At a glance
- Andrea Mabellini takes an eight-point advantage over Miko Marczyk into Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal on 23–25 October, with second in the ERC standings at stake behind champion Teemu Suninen.
- Timo Schulz and Tom Heindrichs will contest both the Junior ERC and ERC4 titles.
- The gravel finale is scheduled to cover 17 stages and 181.10 competitive kilometres, with 31 Rally2 drivers on the announced entry.
Andrea Mabellini enters the ERC’s Portugal finale with the advantage in the fight for second overall: he leads Miko Marczyk by eight points and has no score to discard. With Teemu Suninen having secured the championship at September’s Rali Ceredigion, the remaining overall contest centres on who finishes closest to him.
Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal, scheduled for 23–25 October, also carries title decisions in Junior ERC, ERC4 and the teams’ championship, according to the FIA’s event preview. Its championship stakes therefore extend well beyond the order at the front of the rally.
Marczyk also faces a potential score deduction
The eight-point separation is only part of the runner-up picture. As Torqued Magazine reported on 19 October, Marczyk faces the prospect of dropping his lowest score, currently seven points. Mabellini has no such deduction awaiting him. That gives the Italian a more favourable starting position, without establishing an exact finishing requirement for either driver.
For Mabellini, second would continue a progression from fourth in 2024 to third in 2025. The Pirelli-equipped Lancia Corse HF driver is chasing another improvement, while Michelin-supplied Marczyk enters as last year’s champion.
Mabellini’s most recent ERC gravel appearance offers a caution: he did not finish May’s BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia. Looking ahead to Portugal, he also highlighted the potential unpredictability of late-October weather, although his comments were not a forecast of conditions for the event.
Jon Armstrong sees value in the position they are pursuing. Speaking in the FIA preview, he described an ERC runner-up finish as a useful achievement to present to sponsors and partners. His sporting assessment was that staying close to the rival and securing the best available result could matter more than winning the rally outright.
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Opel teammates contest two titles
The Junior ERC and ERC4 decisions both involve Timo Schulz and Tom Heindrichs. They compete for the Hankook-equipped ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team, putting teammates at the centre of two championship contests. Heindrichs is the younger brother of Hyundai WRC driver Thierry Neuville.
The teams’ championship also remains open. The FIA identifies Team MRF Tyres as holding the advantage heading into Portugal, while Kalum Graffin and Petr Kačírek are the contenders for runner-up in ERC3.
There is a separate opportunity for Tymek Abramowski and Ville Vatanen, who are due to step from ERC3 to ERC1. Their appearances are prizes for winning the ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
A substantial Rally2 field on gravel
The announced Rally2 entry includes Nikolay Gryazin, Roope Korhonen, Kris Meeke, Léo Rossel, Mārtiņš Sesks and Jan Solans among its 31 drivers.
The rally is based in Fafe, with the start and finish in Guimarães. Its published itinerary comprises 17 stages totalling 181.10 competitive kilometres. For viewers following the championship decisions, the FIA lists every stage on Rally.TV and advises checking local listings for additional television coverage.
Image credit: Wrong Apex editorial graphics · Original editorial illustration · Modifications: Rendered from original graphic elements; resized and compressed to WebP. · Image source
