The victory was the first in the European Championship series for Tempestini, who has Italian ancestry. His best result prior to this weekend was a fourth-place finish at the Azores Rally in 2022.
“It’s really good, we had an amazing rally, Sergiu (co-driver Itu) did some really good pace notes and read perfect. First rally with our car on ERC and she wins, so really happy,” Tempestini exclaimed.
Tempestini clinched the victory with a 17-second margin over Frenchman Mathieu Franceschi.
For Franceschi, the podium was his first in the European Championship. The Frenchman capped his race by winning the Power Stage that concluded the rally. The second place in the final stage went to host country’s Miklos Csomos before Tempestini, Andrea Mabellini, and Jon Armstrong.
“Thank you to my team,” an emotional Franceschi managed to say.
Tempestini stayed close to the lead throughout the race and secured the victory after firstly Mikko Heikkilä retired in the last stage on Sunday morning and later in the afternoon Martins Sesks retired from the lead due to a crash.
Drama also unfolded in the final stage, as the defending European champion and former WRC star Hayden Paddon suffered a tire puncture while in second place. He lost nearly a minute to the fastest stage time, which dropped Paddon to fourth place.
“At the half point of the stage, nothing happened, just in the middle of the road. We didn’t touch anything. We still got some points so there’s a silver lining,” Paddon remarked.
Host country’s Miklos Csomos finished third after a thrilling final phase. Czech driver Erik Cais was fifth, ahead of Polish Miko Marczyk.
In the junior category, Max McRae took his first class victory in the European Championship. The 19-year-old McRae is the nephew of rally legend Colin McRae. The last time the McRae family celebrated a victory in the European Rally was in 1996, when Max’s father, Alister McRae, won the Welsh round.
The European Rally Championship will continue in the Canary Islands from May 2-4.
Results of the Rally Hungary:
| Position | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Simone Tempestini | Skoda | 1:52:50.4 |
| 2. | Mathieu Franceschi | Skoda | +17.0 |
| 3. | Miklos Csomos | Skoda | +29.9 |
| 4. | Hayden Paddon | Hyundai | +44.5 |
| 5. | Erik Cais | Skoda | +1:44.0 |
| 6. | Miko Marczyk | Skoda | +1:59.3 |
| 7. | Andrea Mabellini | Skoda | +2:12.6 |
| 8. | Jon Armstrong | Ford | +2:20.5 |
| 9. | Simon Wagner | Skoda | +3:49.1 |
| 10. | Filip Mares | Toyota | +4:10.9 |
