WRC driver in a class of his own at ERC rally – Verstappen close to the fastest time

Sesks clocked five fastest times on seven special stages and leads the rally by 21.4 seconds ahead of Finland’s Roope Korhonen. In third place is the host nation’s Mikolaj Marczyk, who is already 33.9 seconds behind the leader.

Both Sesks and Korhonen are competing on tyres provided by Indian company MRF. Sesks made an impression in Poland last year when he even fought for a podium in the World Rally Championship round.

“I’m really happy to be driving in Poland again. It was a great day, but tomorrow we keep our heads down and continue working,” Sesks commented.

“A pretty good day. Sesks was really fast, but otherwise we can be satisfied. This last stage was really slippery and at times we went completely too wide. But we’ve made it to the finish,” Korhonen said in turn.

Marczyk is content with Saturday’s result, even though the rally lead is slipping away.

“We’ve tried to do our best. In some places we lost a few seconds. It’s not frustrating though. We have to be satisfied. We’re still fighting for a podium and tomorrow we’ve got a good starting position,” Marczyk said.

In fourth place is Ireland’s Jon Armstrong, who has a 6.7 second advantage over Sweden’s Isak Reiersen. Following them are Norway’s Mads Østberg and Romania’s Simone Tempestini.

On the Mikolajki spectator stage that ended Saturday’s action, F1 driver Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, provided a surprise. Verstappen posted the second-fastest time, losing out on the stage win to Andrea Mabellini by just 0.6 seconds.

“Maybe I should drive rallycross. I might do better there,” Verstappen joked.

Rally Poland concludes on Sunday with six more special stages on the itinerary.

Rally Poland, standings after SS8/14: