Hungary this week welcomes the second round of the 2025 FIA European Rally Championship, providing the 65-strong field their first experience of gravel.
FIA European Rally Championship action switches to Hungary this weekend with the country preparing to host the first of three gravel events in a row from 9 – 11 May.
Six years on from staging one of the most memorable title deciders in ERC history, Rally Hungary forms round two of the eight-event 2025 season and the first of the current campaign to use loose-surface stages.
While it was an all-asphalt affair when Chris Ingram became European champion on the final stage in 2019, Rally Hungary’s move to the city of Veszprém for 2024 signalled a switch from asphalt to gravel. There was also changing of the guard with Simone Tempestini claiming a standout maiden ERC win.
One year on from that breakthrough success, Tempestini might have his sights firmly set on back-to-back victories, but the 30-year-old from Romania is fully aware of the tough challenge in store.
“There are sections that are open and wide where you can see what is ahead,” said the Team MRF Tyres driver.
“But, at the same time, you really have to take care about bumps and stones and the really high speed. Then you go in other stages that are completely different with a soft surface and many surprises.”
Tempestini faces opposition from 28 drivers in the Rally2-based ERC1 category, including five fellow ERC event winners, plus several homegrown talents. Among them is Miklós Csomós, who finished third in 2024.
Powered by a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, Roope Korhonen, the 2023 FIA WRC3 title winner and reigning Finnish champion who joins Csómos and Tempestini in the Team MRF Tyres line-up, heads the entry, followed by Pirelli-equipped Andrea Mabellini (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2).
One-time WRC event winner Mads Østberg, whose Citroën C3 Rally2 runs on Michelin tyres, double Polish champion Miko Marczyk, Dominik Stříteský, the winner of the 2024 Czech championship, and rising Swedish talent Isak Reiersen also appear on the packed entry list, as do M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Jon Armstrong and Polish prospect Jakub Matulka.
Jos Verstappen continues his maiden ERC campaign on the back of finishing as the top Master ERC driver on the 42nd Rally Sierra Morena – Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad last month to lead the standings.
Norbert Maior and Max McRae step up from Junior ERC to Rally2 level for the first time with both drivers taking category wins on Rally Hungary in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
In addition to the ERC1 contenders, a record 13 drivers are entered in the Rally3-based ERC3 division, with 23 competing in ERC4, which caters for Rally4 and Rally5 machinery. Of the ERC4 contingent, 21 are eligible for the Hankook-equipped FIA Junior ERC Championship, while nine drivers are in contention for the various incentives up for grabs in the ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy. Previews for the ERC support championships will appear at FIAERC.com soon.
