Sun 21 Apr 2024

Flawless Jürgenson secures maiden WRC3 win in Croatia

Romet Jürgenson and co-driver Siim Oja celebrated their first WRC3 victory on Sunday at Croatia Rally having virtually led the asphalt event from start to finish.

Twenty-four-year-old Jürgenson was launched into the lead on Friday morning when early pacesetter Ali Türkkan rolled his similar Ford Fiesta Rally3 car. He controlled the rally ever since, racking up an impressive haul of seven stage wins en-route to a 1min 33.7sec winning margin. There was double delight for the Estonian as he also took out victory in the FIA Junior WRC category.

Mattéo Chatillon cranked up the tempo over the final kilometres and climbed from fourth to second on his WRC3 debut. Piloting a Renault Clio Rally3 among a swarm of M-Sport Poland-built Fiestas, Chatillon pipped Filip Kohn to the runner-up spot by 20.8sec as Australia's Taylor Gill fell to fourth.

Consistently clean driving rewarded the brother-sister team of Norbert and Francesca Maior with a fifth-place finish. Spain’s Roberto Blach completed the top six.

Jürgenson now leads the WRC3 championship by 18 points from Rally Sweden victor Mille Johanssen, who did not compete this week.