Teemu Suninen will have to fend off three closely matched rivals on Sunday if he is to secure his maiden FIA European Rally Championship victory.
At the end of the opening leg of the 82nd Rally Poland, Suninen held an 8.4sec advantage over second-placed Andrea Mabellini. Jakub Matulka was just 0.5sec further back, while defending European champion Miko Marczyk completed the top four only 10.7sec from the lead in his similar Michelin-equipped car.
“We had a good pace in the morning but I’m trying to control the pace because this rally is tricky in places, it’s not easy,” Suninen said. “We need to be humble, there are a lot of grip changes.”
Pirelli-supplied Suninen started Saturday’s opening stage 2.7sec behind overnight leader Mabellini. Matulka snatched first place from the Italian on SS2 before Suninen outgunned his fellow Škoda Fabia Rally2 driver on SS4 to move 3.6sec clear.
The Racing Factory driver extended his advantage to 7.3sec by winning SS5 and, despite losing out to Matulka on SS6 and Lancia-powered Mabellini on SS7, carried an 8.4sec cushion into the day-closing Silesian Stadium super special.
Mabellini just half a second ahead of Matulka after Saturday
Matulka struck back with the fastest time on SS8, beating Marczyk by 0.1sec and taking half a second out of both Mabellini and Suninen. Suninen’s lead remained unchanged, but Matulka closed to within 0.5sec of Mabellini as Marczyk reduced his deficit to the leader by four tenths. (Article continues after the photo.)
On his first ERC appearance since October 2017, three-time European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz holds fifth ahead of Sunday’s action after moving ahead of Polish championship leader Jarosław Szeja on SS7.
Szeja and Marco Bulacia completed Saturday tied on time, 33.9sec behind Suninen, with Szeja classified sixth. Simone Tempestini is eighth, only 1.2sec behind the pair, after being slowed by a rear spoiler issue and vibration.
British champion William Creighton had been fifth after five stages, but an overshoot on SS6 left him 13.8sec off the stage-winning pace and dropped him to ninth overall.
Polish teenager Adrian Rzeźnik completed the top 10 ahead of Erik Cais, Gábor Német, Hankook-supplied Isak Reiersen, Philip Allen and Adam Sroka.
Tristan Charpentier had been 12th with two stages remaining, but a damaged front-right tyre on SS7 dropped him outside the points-paying positions. He ended the leg in 16th.
Two big crashes in first loop: no serious injuries
Stages two and three were interrupted and not restarted following separate accidents involving Marcel Neulinger and Jürgen Heigl on SS2 and Dominik Stříteský and Ondřej Kračja on SS3. All four were taken to local hospitals for ongoing medical care, having avoided serious injury.
Sunday’s deciding leg consists of seven stages covering 89.40 kilometres. With no midday service halt, there will be little opportunity to recover from any setbacks when the fight for Poland ERC glory resumes with the legendary 6.50km Przegibek stage from 08:22 local time.
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ERC Rally Poland 2026 – O/A standings after SS8/15
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Suninen / Haapala | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 49:06.1 |
| 2. | Mabellini / Lenzi | Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 | +8.4 |
| 3. | Matulka / Dymurski | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +8.9 |
| 4. | Marczyk / Gospodarczyk | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +10.7 |
| 5. | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +30.9 |
| 6. | Szeja / Szeja | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +33.9 |
| 7. | Bulacia / Murado | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +33.9 |
| 8. | Tempestini / Maior | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +35.1 |
| 9. | Creighton / Regan | Citroën C3 Rally2 | +38.5 |
| 10. | Rzeźnik / Kozdroń | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +39.8 |
Photos, content: Red Bull Content Pool
