the Superauto.pl Stadion Śląski in Chorzów, with the competitive route laid out across the southern Silesian Voivodeship. A combined field of 148 crews entered the 82nd Rally Poland and the accompanying 10th Rally Silesia, competing in the ERC, the KIQ Polish Rally Championship, and the Millers Oils Historic Polish Rally Championship.

After an autograph session at Plac Sławika i Antalla, the first cars took to the 2.2 km GZM Katowice powered by ORLEN OIL special stage shortly after 7 p.m. Historic vehicles led the way, followed by the Polish championship contenders, and finally the ERC field after dark amid pyrotechnic lights. The route started near Plac Wojciecha Kilara, descended Olimpijska Street, turned along Aleja Roździeńskiego to a roundabout where drivers spun around barrels, then returned past the KTW towers to finish on Aleja Korfantego beside the Spodek arena. Thousands of fans lined the streets for what organizers describe as a cornerstone of European motorsport.

Rally Poland is not only the most important motorsport event in Poland, but also one of the longest-running competitions of its kind in the world.

Stage results

Italian crew Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi, driving a Lancia Ypsilon Rally2, set the fastest time of 1:54.4, winning the opening stage by the narrowest of margins. Mabellini had previously won on these same roads during the 2024 Rally Silesia. Reigning European champions Mikołaj Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) were just 0.1 seconds slower. Jakub Matulka and Daniel Dymurski, also in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, took third place, 1.6 seconds off the lead. Marczyk and Gospodarczyk lead the KIQ Polish Rally Championship classification after the first special stage.

In the ERC3 category, Irish pair Craig Rahill and Conor Smith (Ford Fiesta Rally3) topped the timesheets, 1.3 seconds ahead of Poles Michał Chorbiński and Adam Chrzanowski (Renault Clio Rally3). French crew Lucas Zielinski and Ewen Leenhardt (Renault Clio Rally3) completed the podium, a further 0.6 seconds back. The historic championship saw Damian Sawicki and Piotr Sieliło (Subaru Impreza GC8) set the fastest time among the classic cars.

Weekend stages ahead

The rally continues on Saturday with seven special stages. Competitors will tackle the Jastrzębie-Zdrój (17.05 km), Ochaby (11.2 km), and Gmina Jasienica (19 km) tests twice each, before a 1.5 km super special stage on the grounds of the Stadion Śląski in the evening. Sunday's action begins with the Przegibek stage, a 6.5 km classic that returns to the Rally Poland route after more than 20 years.