The traditional rally kicked off the season – up to 100,000 fans lined the stages

The event, run around the town of Freistadt near the Czech border, was held for the 39th time. According to the organisers, an estimated crowd of up to 100,000 enthusiastic rally fans lined the 18 special stages.

The weather also played its part, as snowfall a couple of days before the rally began gave both drivers and fans the feeling of a proper winter rally.

Victory in the event went to home driver Simon Wagner. The Hyundai driver hails from Unterweitersdorf, less than 20 kilometres away, but until this year a home win had been missing from his list of achievements. In the end, the top spot came in dominant fashion, as Wagner — who had celebrated the Austrian championship title for the past five years — secured victory by more than a minute over his compatriot Michael Lengauer.

“I’ve been asked so many times why I haven’t won this rally yet. Now that finally comes to an end. Deep down, I always knew that I could win it, but for some reason it just hadn’t worked out,” Wagner enthused.

“Everyone who has won here before knows that it’s something really special. Being able to finally enjoy this feeling is simply fantastic, and I want to thank everyone who helped make it happen.”

Watch the highlights from the weekend’s rally below.

Third place in the rally went to Norwegian veteran Mads Østberg. The former WRC driver finished almost a minute and a half behind Wagner in his Citroën. Five different car manufacturers were represented in the top five, with Toyota driver Hermann Neubauer finishing fourth ahead of Estonian Romet Jürgenson in a Ford.

“I am really happy with third place. After losing a minute on the first special stage yesterday due to a puncture, we had a very difficult start to the rally. But we fought our way back very well and were always close to the front. We are very happy that we ultimately managed to make it onto the podium,” Østberg said.

Final results of the Jänner Rally: