Rally Croatia 2025 will be the final round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) this season, taking place from October 3 to 5, 2025. The event is based in Zaprešić, near the capital Zagreb, with all stages run on asphalt.

Route and Stages

The rally features a total of 10 special stages covering 172.36 km, with the overall route including road sections reaching nearly 590 km.

• Friday evening will see the ceremonial start.

• Saturday offers six stages, with the longest being Krašić – Sošice (22.70 km).

• Sunday closes the rally with four stages, finishing with the decisive Power Stage “Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec.”

Croatian asphalt is notoriously tricky – a mix of fast sections and technical corners, often with changing surface and grip levels. This makes it one of the toughest rallies on the ERC calendar.

Championship Standings

Ahead of the final round, the top of the standings looks like this:

1. Miko Marczyk – 146 pts

2. Andrea Mabellini – 131 pts

3. Jon Armstrong – 113 pts

It is worth noting that Miko Marczyk has contested all rounds this season, while Mabellini and Armstrong each missed one event. This adds extra intrigue going into the showdown in Zagreb.

What to Expect

• Marczyk starts as the favorite, but consistency and avoiding mistakes will be key to sealing the title.

• Mabellini and Armstrong are expected to push flat out, as only a victory or podium finish can keep their title hopes alive.

• Sunday’s Power Stage could prove decisive, with bonus points often tipping the balance in the championship fight.

Fans can expect a thrilling season finale, as Croatia will crown the new ERC champion.

Miko Marczyk claimed his first-ever FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) victory despite a late scare at Orlen 78th Rally Poland on Sunday afternoon.
Marczyk finished third overall in last year’s ERC, but has since focused his 2022 efforts on a full campaign in the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support category, WRC2.

The opportunity to prove himself in front of local fans, however, tempted the Pole and he relished a guest appearance on home soil with his Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.

As predicted, Marczyk was immediately on the pace and found himself locked into a tight duel with Nil Solans - the winner of two rallies already this season. Cash-strapped Solans was lucky to even be starting the event having secured a late deal to drive a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 with days to spare.

A scintillating battle unfolded between the pair as they traded blows over Saturday’s superfast stages, with Solans leading the way before coming unstuck on SS7. The steering broke following a heavy compression and the Spaniard became a passenger as his car slid off into a ditch and out of the rally.
Solans’ demise left Marczyk comfortably in front and he carried a 20.4sec advantage into Sunday’s final leg. His task - to manage the gap - appeared to be straightforward, but soon proved otherwise.

Rough second pass conditions were a challenge for all and the leader hit trouble when his Fabia scooped up some gravel on SS12, causing the water temperature to rocket as he nursed his car to the finish in road mode.

Frantic activity ensued at the stop line as the crew removed dust from the grille and, luckily, they were able to continue despite the heart-stopping moment.

Two more nail-biting stages followed as an anxious Marczyk coaxed the Fabia through the ruts. He dropped time to a charging Tom Kristensson over the final tests, but ultimately kept the Swede at bay to record victory by 10.0sec.
"It was not easy,” admitted Marczyk. “Yesterday was a really good day from our side - we were fast and we had luck too. It's a shame that Nil did not finish the day, but it was all part of the fast pace.

"Today was tough. The start was okay, but Tom was moving closer to us. I felt good in the Mikolajki MAX stage and decided to push the car to build a gap, but one kilometre before the finish line we got some gravel in the radiator. We were lucky - a kilometre more and we would probably not have had an engine because the temperature was up to 140 degrees!

"We are here as the winners of Rally Poland. It's unbelievable because this shows me that my path of development and doing everything step by step is working. After some years we are fast and reliable, and we are on the finishing line."

Kristensson was thrilled to finish as runner-up in his KOWAX Racing Hyundai i20 R5. The Swede started Sunday under pressure from the chasing crews, but chalked up two stage wins during the last leg to leave them for dust.
Ken Torn completed the podium another 8.1sec in arrears. The Estonian driver banished all memories of his rocky season start by posting some hugely impressive stage times aboard his Ford Fiesta Rally2, ending the rally 16.6sec in front of Efrén Llarena.

Llarena - driving another Škoda for Team MRF Tyres - was very much a podium challenger until two faulty spark plugs hampered his progress on Sunday morning. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Spaniard, though, as Solans’ non-score allowed him to stretch his championship lead to 24 points with four rounds to go.

The rest of the leaderboard was made up entirely of Škoda cars, with Simone Tempestini completing the top five. The 27-year-old once again proved his strong gravel pace with a string of top three stage times and trailed Llarena by a tiny 1.2sec despite a rear puncture on SS13.

Home hero Grzegorz Gzryb was more than a minute behind and scrapped with compatriot Adrian Chwietczuk right until the Power Stage, when Chwietczuk punctured and dropped to 12th. Filip Mareš, starting his first gravel rally in three years, swooped into seventh and was only 2.3sec behind.
Alberto Battistolli, Javier Pardo and Norbert Herczig rounded off the leaderboard. Pardo carried a 50sec time penalty because of an engine fault which delayed him before SS7, while Herczig was penalised by one-minute for an early check-in.

Robert Virves delivered one of the weekend’s star performances to finish 13th overall as well as winning ERC3 by over five minutes from fellow Ford Fiesta Rally3 driver Kaspar Kasari.

Mārtiņš Sesks took another dominant ERC Open victory and topped the timesheets in his MRF-shod Fabia Rally2 Kit.

The ERC season plunges into its second half with a visit to Latvia for round five next month. Rally Liepāja is set to serve up more thrilling action and takes place on 2 - 3 July.

Miko Marczyk is on course for victory on home soil at Orlen 78th Rally Poland after rival Nil Solans went off the road on Saturday’s penultimate test.
The Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo star will start Sunday’s final leg with a hefty 20.4sec advantage over Tom Kristensson after pulling clear on what turned out to be a disastrous day for Solans, who led for the majority.

Just nine-tenths of a second separated the pair as the championship’s fourth round got underway in earnest following Friday evening’s super special stage - and a thrilling battle developed on the superfast gravel stages.

Marczyk and Solans were in a league of their own as they traded blows throughout the opening loop, although the Spaniard stretched his legs with a blistering time on the final stage of the morning to carry a 4.6sec advantage into the afternoon.
Solans added another 0.8sec to his assault over the next two speed tests before drama struck on the second pass of Wieliczki. The steering broke following a heavy compression and he became a passenger as his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 slid off into a ditch and out of the rally.

His demise left Marczyk all alone at the front and the Pole was in high spirits as he returned to the Mikołajki service park.

"I am very happy to be honest,” reflected the leader. “It was a big day for us and this rally is something special for me because I made another step in my development.

“We drove today not only on stages we knew from the past, but we also had some new stages which were very good. We are here and I am very happy.
“It's not good that Nil isn't here, but this is part of the rally game. Tomorrow is a long day, but I am in good shape and I will try," he added.

Solans’ KOWAX Racing team-mate Kristensson showed impressive pace aboard his first-generation i20 R5 and is clearly enjoying his first ERC start since 2018.

The Swede came under increasing pressure from those behind and ended 5.6sec in front of Fiesta Rally2 man Ken Torn, who leapfrogged Team MRF Tyres Škoda driver Efrén Llarena in the final stage.

With Solans out of contention, Llarena is on course to extend his championship lead. He is a mere 0.3sec back from the podium, while Simone Tempestini finished another 5.0sec down to round out the top five in his Škoda.

The rest of the leaderboard comprised of Fabia cars, headed by sixth-placed Adrian Chwietczuk.
He trailed the leaders by 1min 4.4sec at close of play with Grzegorz Gzryb, Filip Mareš and Alberto Battistolli hot in pursuit. Javier Pardo was over two minutes off the pace in 10th and picked up 50sec in time penalties for a late check-in caused by an engine fault.

ERC3 category leader Robert Virves was 11th overall with an M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3, while Mārtiņš Sesks tops the ERC Open standings.

Simone Campedelli languishes well down the order after spending over 20min stuck in a ditch on the first stage of the day, with his MRF team-mate Norbert Herczig also sitting outside the top ten after being dealt a 1min penalty for an early check-in.

Vaidotas Žala suffered a similar fate to Solans when a suspension damper broke on his Fabia. The Latvian had been running as high as eighth at the time.